Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
E27 — People from drops of blood.
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
OverviewPeople arise from drops of blood from a wounded anthropomorphic creature.
Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture
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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M7 | 96.07% | The character goes to the lower world, to the sky, to the country on the horizon, etc. and waits for someone to give him a ride to his goal. Usually, some animals/birds or celestial bodies follow by, and the last (often the Sun or Month) delivers. |
| I133A | 95.83% | There is a constellation that represents a bird and corresponds to several large constellations in European traditions (mainly equatorial, rather than circumpolar). |
| G23A | 95.55% | Parts of the body and organs of living beings are transformed into various plants (teeth into corn, testicles into yams, etc.). |
| G20 | 94.45% | Edible (cultivated or wild) plants emerge from the body of an old woman, a young woman or a girl. |
| I96 | 92.82% | A rainbow consisting of blood either heralds war and death. |
| H9B | 92.21% | People have become like plants, which, although mortal, live on in their descendants (shoots). |
| J64 | 91.26% | Without touching the fire or burning, the character rises into the sky or crosses the river on clouds of smoke. |
| M1B | 91.08% | A caiman/crocodile carries a monkey across a river. She manages to jump ashore and runs away from the caiman. |
| M115 | 89.88% | The character kills an animal that is dangerous to him by cunning. Relatives or friends of the killed animal find out about this and come to take revenge. The character escapes. |
| A12E | 89.64% | The spider attacks the sun or moon (usually causing lunar eclipses). |
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
11 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: Sepik-Ramu stock: Abelam, Yatmul, Aibom, Ayom (incl Tembregak, Asai-river pygmies), Tangu, Porapora (Ambakich), Rao and other groups of Middle Ramu and Upper Keram River tribes; Kwanga, Watam, Kaian, Gamei, Awar; Kire (Lower Ramu), Melanesians and Papuans of Bismark Archipelago: New Britain (Paparatava, Lakalai, Kuni, Sulka, Gazelle peninsula), New Ireland, St Matthias Group, Mioko (Melanesians between New Britain and New Ireland), Melanesians of Admiralty Islands (incl Manus); Seimat (Western Islands), Ifaluk, Woleai, Lamutrek, Faraulip Satawal, Elato, Western Fayu, Nanai, Yuchi, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Tariana, Andoque, Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Papua-New Guinea Northern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Komba, Gimi, Susure, Orokaiva, Bogadjim, Ngain, Sentani, Bargam, Imonda, Nankina, Yupta Valley, Urawa Valley, Warupu (Barupu), Pondoma (Anam)
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.