Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
C41 — Why the sky is blue.
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
OverviewAt first, the sky has no specific colour. After a character hangs a cloth on it or performs other actions, the sky acquires its characteristic colour.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A8 | 100.00% | The sun, moon and stars â three brothers or three sisters. |
| B119 | 100.00% | A woman of non-human nature agrees to live with a man, but leaves him upon learning of his real or imagined infidelity. |
| B121 | 100.00% | A small bird carries pebbles and sticks, trying to fill the sea. |
| B49A | 100.00% | Powerful animals could have many cubs, but now they give birth to only one every few years. |
| B6A | 100.00% | The first woman gives birth to several eggs. One or two of them remain unchanged for a long time and are thrown into the river, believing them to be spoiled. However, it is precisely from these eggs that characters of high status emerge (or should have emerged). |
| B77B2 | 100.00% | The sky moved away and/or the connection between people and the deity ceased after the sky or the heavenly deity was touched or struck with a broom. |
| B93A | 100.00% | Once a year, birds form a bridge across the heavenly river with their bodies. Usually, the feathers on their heads are worn away as a result. |
| C39 | 100.00% | When the sky split or partially collapsed, it was repaired. |
| C39A | 100.00% | A hole in the sky or a crack in the ground was plugged with a piece of ice, which is why it is cold in the north (north-west, north-east). |
| C40 | 100.00% | At first, stones fell from the sky and crushed people. |
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
2 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 2 traditions: Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), China
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