Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
C8A2 — Stone lion.
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 lion (often stone) helps to survive the flood.
Berezkin category: Disasters
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms.
C8 has 10 other sub-motifs
RelatedC8. At the beginning of time or as a result of a catastrophe, the only human couple is a brother and sister (less often a mother and son, father and daughters). They marry and give birth to people.
C8a. Finding themselves alone and without other marriage partners, a brother and sister make it possible to marry each other by the occurrence of an incredible event. This event takes place, giving them a sign to become spouses. Among such events (alternatively or sequentially): 1) millstones rolling down from two different mountains fall on top of each other; 2) swords thrown from two mountains end up in the same scabbard; 3) objects thrown up join together; 4) smoke from two fires joins together (rising in a column); 5) two planted bamboo stalks join at the tops. See motif C8.
C8a1. Finding themselves alone and without other marriage partners, a brother and sister make their marriage possible by the occurrence of an incredible event: a thread far from the needle must enter the eye of the needle.
C8a2. The lion (often stone) helps to survive the flood.
c8aa. At the beginning of time, or as a result of a catastrophe, the only human couple are a brother and sister. They marry and give birth to people.
C8b. A brother and sister (or mother and son) find themselves alone, without marriage partners. Both of them (or only the brother, son) refuse to marry, but do so after accepting each other (or the brother accepts the sister, the son accepts the mother) as strangers. They give birth to new people.
C8c. After a global catastrophe, at the beginning of time or when settling a new land, a woman and her son give birth to humans.
C8c1. At the beginning of time or after the destruction of the rest of humanity, a father and daughter (daughters) remain. They marry and give rise to humans or certain ethnic groups.
C8D. A brother and sister survived the flood. They married after having had smallpox and therefore did not recognise each other.
c8e. During the flood or at the beginning of time, people (usually a brother and sister) float in a large gourd.
c8f. During the flood, a brother and sister float in a drum.
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: Manchu, China
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