Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B20 — Expedition to the upper world.
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
OverviewPeople ascend to the sky to hunt, fish, or gather honey; they do not give honey, fish, or good meat to the person who remained below; that person makes sure that they remain in the sky forever.
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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B21 | 96.61% | People climb trees to hunt, fish or gather honey. The tree is felled, people fall down and undergo a metamorphosis, or remain in the upper world. |
| D13F | 91.69% | Laughter causes the appearance or spread of fire or the sun. Usually, the owner of fire or the sun loses it after bursting into laughter. |
| I134 | 89.94% | Along the axis of the Milky Way, a creature with a long neck (llama, emu, rhea) can be seen. |
| C9A | 89.71% | During the flood or when crossing a river, those who drowned or were saved turn into aquatic or amphibious animals. |
| E13A | 89.55% | Sacred knowledge, objects and rituals were first obtained by humans from the inhabitants of the underwater world. |
| I67 | 89.42% | The giant figure of an emu (in Australia) or a rhea (in South America) is visible in the Milky Way. |
| J36 | 89.15% | The turtle drags the hero's parents under water. |
| B36A | 89.07% | Two zoomorphic characters adorn each other, after which one is satisfied with the result and the other is not. |
| F43 | 88.92% | The women of the community of the first ancestors kill or abandon the men. |
| B36 | 88.82% | Birds, fish, and four-legged animals deliberately or accidentally smear themselves with colouring substances or divide parts of another's body among themselves, thereby acquiring their current appearance. |
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
7 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 7 traditions: Maka (Makaa), Baya, Kaka, Arnhem Land: Enindhilyagwa (Groote Eilandt), KuTiwi, Yulengor, Mara, Oenpelli, Murngin, Roper River, Maung, Murinbata, Murngin (Duwal), Millingimbi, Goulburn Island, Ngulugwongga, Yirrkalla, Voctoria River Downs, Alawa, Anu, Kunwinjku, Chilkotin, Makka, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Chamacoco (Ishir), Mataco
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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