Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
E36 — Hard covering of the body.
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 human body was or could have been covered with a protective layer (bone, rarely wool), but it has only been preserved on the nails (head).
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.
E36 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedE36. The human body was or could have been covered with a protective layer (bone, rarely wool), but it has only been preserved on the nails (head).
E36a. Nails grow constantly, or the human body is covered with a hard crust only on the nails, because only they were washed with living water.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K62A | 98.48% | A mouse (rat, mole, etc.) and a bird quarrel after failing to divide their winter supplies. (This episode usually serves as the beginning of a story about a war between birds and animals). |
| K25A2 | 98.41% | An anthropomorphic character flies away or tries to fly away, attaching feathers shed by birds flying in the sky to his body. |
| K73B6 | 98.23% | The wife of a powerful character gives birth to wonderful children. Her jealous sisters conspire to make her husband order her to be disposed of (usually by locking her and the child in a barrel and throwing it into the water). The boy immediately grows up and rescues his mother and himself. He himself (in the form of a bird, animal, insect, or flying in on a miraculous object) or his puppy brother enters his father's lair and, eavesdropping on the conversation, learns of the existence of miraculous objects. Upon returning, he obtains them or already possesses them and demonstrates them to his father when they meet (the objects may include the young man's brothers). |
| H7F | 98.13% | God gives instructions that certain categories of people must die and suffer. The character who receives the instructions, caring for the people, passes on other orders to the executors. |
| C31A | 98.06% | The master (mistress) of the underworld receives (should receive) heavenly lights or fire. Due to a trick or accident, they are not given to him or are returned. |
| B110 | 97.78% | A character who is dragged along the ground or who runs, falls apart or hits the ground with different parts of his body. This determines the characteristics of the landscape and flora. |
| B52B | 97.77% | The character regurgitates the earth hidden (usually in his mouth), thereby creating mountains, swamps, and other inconveniences. See motif B52. |
| I98B | 97.69% | The Pleiades – ducks, nest or wild duck egg. |
| H6C1 | 97.44% | To obtain the desired object, the character grabs the young or the female bird (snake, crab) and promises to release them if the father (mother, male) bird delivers the desired object. |
| H48 | 97.38% | Illnesses – female sisters (less often male brothers), usually children of an evil spirit. |
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
43 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 43 traditions: Tunisia Arabs, Ot Danum, Ngadju, Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Ireland, Basques, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Persians, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Mongols (Khalkha), Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Nenets, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Oroch, Chipewyan, Beaver, Tsimshian, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Russian Federation
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