Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
C31 — The wise hedgehog (cosmology).
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 hedgehog is wiser or more cunning than all the gods and animals; it possesses knowledge that is vital for human existence.
Berezkin category: Disasters
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 9, Identification of protagonists of the stories with particular animals or persons with particular qualities.
C31 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedC31. The hedgehog is wiser or more cunning than all the gods and animals; it possesses knowledge that is vital for human existence.
C31a. The master (mistress) of the underworld receives (should receive) heavenly lights or fire. Due to a trick or accident, they are not given to him or are returned.
C31b. The owl is wiser and more intelligent than other living creatures.
C31c. The bat turns out to be smarter and wiser than other living creatures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L81C | 99.40% | The legless man lives together with the blind and armless man (or with one of the two). By working together, they are healed. |
| I87AA | 99.16% | Describes a giant bull (rarely: horse): head in one field, body in another; a bathhouse on its tail, a lake on its back; people standing at its head and tail have to walk a long way to meet each other; etc. Usually the bull is killed and eaten (by people in Baltic-Finnish traditions and in Olonets antiquity; by birds in most southern traditions). |
| M197C | 99.11% | A man sells sand, dust, etc. as a remedy against fleas, mice, etc. He explains that you need to catch a flea and pour sand into its eyes. The buyer replies that you can crush a caught flea. The seller: that's even easier. |
| C29 | 99.00% | People (God) learn a secret by overhearing (spying on) a character talking to himself or his relatives (or performing actions that should be remembered). The knowledge gained is related to cosmogony or the acquisition of cultural values. |
| I132A | 98.54% | A girl sits on a swing and it lifts her up to the sky. |
| B83 | 98.48% | A character attempts to lift a small object or creature, which turns out to be gigantic and unliftable. Cf. motif I87ab. |
| M99A | 98.45% | The character is going to build a house (tower, etc.) from the bones or feathers of birds. |
| N33 | 98.43% | hero drives the enemy into the ground, or he and the enemy alternately drive each other into the ground (ankle-deep, waist-deep, etc.). |
| I128 | 98.43% | The Big Dipper â a ladle, a scoop. |
| N30 | 98.28% | formula that describes the confusion of feelings: when a character looks in one direction, he cries, and when he laughs or smiles in the other direction. |
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
23 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 23 traditions: Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Pashto, Ossetians, Ingush, Nogai, Tats, Armenians, Kalmyk, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Udmurt, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Transylvanian Saksons
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