Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

F20 — Lovers stuck together.

52 Myths, legends and folktales

52 Unique narratives for motif F20

39 Cultures & traditions where F20 is told

1 Sub-motifs of motif F20

Please log on to view the narratives.

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

Overview

After copulation, the man and woman are unable to break their embrace.

Berezkin category: Gender and sex

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.

F20 has 1 other sub-motifs

F20. After copulation, the man and woman are unable to break their embrace.
F20a. At first, people mated as dogs do now, but then it became as it is now.

🌐 See a combined distribution map for all of F20’s motifs

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny

Motif	Similarity	Motif summary
M33	93.30%	The character plugs or seals his anus tightly (with wax, clay, grass, etc.), or someone else does it. See M32 motif.
B15	91.33%	The river flows from the organs of a woman's body.
F43A	90.78%	In the community of the first ancestors, women kill, attempt to kill, or transform men.
B37	89.88%	The character decorates various birds (less often fish) and distributes fat to animals. Since then, the corresponding species have possessed their current characteristics.
L21	89.76%	A cannibal or demon under a tree intends to grab a person who has climbed a tree; the person throws his prey or some object far away, and while the cannibal is looking for, picking up or eating what has been thrown, he runs away.
E25	89.75%	People learn the art of weaving from a spider or from a person who later becomes a spider; the spider makes fabrics for humans.
M18A	89.62%	The character becomes the object of fishing or hunting, presenting himself as a target for enemies. Numerous arrows, darts, and harpoons stick into his body without causing harm, and he carries them away. See motif M18.
L135	89.53%	A person leaves home and finds himself in unfamiliar places. His journey is marked by encounters with various strange creatures. In the end, he either returns home or leaves the earth for another world. (With an abundance of episodes, the story often either breaks off or does not contain the initial episodes explaining the reason for the hero's departure from home).
F95	89.39%	Two companions or brothers live together. One has a wife, whom he hides. The other suspects her existence, destroys her, or tries to get a wife for himself.
M14A	89.37%	To take revenge on his wife or her relatives for (allegedly) causing him offence, the husband roasts his wife alive. See motif M14.

See the 100 most similar distributions →

Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

Drag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below

🌐 Open as Airocean (Dymaxion) map ↗

Traditions

39 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 39 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Trans-New Guinea and unclassified Papuan groups of Irian Jaya: Mejprat, Arandai-Bintuni, Inanwatan-Berau, Papua of Gelvink (Cenderawasih) Bay, Kamoró, Marind Anim, Sawi, Mafore; Korowai; Kwerba; Momina, Eipo, Yale, Awyu, Central Vanuatu: Espiritu Santo, Araki, Aore, Maewo, Malekula, Vao, Efate (Vate), Nguna, Mae, Ambrim, Pentecost, Oba (=Aoba, East Ambae, Lepers'), Omba, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Northern Taiwan: Atayal (Tayal; Taruko (Toda, Taokas, Torok, Taroko), Pazeh, Sedeq (Sediq, Seedeq, Sazek), Saisiyat (Saixia), Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, 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, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Persians, Ossetians, Gagauz, Udmurt, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Tanana, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Blackfoot, Yana, Zuni, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Trio, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Locono, Wayapi, Emerillon, Juruna, Xipaya, Tenetehara, Suruí, Gaviâo, Zoro, Arua, Cinta Larga, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Chamacoco (Ishir), Toba (incl Pilagá), Caduveo, Mbaya, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Bosnians

Please log on to view the narratives.

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.