Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
A27 — Crowns of the sun and moon.
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
OverviewThe light and/or heat of the sun and/or moon is contained in their crowns, necklaces or clothing (made of feathers or animal teeth).
Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K13A | 98.93% | The character's leg (rarely: both legs) is cut off, bitten off, torn off, or damaged. The character ascends to the sky: to the moon; becomes the moon; turns into a star or constellation; becomes the sun; blood flowing from the leg colours the sky. |
| L24 | 98.86% | Demons (or one of them) attack people and then hide. People destroy the demons' lair and kill all or most of them by spreading a smoky fire around the demons' refuge. |
| F12 | 98.47% | A husband kills his wife by inserting her lover's severed penis into her body. |
| F40A | 98.46% | A male character, androgynous, with a monstrous penis, single-handedly possesses all women, rules over them or leads away the first women. |
| G13 | 98.41% | Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate rotten or soft wood (ceiba – Ceiba L., balsa – Ochroma (Bombax) Sw.); some people eat rotten wood. |
| F13 | 98.40% | The genitals of humans or monkeys acquire their current shape and colour as a result of copulation with a girl who had a toothy womb or no vagina. |
| J43 | 98.35% | To destroy his antagonists, the hero creates edible bait for them, usually a fruit tree on the other side of the river. |
| M107 | 98.35% | A small character kills or maims a large four-legged animal by clinging to its genitals. |
| D7 | 98.29% | The frog or toad possesses the first fire, steals it from its original owner, and tries to extinguish it or save it from dying out. See motif D4. |
| I83 | 97.89% | Birds (especially vultures and eagles) lived or live in the sky, usually on one of several tiers of the upper world. |
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
47 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 47 traditions: Bari (incl Fajulu), Kakwa, Hehe, Pangwa (Upper Rufudji area), Bena, Matumbi, Ngoni, Pogolo, (Ma)konde, Mawiha, Trans-New Guinea and unclassified Papuan groups of Irian Jaya: Mejprat, Arandai-Bintuni, Inanwatan-Berau, Papua of Gelvink (Cenderawasih) Bay, Kamoró, Marind Anim, Sawi, Mafore; Korowai; Kwerba; Momina, Eipo, Yale, Awyu, Mandan, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Lillooet, Wintu, Patwin, Nomlaki, Yana, Owens Valley Paiute, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Southern Paiute, Hopi, Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Eastern Keres (Cochiti, Sia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, Paguate, Seama), Mam, Ixil, Aguatec, Avakatec, Gulf Nahuatl, Kekchi; Mopan, Bari, Tunebo, Guajiro, Waiwai, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Locono, Colorado (Tsachila), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Chayahuita , Karijona, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Witoto, Ocaina, Ticuna (Tucuna), Juruna, Xipaya, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Machiguenga, Culina, Paumarí, Arauá, Apurina, Cuniba, Kamayura, Rikbaktsa, Paresi, Bororo, Caraja, Tapirape, Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Canela: Ramkokamekra, Apaniekra, Craho, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje), Botocudo
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