Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B80 — Measurement of the 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
OverviewThe process of creation includes measuring the dimensions of the earth or the world as a whole.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| L77 | 96.17% | The character devours people because he sees them as a delicacy. |
| I80 | 94.79% | A character who finds himself in the locus of a deity responsible for atmospheric phenomena violates certain prohibitions or instructions, thereby causing excessively strong thunderstorms, rain, snowfall or wind. |
| C7 | 93.62% | Initially or after the flood, an earthen or stone barrier, the body of a character or creature prevents the flow of water. Later, this barrier is removed or destroyed. |
| G12A | 92.67% | Cultivated plants arise from drops of blood or flow like blood from cuts on the body of a human or animal. |
| A32A | 92.39% | The figure or imprint of a rabbit or hare is visible on the lunar disc. |
| D1A3 | 92.32% | A man marries a woman who is fire. She is mistreated, or her husband does not like her, and the marriage breaks down. |
| G9A | 92.32% | The field that was cultivated the day before turns back into virgin soil by morning. |
| J21 | 92.18% | Gods, ancestors of humans, and founders of dynasties are born from eggs. |
| A11B | 91.11% | The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A. |
| M57B | 90.27% | Beads or metals are the bodily secretions of a deity. |
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
12 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 12 traditions: Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Ancient Greece, Armenians, Huichol, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Mixtec, Trique, Cuicatec; Amuzgo, Yucatec, Itza, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Lisu, Lolo (incl. Bai), Achang, Yi, Axi, Nasu, Jino, Taungyo, China
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