Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B16B — The wolverine makes the sea salty.
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 sea is salty because a wolverine or a fox bathed in it or urinated in it.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature.
B16 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedB16. The water of the sea, rivers, etc. comes from the fluid that flows from the body of a living being, or is contaminated by it; therefore, it is salty or opaque.
B16a. The sea is formed from urine or blood.
B16b. The sea is salty because a wolverine or a fox bathed in it or urinated in it.
B16c. The magic mill is ordered to grind salt, but is not given the command to stop. The mill sinks into the sea, usually grinding salt to this day.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B38B | 100.00% | Two quadrupeds (or a quadruped and another creature) adorn each other themselves or are adorned by someone else. |
| A31A | 99.65% | Upon learning that her husband or lover has committed an act incompatible with accepted norms, a woman cuts off her breast and shows it to him. |
| M94A | 99.09% | The demonic character kills his victims, provoking them to slide down the mountain. |
| M123D | 97.98% | A bird from the corvid family is rejected after its mate or relatives discover that it eats carrion or filth. |
| M123C | 97.68% | A non-migratory bird sets off south with migratory birds, but is unable to reach its destination. |
| I123 | 97.62% | Altair with a small neighbouring star from the constellation Aquila or Vega with a similarly faint star are considered to appear during or immediately after the winter solstice, although they are actually visible before that. |
| B38C | 96.37% | The raven and the loon paint each other. |
| F91 | 95.58% | A man finds or breeds monstrous worms to eat his wife. |
| K51 | 95.21% | The husband feigns death, disappears or leaves home for a long time. The wife learns that he has married another woman, finds and, as a rule, kills her husband and/or rival, who often turns out to be a creature of non-human nature. |
| K27N3C1 | 94.87% | The inhabitants of the polar bear village â relatives of his wife â set the hero difficult tasks and trials. |
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
6 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Kerek, Reindeer Koryak, Maritime Koryak (Alyutor), Eastern Swamy Cree, Attikamek, Naskapi
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