Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
G13B — Mushrooms as inferior food.
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 the advent of cultivated plants, people ate mushrooms. Creatures of a non-human nature feed on mushrooms. Mushrooms are imaginary, inferior food.
Berezkin category: Fertility and Agriculture
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 6, Origin and interpretation of culture elements, in particular related to agriculture, inadequate forms of subsistence and economic activity before the establishment of the present norms.
G13 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedG13. Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate rotten or soft wood (ceiba â Ceiba L., balsa â Ochroma (Bombax) Sw.); some people eat rotten wood.
G13a. Before the advent of cultivated plants (fire, hunting skills), people ate earth, clay, and stones.
G13b. Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate mushrooms. Creatures of a non-human nature feed on mushrooms. Mushrooms are imaginary, inferior food.
G13c. Before the advent of cultivated or edible wild plants, people ate what is now considered unfit for consumption: (rotten) wood, bark, earth, stones, mushrooms.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| F9C | 96.84% | Snake (in Oceania â moray eel) in the vagina; vagina â snake's mouth; snake crawls out of a woman's mouth and bites off a man's penis during intercourse; woman with a toothy womb is associated with a snake. |
| D5 | 96.61% | The original owner or inventor (but not the embodiment) of fire is a female character. |
| E7 | 96.29% | The path from one part of the world to another passes through a narrow opening. The character gets stuck in the opening, permanently severing the connection between the worlds. |
| G24 | 94.87% | The first seeds (shoots, tubers) of cultivated or important wild food plants and/or agronomic knowledge were brought from the sky (received from the gods). |
| L3 | 94.45% | The demon takes on human form and comes to his wife (less often to another woman). Usually, the woman (alone or with a child) runs away and/or kills the monster, either by herself or with someone's help. |
| B17 | 94.23% | Darkness is a special object that can be carried and transferred (usually brought from the original owner in a vessel or bag). |
| E6 | 93.93% | When a woman of childbearing age (she is menstruating, miscarrying, pregnant, with a child, or simply fat) tries to pass from one world to another, the connection between the worlds is severed forever. |
| G13A | 93.65% | Before the advent of cultivated plants (fire, hunting skills), people ate earth, clay, and stones. |
| F18A | 93.43% | The penis of a male character is much longer than normal or becomes so. During intercourse, it usually crawls towards the woman like a snake. (Only texts with a focus on authenticity are included, not anecdotes). |
| E8 | 93.05% | The first humans or the wife of the first ancestor were made of wood. |
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
19 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 19 traditions: Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Ot Danum, Ngadju, Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Khmer, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Sinhalese; Vedda, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Cherokee, Huichol, Lacandon, Sicuani, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Locono, Aguaruna, Huambiza, Witoto, Ocaina, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Rikbaktsa
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