Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B72C — The blood of those who run stains objects.
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
OverviewChildren run after their mother, injure themselves, and their blood stains plants, the ground, and the evening sky.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I84A | 97.98% | Contrary to the warning of his father or mother, a young man or woman sets off on a journey in winter and freezes to death. Cf. motif B33A ("Frozen in Spring"). |
| B81 | 97.54% | The creator and his opponent consider whether to give the dog the ability to shoot (with a bow or a gun). |
| M186 | 97.01% | An animal (fox, wolf, leopard) runs along the shore, while a fish (burbot, goby, catfish) swims in the water. The animal calls out to the fish, which is always ahead (usually keeping other fish at a distance, but in the Negidal variant, the motif of competition is omitted). |
| J27B | 96.90% | An infant is thrown into a lake or river and occasionally comes ashore. In addition to his earthly parents, he has a father (and mother) in the underwater world. He does not want to part with them, nor do they want to let him go. |
| B68 | 96.90% | The giant hazel grouse became small â it was usually torn into pieces, which turned into the current hazel grouse. |
| K44B | 96.90% | The hero or heroine returns after a long absence. Seeing (usually from the roof of the house) his or her parents (mother, husband) languishing in poverty, he or she throws food at them, extinguishes the fire, pushes them, etc. At first, they usually do not understand what is going on. |
| B74 | 96.84% | The eyes of the capercaillie or black grouse turned red from tears. |
| K89C | 96.78% | A girl parts with her brother or sister. He or she becomes the wife or husband of a bear and helps the girl. |
| A29A | 96.49% | Heavenly and earthly women (demons) pull a man in different directions. As a result, he (or his half) turns into a heavenly object. |
| B42MN | 96.47% | Only one character (rather than several) chases an animal (elk or bear) across the sky, associated with one of the circumpolar constellations, but not with the Pleiades or Orion. (In the Kalevala tradition, there is no identification with stars). |
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
9 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Western Ukrainians, Tats, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Nenets, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians
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