Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
E22 — The swallowed gains knowledge.
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
OverviewOnce inside a certain creature, the swallowed character learns rituals, songs, ornamental motifs, obtains drugs or poison, and, once outside again, passes this knowledge on to people.
Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 6, Origin and interpretation of culture elements, in particular related to agriculture, inadequate forms of subsistence and economic activity before the establishment of the present norms.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A24A | 97.98% | At the moment of the first day or the first night, people transform into supernatural characters. |
| A18 | 97.30% | The sun and/or moon make their daily and/or nightly (underground, in the land beyond the horizon, behind the mountain) journey in a boat. |
| H26 | 92.83% | A vessel containing stinging insects or reptiles should be thrown into a river or the sea, or buried in a remote place. See motif H24B. |
| J24 | 91.69% | The hero, ground into powder, is reborn. |
| K15A | 91.44% | The hero secretly replaces the weapon or magical tool of a powerful character with a worthless fake. Traditions in which the replaced weapon belongs to Grom are highlighted in bold. |
| L83 | 91.29% | A character who has only a head left (motif L5) or who has burned his leg (motif L82) turns into lightning/thunder (or emits lightning/thunderclaps). |
| C14 | 91.12% | During or on the eve of a global catastrophe (flood, darkness), animals or monsters attack people. (See motif C13A (rebellion of things: animated objects and/or domestic animals threaten people, attack them).) |
| K16 | 91.06% | Taking the form of a bird, bat, insect, small animal, or fish, the man enters the young woman's home (her father's house). |
| B67 | 90.58% | A fallen tree and/or its stump turns into a mountain (mountain range) or rocks. (Usually, the branches of this tree bear the fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants, see motif G5). |
| A1 | 90.55% | Another sun — less powerful or less favourable to humans — existed before the appearance of the current one. |
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
9 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Finns, Karelians, Diegueño: Ipai, Tipai, Kamia (Kumeai), Yaruro, Piaroa, Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Waiwai, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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