Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
A9 — The Moon as protector of humans.
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 moon-woman does not allow her son or husband, the Sun, to destroy people.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A13B | 100.00% | During an eclipse or at the first appearance of night, ants eclipse the sun. |
| L3A | 100.00% | Left alone, a woman carelessly calls for someone to help her with the housework; a demon comes and kills the woman or her child. |
| B7D | 99.71% | Water pours from a broken bone, flooding the earth. |
| I129 | 99.71% | The rainy season is associated with the appearance of the Heron constellation in the sky. |
| L7B | 99.71% | While chasing a person, spirit, monster or beast, he mistakenly throws himself after a calabash floating down the river. |
| I27B | 99.67% | A dog carries a person across a river to another world. See motif I27. |
| M47 | 99.67% | When punishing a person or animal or restoring a dismembered body, a character intentionally or accidentally puts his head to his ass. |
| A22B | 99.47% | The sun and its companion burn up. The companion burns in a less intense fire (is thrown into the ashes, etc.); therefore, the moon (or star) is cold. See motif A22. |
| A22A | 99.39% | Two characters burn; one turns into the present sun, and the other into a less significant celestial object. See motif A22. |
| G4 | 99.29% | Cultivated plants found on or inside a mountain. |
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
5 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Tojolabal, Chuj, Jacalteca, Kanjobal, Mocho (incl Tuzantec), Acatec, Tzeltal, Lacandon, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Kamakan; Kutasho
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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