Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
D3 — The invention of fire.
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 first fire was obtained by friction or striking; a certain character gives fire or shows how to obtain it, teaches how to cook food on fire; fire was obtained from lightning. {The section is incomplete, there is much more data. A specific plot of the invention of fire hardly exists. Variants involving abduction and invention are often intertwined in the same narrative}.
Berezkin category: Fire and Laughter
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 0.00% | Another sun — less powerful or less favourable to humans — existed before the appearance of the current one. |
| A10 | 0.00% | The sun gets its sparkling eyes (eye) from an animal. |
| A11A | 0.00% | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. |
| A11B | 0.00% | The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A. |
| A11C | 0.00% | The Sun and Moon kill a monster whose eyes shine differently. At first, the Moon takes the brighter eye, but then swaps with the Sun. |
| A12 | 0.00% | A creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, winter and summer, night and day, phases of the moon) or occasionally (eclipses, eschatological catastrophes) attack the luminaries or block their light. |
| A12A | 0.00% | During an eclipse or under other circumstances, predators attack the luminaries: wolves, bears, jaguars, pumas, dogs, foxes, raccoons. See motif A12. |
| A12B | 0.00% | During an eclipse or at sunset (marked *), the luminaries are swallowed by a toad or frog. |
| A12C | 0.00% | Eclipses of the sun, moon or their setting (marked*) are caused by a snake, lizard, dragon, fish or crocodile; these creatures attack the luminaries now or attacked them at the beginning of time. See motif A12. |
| A12D | 0.00% | Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12. |
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
73 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 73 traditions: Ngbakka, Mbum (incl Mbai), Mundang, Fali, Tupuri, Maya (=Bali), Nyong, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Ami, Chuvash, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Shor, Ainu, Chugach, Yuchi, Cheyenne, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Nez Perce, Shasta; Chimariko, Karok, Hupa, Chilula, Yurok, Chitimacha, Choctaw, Chicasaw, Wintu, Patwin, Nomlaki, Yokuts, Cahuilla, Cupeño, Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Seri, Pima, Huichol, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Paya (Pech), Sumu, Misquito, Kogi (Cagaba), Sanha, Creols of Aritama Valley, Yupa (Yukpa), Guajiro, Sicuani, Cuiva, Yaruro, Makiritare (Yecuana), Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Akawai, Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Cañari, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Chayahuita , Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Witoto, Ocaina, Xipaya, Ashaninca (Campa), Tupari, Makurap, Sakirap, Ajuru (Wayoro), Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Iranxe, Nambikwara, Paresi, Bororo, Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Sanapana, Lengua (incl Angaite), Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Ayoreo, Chamacoco (Ishir), Mataco, Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Toba (incl Pilagá), Ofaie, Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa, Northern and Southern Tehuelche, Yamana (Yaghan), Alacaluf, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, China, Halkomelem (Snaymuk)
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