Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B64A — Small bones: the war between fish and birds.
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
OverviewFish and birds fight (usually by shooting arrows at each other). Since then, fish have had many small bones in their bodies and/or birds' legs have taken on their current form.
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.
B64 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedB64. Bones in the bodies of fish are the result of fights, battles, military expeditions; they are arrows stuck in them (gill openings â from stuck arrows), or small bones â fragments of the original large bones.
B64a. Fish and birds fight (usually by shooting arrows at each other). Since then, fish have had many small bones in their bodies and/or birds' legs have taken on their current form.
B64b. Two types of fish shoot arrows at each other. Since then, the fish have had many small bones in their bodies, or some of their bones have split in two.
B64c. Fish, together with other earthly creatures, wage war on the inhabitants of the sky. Falling to the ground, they break their bones, which is why fish have many small bones in their bodies. See motif B64.
B64d. Certain bones in the bodies of living creatures (usually birds and fish) are arrows shot into them.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A32J | 100.00% | A shaman with a tambourine ascends to the moon and remains there, visible in the silhouette of the lunar spots. |
| B42M1 | 100.00% | The three main stars of the Big Dipper's handle are associated with people of three different nationalities. |
| B72D | 100.00% | A woman makes herself wings (beak, tail) from clothing accessories and turns into a bird or a flying creature. |
| B74A | 100.00% | Red cloths are sewn over the character's eyes (threads, eyelids are painted red) or he does it himself. He sees everything in red or his eyes have turned red forever. |
| D1A1 | 100.00% | Because a woman offended the fire, its mistress takes her child away. |
| E13 | 100.00% | The shamanic tambourine is compared or associated with a lake. |
| E1E | 100.00% | The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk. |
| K32H2 | 100.00% | A man executes his wife by leaving her to be eaten by ants. |
| K56A1 | 100.00% | The groom, the bringer of prosperity, orders the girl who has come to perform work that she herself is unable to do. The groom's mother performs the work, and the girl is accepted by the groom. See motif K56A. Except for the Ket people: the work is performed by tiny women sitting in or behind the mother-in-law's ear. |
| L42F | 100.00% | The character intended for consumption slips away unnoticed. The master of the house thinks that his wife has eaten him alone and cuts open her stomach. |
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
15 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Tofa (Karagas), Nenets, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Dolgans, 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, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Seri, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area
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