Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
E31C — Rescuers of the Abducted Maiden, ATU 513A, ATU 653.
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
OverviewSeveral men, each possessing a unique skill, bring a (kidnapped) girl from a distant country.
Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
E31 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedE31. A man makes a wooden doll and behaves as if it were alive. It does not come to life, or comes to life only partially or temporarily. A real woman replaces the figure and marries the carver.
E31a. Several men (women) participate in the rescue, creation or revival of a girl (man), or mourn her (his) death. The question arises as to whom the revived person should belong to or who contributed more to the revival. Alternatively, three men create something valuable, each contributing their part. The question arises as to whose contribution is more important.
E31a1. Three (rarely four or two) men participate in the creation of the girl: one carves the figure out of wood, another dresses her, and the third brings her to life. To whom should the animated girl belong?
E31a2. The girl must be given to one of several men. She herself or someone else explains that one of the suitors can be called her father, another her brother (etc.), and only one can be her husband.
E31b. Several women participate in reviving a dead man and argue about who did more to revive him.
E31c. Several men, each possessing a unique skill, bring a (kidnapped) girl from a distant country.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M39A1 | 99.59% | character misunderstands the first instruction, promises to do the right thing next time; literally follows a memorized rule that does not correspond to the new situation; so multiple times. |
| M141B | 99.52% | An insignificant event (a falling leaf, acorn, etc.) is taken by an animal as the beginning of a catastrophe (the end of the world, war, the falling of the sky, etc.) and it flees. Other animals join the fleeing animal. |
| M161 | 99.49% | A character gives another a sack that is supposed to contain food, but in fact contains a dog; or frees a girl (boy) from a sack or chest and replaces her with a dog or other dangerous animal. The animal attacks the person who opened the sack. |
| B102A | 99.45% | Clouds are associated with horned cattle, especially cows (and rain is their milk). |
| K80A | 99.40% | An object or creature that has emerged from the remains, jewellery, etc. of the murdered person tells about the murder, exposing the criminal. The East Slavic texts in this section were mainly provided by K.Y. Rakhno. |
| K113 | 99.38% | Young men (usually three brothers) find wives (usually by shooting arrows or other objects at random, see motif K113A). The wife of the youngest brother is initially ugly or appears in the form of an animal (often a frog or snake), but turns out to be a beauty and a sorceress. Alternatively, the girls choose their husbands, and the wife of the youngest brother is a sorceress. |
| K132 | 99.36% | A small character (usually a rooster) comes to a powerful enemy. Thanks to creatures and objects that he encounters along the way and hides in his body or bag, the character remains unharmed after all attempts to destroy him. Cf. motif L126. |
| J62 | 99.31% | The character turns those who come to him into inanimate objects (usually stones). (In variants of the ATU 303 plot, the motif is often absent; original texts are needed). |
| K2B | 99.27% | The occupations or names of the hero's companions are unusual and different for each one, but their specific abilities, which can be inferred from these names, are insignificant for the development of the plot. Cf. motif K66, "Heroes with different abilities". |
| K81 | 99.26% | For a minor offence or on false charges, a young woman is maimed and expelled from her home (rarely: she is killed or maims herself). The cripple miraculously recovers (the dead woman is resurrected). |
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
65 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 65 traditions: Berbers of Morocco and adjacent parts of Algeria, Algeria Arabs, Shilluk, Anuak, Enenga, Mpongwe, Kuta (Koto), Nkomi, Masango, Mindumu, Mbede, Mitsogo, Bawunga, Ndumu (Ndumbo), Duma, Teke, (B)wende, Zaghawa, Songhai, Khmer, Viet, Muong, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Himachali-Pahari (Western Pahari), Koreans, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Catalan, Maltese, Sicily, Sicilians, France, Dutch, Flemish, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Persians, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Tabasaran, Aghul, Nogai, Tats, Armenians, Kalmyk, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Sulu, Pamun, Samal, Taosug, Icelanders, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Frisians, Japan, Russian Federation
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