Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B90 — Master of wolves.
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
OverviewThere is an anthropomorphic patron, master or mistress of wolves; he usually gives instructions to the wolves on a certain day of the year.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| L94B | 99.81% | A person promises to give to a supernatural character the first thing that comes their way (either something they have not yet seen in their own home, or something that is behind the door, etc.). The person thinks that they will have to give something of little value, but it turns out to be their own child. |
| J41D | 99.78% | The strongman orders an iron club (sword, etc.) of monstrous size to be made, but breaks it and demands a new one, even heavier (often throwing it into the air and exposing his forehead, etc. – the club breaks). |
| L120A | 99.76% | The hero hides in a smithy from the dragon chasing him. When the monster breaks through and rubs the door (with its tongue), the blacksmith (or the hero himself) burns it (usually clamping its tongue with red-hot tongs or throwing a red-hot club into its mouth). |
| K128 | 99.69% | A character orders the hero to graze animals (or birds) and promises to execute him (deprive him of his reward) if even one animal is lost. Cf. K128B (ATU 570). |
| M168 | 99.66% | Hares are desperate because they are more cowardly than everyone else, but they rejoice when they learn that there are animals (frogs, sheep) that are afraid of them. |
| M114I | 99.65% | When asked where her father, mother, brother, etc. are, the girl or boy answers in such a way that only an intelligent person can guess what is meant (father went to make an enemy out of a friend, mother went to make one out of two, etc.); or the girl explains the meaning of similar phrases uttered by others. |
| K107D1 | 99.59% | Waiting for his magical wife, the young man falls asleep. The wife cannot wake him up and leaves (this episode is often repeated). |
| M39A8A | 99.56% | A fool or buffoon climbs a tree taking a heavy objects with him and then drops it frightening those who are under the tree |
| M135 | 99.56% | Two ungulates – usually after the wolf agrees to share the meadow between them – gore the predator from both sides, killing or maiming it. |
| M39A2C | 99.55% | A fool (or a character pretending to be crazy) sows salt (small objects) like a grain. |
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
32 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 32 traditions: Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Vepsians, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Nogai, Armenians, Gagauz, Chuvash, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Terek Cossacks, Bosnians, Russian Federation
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