Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
E9D — The magical wife – the dog.
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
OverviewBefore meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dog or puppy (wolf cub).
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.
E9 has 21 other sub-motifs
RelatedE9. The character notices that someone is running the house in his absence and catches the person doing so by surprise.
E9a. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a fox.
E9aa. A man searches for a missing woman, who is a fox by nature, and comes to the burrow where she has hidden. Various bird or animal women come out of the burrow and offer themselves in place of the fox. Then they let him inside.
E9b. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of an elephant (elephant tusk).
E9c. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a large hoofed mammal (buffalo, antelope, moose, etc.).
E9d. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dog or puppy (wolf cub).
E9e. An animal or object received by a young man from supernatural beings as a reward for his kindness, upon the young man's return home (to earth), turns into a girl.
E9f. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a parrot.
E9g. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture.
E9h. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dove.
E9i1. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a swan.
E9i2. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper, adopted daughter) takes the form of a duck.
E9i3. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a goose.
E9i4. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a crane.
e9i5. Before meeting the hero, his wife takes the form of a snail.
E9j. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a monkey, or the man hides the woman and pretends that the mistress is a monkey.
e9j1. Humans are considered descendants of monkeys.
E9k. The husband or wife is the embodiment of honey or a human bee.
E9l. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a mouse (rarely: a rat).
E9m. A man marries a bear (white or grizzly) that takes the form of a woman, or a woman who takes the form of a bear.
E9n. A man marries a female seal, seal or dolphin that has taken the form of a woman and lives with her among people.
E9o. A man marries a woman who has the appearance of a frog or toad.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I78 | 92.80% | The earth is thought of as rectangular (usually square). |
| B2E | 91.70% | The Earth or the world as a whole is a male character (alone or alongside a female character). |
| A32A | 91.19% | The figure or imprint of a rabbit or hare is visible on the lunar disc. |
| J21 | 90.38% | Gods, ancestors of humans, and founders of dynasties are born from eggs. |
| I7 | 89.43% | The reptile produces rain and thunderstorms. |
| I8E1 | 89.42% | The sky or earth is supported by four objects or beings located at the four cardinal points (either four groups of beings, or four at the corners and a fifth in the centre). Th A841. See motifs 8A, 8D. |
| C7 | 89.18% | 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. |
| I69 | 88.72% | Luminous celestial objects or atmospheric phenomena are bodily secretions of celestial beings. |
| D1B | 88.53% | The man is the master or embodiment of fire (alone or alongside the woman-fire). |
| C12B | 87.34% | All people or individual ethnic groups, lineages, families are considered descendants of dogs (with which a man mated). |
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
39 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 39 traditions: Dinka, Atuot, Nuer, Shilluk, Anuak, Acoli (Acholi), Lur (Alur, Luri), Lango, Ganda, (Ba)Nyoro, Nyankole, Masaba (Gisu), Luia (=Luyia, Haya, Luhya, Bantu Kawirondo; incl. Vugusu, Maragoli), Aka, Baka (Badjue) and other Western (Bantu speaking) Pygmies, Santali, Turi, Mahli, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Warli, Lepcha, England, British, Bretons, Kalmyk, Chuvash, Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Udeghe, Nanai, Nivkh, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Polar Inuit, Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Mayo, Yaqui, Sinaloa, Huichol, Tepecano, Tepehua, Totonac, Mixtec, Trique, Cuicatec; Amuzgo, Tzotzil, Chol; pre-Columbian Mayan iconography outside of Yucatan, Lacandon, Warao, Locono, Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Kodiak, Mustang, Lisu, Lolo (incl. Bai), Achang, Yi, Axi, Nasu, Jino, Taungyo, Bhutan
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