Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
N28B — Stairway to Heaven
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
OverviewIn a list of things that do not exist in the world, a ladder or stairway to the sky (variant: a ladder in the sky) is mentioned
Berezkin category: Fabulous and epic formulas
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 13, Formulae.
N28 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedN28a. The roots (belt) of mountains or stones are mentioned in myths, riddles, spells, and songs as something that does not really exist.
N28b. In a list of things that do not exist in the world, a ladder or stairway to the sky (variant: a ladder in the sky) is mentioned
N28c. In a list of things that do not exist in the world, a pillar of the sky is mentioned
N28d. In a list of things that do not exist in the world, a lid or covering for the sea, ocean or river are mentioned
N28e. In a list of things that do not exist in the world, a bridge across the sea, ocean or lake is mentioned
N28f. It is said that water has no boughs or twigs
N28g. In a list of things that do not exist in the world, a gall of horse or ass is mentioned
N28h. In a list of things that do not exist in the world, horns of the horse are mentioned
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K27V3 | 99.65% | The character must hit a small ring with an arrow or shoot it through several rings. (The main materials were identified by Y.V. Vasilkov and presented in Vasilkov 2018). |
| K32G1 | 98.29% | The guilty party is offered a choice of items of utilitarian value (often forty, seven, three, etc. horses or the same number of knives). The person usually does not understand that these are methods of execution. |
| K75A1 | 98.08% | The ruler orders his youngest daughter (and her chosen husband) to live in conditions that do not correspond to her status. He does not know that her chosen one is not a poor wretch, as he seems, but a mighty warrior and a handsome man. |
| I50A | 97.91% | A demon sequentially tears off the legs of an animal that helps the hero (usually the horse on which the hero rides). |
| B46A | 97.90% | One of the stars of the Pleiades was separated from the others (usually stolen by the stars of the Big Dipper and identified with Alcor). |
| K139 | 97.83% | A servant is so struck by the beauty of a girl (rarely: a boy) that he lets the meat or bread intended for his master burn. |
| B51A | 97.69% | The snake is the enemy of the swallow (usually because the swallow prevents the snake from destroying people â the snake sends a mosquito or other blood-sucking insect to find out whose blood tastes better; the mosquito returns to report that it is human blood; the swallow bites off its tongue, and the snake plucks the feathers from the swallow's tail). |
| E41A | 97.47% | The first ticks were made as a result of observing animals (a dog's crossed paws, two snakes, snake jaws, etc.). |
| N24 | 97.34% | You can see a light that resembles a second moon or a second sun. It comes from a pretty girl. |
| I87A | 97.32% | A character of gigantic size turns out to be small in comparison with a character of even greater size, or the same character turns out to be small in some episodes and gigantic in others. |
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
9 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Laks, Kumyk, Terekemen, Anatolia Turks, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Kumaoni (Central Pahari), incl. Garhwali, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Russian Federation
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