Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B85 — Calming the Wind.
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 wind blows too strongly, it is forced to calm down.
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.
B85 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedB85. The wind blows too strongly, it is forced to calm down.
B85a. The wind stops blowing (after blowing too strongly). A character approaches it and establishes the necessary balance. Since then, the wind blows, but usually not too strongly.
B85b. The wind was or is in a small container, released from it or flying out of it from time to time.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B44C | 95.87% | The characters argue about whether there should be darkness or light, cold or warmth on earth. See motif B44. |
| M49 | 95.78% | The hero meets a character from the enemy camp and, taking on his form, penetrates enemies. Usually, the hero kills the person he meets and puts on his skin. |
| B44E | 95.59% | First ancestors (usually birds or animals) argue with each other about the length of time periods in the calendar or daily cycle, or about the desirability of the dominance of cold and dark or warm and light times. See motif B44. |
| F10 | 95.11% | A woman has a second mouth (usually in her vagina) with sharp teeth. A man inserts or throws a stone, bone, stick, etc. into this mouth, knocking out the teeth or extracting toothy animals from it in this way. |
| K27A | 95.00% | Test: spend the night in the cold (the antagonist tries to destroy the hero in this way). See motif K27. Compare motif M35: two zoomorphic characters compete to see which of them will sit out the night in the cold. |
| J45 | 94.98% | The character extends his leg (dafla: arm; upper tanana: tail) or neck as a bridge across a water barrier. Usually, those being pursued or walking ahead cross such a bridge to the other side, while the pursuer or those walking behind fall into the water because the character removes his bridge. See motif J44. |
| M53D | 94.70% | The character pretends to be enemies coming; when people run away in fear, the character takes what the deceived people owned. |
| J59A | 94.59% | After shooting an arrow (rarely: throwing a ball), a person flies on it, behind it or in front of it, or sends another person on the flying arrow. Cf. motif J59. |
| B44A | 94.59% | Characters argue about the number of discrete units of time that determine the duration of a certain period of time (most often winter or night). See motif B44. |
| M84B1 | 94.53% | A person enters a country from where fish come to people (and comes back). |
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
27 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 27 traditions: Sumer, Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Ainu, Udeghe, Nanai, Inland Tlingit, Koyukon, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw), Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Naskapi, Plains Ojibwa, Chilkotin, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Tillamook, Hopi, Kodiak, Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements Š Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
Š 2024â2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.