Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M30D — Holds to a stick carried by birds, ATU 225A
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewTo get into the air, a character without wings (usually a turtle or a frog) grabs a stick with the ends held in their beaks by two birds.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior.
M30 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedM30. character who has no natural wings or can't fly long distances rises into the air, but falls or, having lost its wings, stays where he can't return from. (The motive includes several options, but even when taken together, they don't cover the whole world. Texts with M25 and M28 motifs are counted as including the M30 motif).
M30a. The character flying over the village falls, is tied up, and defecated on him.
M30b. Birds give a non-flying or ugly character feathers so that he can fly or become beautiful, but then take them away.
M30c. A character flying through the air falls, violating the ban on talking, looking down, flying over villages, etc. (The character is not dropped by the person carrying it and flies above the ground, not descends from the sky or rises to the sky).
M30d. To get into the air, a character without wings (usually a turtle or a frog) grabs a stick with the ends held in their beaks by two birds.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J47B | 97.61% | When a character runs away from a pursuer, a strong rope (chain, etc.) is lowered (thrown) to him. A rotten rope is lowered to the pursuer, it breaks, and the pursuer crashes (drowns). |
| A12G | 97.31% | The character tries to eclipse the moon for telling on him. |
| A2B | 97.25% | In addition to the current sun and/or moon, other suns and moons shone in the sky, which were then destroyed. See motif A2A. |
| K29C | 96.96% | They hope to kill the hero by knocking a tree down on him or tying him to a tree. He comes back alive, dragging the tree behind him. |
| M198B4 | 96.69% | The fake fortune teller, expecting to be exposed, utters words that reflect his state of mind. The thieves standing nearby perceive some of the words as their names, believe that the fortune teller has found out about them, and ask him not to reveal them. |
| H6D | 96.62% | Having obtained a means of ensuring immortality, the character falls asleep or leaves the means unattended. At this time, another character steals the means. |
| A2A | 96.56% | The world was or will be (almost) burned when several suns lit up or will light up simultaneously; or destructive heat (or light) once emanated from one sun. |
| F51B | 96.14% | To find out the nature or location of a character's locus, another person secretly attaches a long thread to it and follows it. |
| B43 | 96.03% | Elements of the landscape or parts of the universe are created from the body of the original being. |
| A4A | 95.34% | So that people do not look at it, the Sun blinds their immodest eyes (usually with needles, which are its rays). |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Traditions
26 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 26 traditions: Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Bali, Lombok, Ot Danum, Ngadju, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Khmer, Viet, Muong, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Maltese, Dutch, Flemish, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Tats, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Turkmen, Mongols (Khalkha), Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Lao, Early Russian written sources, China, Japan
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