Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
C28 — Rash promise.
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
OverviewA demonic character takes possession of a valuable item without which another character (and people) will perish. The demon is tricked into returning the valuable item.
Berezkin category: Disasters
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 |
|---|---|---|
| J26A | 99.49% | Among children of a woman or two women living together, there is a boy and a puppy, or a puppy was placed with a woman, and her son was thrown out. The puppy lives with the woman and helps her. |
| H27A | 98.89% | When creating the earth, a negative character asks a positive character for as much earth as is necessary to prop up a staff, stake. |
| N10A | 98.57% | A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described - bones are visible through the skin, bone marrow is visible through the bones. This transparency is a sign of beauty. |
| H27A1 | 98.25% | Reptiles and insects crawl out of holes in the ground, bringing disease. |
| A29 | 97.98% | A character associated with the upper world and a character associated with the earth or the lower world each strive to possess a human being and pull him towards themselves. One or both rivals are women. The character of the upper world and/or the one for whom the struggle is being waged is associated with the luminaries â the sun, the moon, Venus. |
| I91 | 97.82% | At the foot or around the base of a tree connecting the tiers of the universe or of gigantic size and considered the main tree of the world, there is a spring or water body, the water of which usually has unusual properties. |
| H43AA | 96.91% | Having created the human body, the creator leaves. At this time, his opponent spits on the figure, which has not yet come to life, smears it with mud, etc. |
| N10 | 95.84% | A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described. This transparency is a sign of beauty. |
| B120 | 95.74% | There are creatures that sleep in winter, and frozen snot hangs from their noses. (Motif identified by Evgenia Korovina). |
| K52C | 95.54% | Demonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion and that those present also see animals (waterfowl, fish or marine mammals). |
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: Western Ukrainians, Gagauz, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Mordvins, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Khakas, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori
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