Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
E40 — Nostrils facing upwards.
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 humans had nostrils facing upwards, into which rain poured.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| G24A | 92.45% | The character steals cultivated plants for people, hiding the seeds on/in his own body. |
| F86A | 91.29% | The character cares for a fish, crab or other creature. Others watch the character, kill and eat his pet, or try to do so. |
| G8F | 89.09% | Characters cut down a tree, but the trunk grows back. They manage to finish the job after the splinters are carried away or burned. |
| M3 | 89.05% | The character crosses a water or air barrier on the backs of chained animals, birds, or fish. |
| I8G | 88.35% | A single giant holds up the earth or the sky. |
| C8C | 87.99% | After a global catastrophe, at the beginning of time or when settling a new land, a woman and her son give birth to humans. |
| C7 | 87.81% | Initially or after the flood, an earthen or stone barrier, the body of a character or creature prevents the flow of water. Later, this barrier is removed or destroyed. |
| E5B | 84.60% | The first human (a group of brothers) or the first human couple emerge from underground (from a cave) or from a small object on the surface (a mound, a reed, a tree, a stone, a pumpkin). Cf. motif E5A: people from the underworld. |
| A11A | 84.49% | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. |
| J21 | 83.77% | Gods, ancestors of humans, and founders of dynasties are born from eggs. |
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
3 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 3 traditions: Minahasa (incl. Tondano, Tentemboan), Bantik, 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, Tzotzil
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
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