Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B48C — Artefacts in the pike's head.
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
OverviewIn the head of the pike there are (visible) tools used by people.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar.
B48 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedB48. Harmless and herbivorous animals were or could become dangerous predators.
B48a. The bodies of animals, birds or fish contain internal organs or muscles that were originally parts of the bodies of other animals, birds, fish or monsters. Cf. motif B36C.
B48b. The bodies of animals that are now hunted contain a piece of human flesh that has remained since these animals had an anthropomorphic appearance.
B48c. In the head of the pike there are (visible) tools used by people.
B48d. People or objects swallowed by a pike become part of its body (bones in its head, liver).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L41C | 98.06% | A cannibal grabs children as they slide down a hill. |
| B68B | 96.97% | A character who, by his appearance, behaviour or unexpected appearance, tried to frighten God (people) and was turned into an animal (with a different appearance than before) for this. |
| B110 | 94.40% | A character who is dragged along the ground or who runs, falls apart or hits the ground with different parts of his body. This determines the characteristics of the landscape and flora. |
| M84B2 | 93.03% | The character carefully preserves the bones of migratory birds eaten (not fish or animals) and the birds come to life again. (Episodes of reviving a domestic goose or rooster are not taken into account in everyday tales). |
| B42I | 92.66% | Cassiopeia is associated with a deer or elk. |
| H7F | 92.66% | God gives instructions that certain categories of people must die and suffer. The character who receives the instructions, caring for the people, passes on other orders to the executors. |
| K56A | 92.07% | Two or three sisters successively go to a powerful character. The first or the first two act incorrectly, perish or fail to achieve their goal. The last one acts correctly, is saved or rewarded. |
| B3C | 91.03% | When the creator, having created the land, lies down to rest, the antagonist tries to drown him, dragging him to the edge of the earth. As a result, the earth expands, and the antagonist is unable to reach its edge. |
| C31A | 90.78% | The master (mistress) of the underworld receives (should receive) heavenly lights or fire. Due to a trick or accident, they are not given to him or are returned. |
| I98B | 90.13% | The Pleiades – ducks, nest or wild duck egg. |
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
18 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 18 traditions: 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, Czech, Czechs, Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Karelians, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Western Tungus (Evenki), Western Siberia Tungus (Evenki): Sym River, Ket River, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area
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