Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B87B — Harnessed wolf.
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 Great Bear – a cart harnessed by a wolf or bear. Usually, the shape of the handle of the dipper is explained by the fact that a wolf or bear attacked an ox harnessed to the cart and took its place. In this case, it is associated with Alcor or the last star of the handle of the dipper – η.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations.
B87 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedB87. Alcor (a faint star next to the second star of the Big Dipper's handle) stands out as a separate celestial object.
B87a. A dim star next to the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper (Tibetans: Little Dipper) Ursa Major – dog.
B87b. The Great Bear – a cart harnessed by a wolf or bear. Usually, the shape of the handle of the dipper is explained by the fact that a wolf or bear attacked an ox harnessed to the cart and took its place. In this case, it is associated with Alcor or the last star of the handle of the dipper – η.
B87c. Alcor (the faint star next to the second star of the Big Dipper's handle) – rider, driver, coachman.
b87d. Alcor (a faint star next to the second star of the Big Dipper's handle) – infant.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M38E | 100.00% | mushroom (pumpkin) thinks that it is as durable as a tree. |
| K38B3B | 100.00% | A mighty bird (rarely – another creature) helps a person for sheltering (warming) its chicks (offspring, children). |
| M39A5A3 | 100.00% | Realizing that a wife telling the truth will cause trouble for the family, the husband says that the sounds she hears are the screams of her master (official, etc.) who is beaten, dragged to hell, etc. She repeats this to the master (official), who declares her insane. |
| K56A2B | 99.99% | A supernatural character asks a girl to redeem (feed) his (her) children. These are snakes, beetles or wild animals. The girl does everything she is asked and is rewarded. |
| B122 | 99.99% | Birds (cranes/storks, geese or crows) carry children away to another world or bring them back from there. See motif H6c3, "The Immortal Stork". |
| K61A1 | 99.99% | A dangerous character mistakes two people sleeping (hiding) in a sack or two people lying with their feet towards each other for a single creature. |
| A32D1 | 99.98% | Cain and Abel are associated with the moon, usually distinguishable (both or only Cain) in the silhouette of lunar spots. |
| K27F2 | 99.98% | A girl demands that her fiancé get her the same pair of shoes (or other items) as hers. These items either exist in a single copy, or it is not known what they look like. Having become invisible, the hero either steals the items (and the owner has to make new ones herself), or finds out what they look like. |
| N16 | 99.98% | fairy-tale text ends with a formula stating that the narrator had a horse and/or harness made of wax, ice, linen, vegetables, etc. In most cases, the narrator loses them (they melt, they are taken away, eaten, etc.). |
| N35 | 99.98% | Somewhere milk rivers flow with banks made of jelly (porridge) - a sign of abundance (impossible in reality). Cf. H16B motive. |
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
10 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Livonians, Estonians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Armenians, Chuvash
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