Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

A6 — The sun and moon – women.

106 Myths, legends and folktales

106 Unique narratives for motif A6

67 Cultures & traditions where A6 is told

2 Sub-motifs of motif A6

Please log on to view the narratives.

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

Overview

The sun and moon are considered female characters (including cases – Tuscarora, Oneida, when the gender is not directly specified, but both arise from the body of a female character).

Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.

A6 has 2 other sub-motifs

A6.  The sun and moon are considered female characters (including cases – Tuscarora, Oneida, when the gender is not directly specified, but both arise from the body of a female character).
A6A.  In the same ethnic group, the gender of the moon/month varies in different texts; it changes depending on the phases; the moon is a married couple; the moon is a woman who used to be a man. See motifs A3 - A5. {The material is incomplete. For Western European traditions, data contained in fairy tales is not included}.
A6B.  In the same ethnic group, the sun is described as both male and female. See motifs A3 – A5.

🌐 See a combined distribution map for all of A6’s motifs

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny

Motif	Similarity	Motif summary
I38A	97.73%	The husbands of human women are dogs or dog-headed creatures.
K29C	94.07%	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.
A32H	93.87%	A tree, bush, branch, snag, etc. are visible on the lunar disc. See motif A32G.
B43	93.66%	Elements of the landscape or parts of the universe are created from the body of the original being.
K77A	93.42%	Various objects and animals (rarely: only animals, but including those that are safe in reality) defeat a strong enemy (usually joining the hero who is going to take revenge on the strong enemy for an insult and hiding in the house where the enemy is supposed to appear), attacking him in turn; he dies or flees. Either someone or the attacked character himself places objects in his dwelling that then harm that character.
B72B	93.29%	A girl or, less commonly, a boy turns into a bird after his mother (father, guardian) refuses to give him water or food or otherwise mistreats him.
F77A	93.16%	A huge penis serves as a bridge.
I11	93.10%	The turtle (toad, frog) serves as a support (embodiment) of the earth (sky), or the supports of the sky are made from its body.
K56D1	93.09%	A pumpkin or watermelon (grown from gifted seeds) given to a person turns out to contain treasures.
B79	92.91%	In the world ocean or in the world abyss, from an egg (eggs) or egg-like sphere, shell, etc., the earth, sky, luminaries, and creator gods arise.

See the 100 most similar distributions →

Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

Drag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below

🌐 Open as Airocean (Dymaxion) map ↗

Traditions

67 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 67 traditions: Mehri; Harsusi, Jibbali (Shahri, Shauri), Soqotri, Efe Pygmies, Kango (Mbuti) Pygmies, Luba (Baluba, Luba-Katanga, Shaba), (Ba)Holoholo, Tumbwe, Bena-Piana, Tabwa, Benabena-Mitumba, Zela, Bene-Marungu, Aka, Baka (Badjue) and other Western (Bantu speaking) Pygmies, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Southeast Australia: Kamilaroi, Yualarai (Ualarai, Euahlayi), Milpulo (Mailpurgu), Wuradjeri (Wiradjurim, Wiradjeri, Wurundjeri, Yarra, Yarra Yarra), Wongaibon (Wonghibon), Noongahburrah (Narran, Narran River), Kurnai, and many others (see file 0.doc), Mangareva, Minahasa (incl. Tondano, Tentemboan), Bantik, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Mentawai, Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Burmese, Intha, Viet, Muong, Andamanese, Semang, Senoi, Santali, Turi, Mahli, Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, SW Arunachal Pradesh: Sherdukpen, Tawang (Monpas), Aka (Hrusso), Miji, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Oraon (Kurukh), Gondi (mostly Northern Gondi), Li , Koreans, Basques, France, 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, Finns, Karelians, Tajik, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Tats, Georgians, Kalmyk, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Udmurt, Mansi, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Darkhad, Nganasans, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Ainu, Nanai, Kerek, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Tuscarora, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Cherokee, Chacobo, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Hani, Akha, Salars, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, China

Please log on to view the narratives.

If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help

How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com

0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.

Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.

Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.

Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.