Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B72A — Mother, child and swans.
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
OverviewMother (stepmother, adoptive father) does not give food to a girl or (less often) a boy. The child asks migratory birds to take him with them, they give him bird clothing, he flies away with them, becoming a bird.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks 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.
B72 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedB72. Since the children do not give their mother water, she turns into a bird (usually a cuckoo) and flies away.
B72a. Mother (stepmother, adoptive father) does not give food to a girl or (less often) a boy. The child asks migratory birds to take him with them, they give him bird clothing, he flies away with them, becoming a bird.
B72b. A girl or, less commonly, a boy turns into a bird after his mother (father, guardian) refuses to give him water or food or otherwise mistreats him.
B72c. Children run after their mother, injure themselves, and their blood stains plants, the ground, and the evening sky.
B72d. A woman makes herself wings (beak, tail) from clothing accessories and turns into a bird or a flying creature.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A13A | 99.62% | The raven steals or hides the sun, or attempts to do so. |
| F89 | 99.23% | A sister and brother live alone. The brother refuses to commit incest. The sister resorts to cunning, as a result of which the brother mistakes her for a stranger and marries her. |
| H43AB | 99.23% | Man is mortal because he was spat upon at creation. |
| I86 | 98.63% | The inhabitants of the upper world produce down, wool, and scales, which turn into birds, animals, and fish. |
| L42D | 96.83% | A man runs away from a cannibal across the ice, the cannibal pursues him, licks the blood spilled on the ice, his tongue freezes, he dies, or falls to his death after slipping on the ice. |
| M3B | 96.48% | Trying to grab a hare, another animal tears off (bites) its tail. It's been short ever since. |
| B70 | 96.12% | A man beats defenseless hares, foxes, and other small animals (one or many) that are usually locked in his house. The story explains the colouring of the tips of the ears and tails of these animals. Cf. motif M45A. |
| M108 | 95.88% | The character is called upon to help perform a task (usually to transport property or provisions across a river) and takes away what has been entrusted to him. |
| E9I4 | 95.44% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a crane. |
| K25A7 | 95.29% | The older brother hunts, the younger brother takes care of the household. After catching the winged maiden, the older brother takes her as his wife, while the younger brother, out of naivety, returns her wings to her. The older brother sets off in search of his wife. |
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
11 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: 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, Nanai, Negidal, Nivkh, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area
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