Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H16 — Rivers of tears.
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
OverviewIn another world, there are rivers of tears. Tears shed on earth fill large containers there. Cf. motifs K33F, N34, N35.
Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects.
H16 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedH16. In another world, there are rivers of tears. Tears shed on earth fill large containers there. Cf. motifs K33F, N34, N35.
H16a. The narratives (in various contexts) mention rivers (lakes) of blood (as well as water used to wash the dead, pus, bones, sweat). Cf. motifs H16, K33F, N34.
H16b. The narratives (in various contexts) mention a milk pond (river, lake, wave in the sea) existing on earth (but not among the stars). Cf. motifs H16, K33F, N34.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I132A | 87.93% | A girl sits on a swing and it lifts her up to the sky. |
| B33E | 87.65% | The last cold month regrets that it did not come earlier or that it is too short. In that case, it would have frozen everyone. |
| F70E2 | 87.65% | The father sends his daughters or sons on a difficult task one by one. At the very beginning of the journey, their courage is put to the test. Only the youngest son or daughter passes the test. Usually, the father stands in their way, taking the form of an enemy or a predator, but only the youngest son or daughter bravely enters the fight. |
| A32I | 87.57% | A shepherd (shepherd and girl, shepherd and his flock, dogs) can be seen on the lunar disc. |
| B108 | 87.57% | An anthropomorphic character that has fallen apart into pieces turns into snow. |
| K156 | 87.57% | A girl pretends to be a man. To determine who it really is, flowers are placed under the pillow or mattress. If a man is sleeping, they will remain fresh, but if a woman is sleeping, they will wilt by morning (or if a woman is sleeping, the milk left under the bed will sour). |
| K77B3 | 87.57% | Goats encounter a wolf. One goat has one stomach, the second has two, the third has three, and so on. The goat with the most stomachs kills or scares away the wolf. |
| L65A2 | 87.57% | A man shoots off (damages) the finger of a demonic creature, and then sees that his sister, lying in her cradle, has lost her finger. |
| L85D | 87.57% | The hero encounters a giant and a strongman (usually a ploughman) with one arm, one leg, or one eye. He was crippled by a character who turned out to be much bigger and stronger than him. |
| M199M | 87.57% | A man explains to a demon that the heavy objects lying by the roadside, such as a harrow or a millstone, are just things used by his grandmother or mother, such as a spindle or a comb. |
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
28 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 28 traditions: Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Maltese, Lithuanians, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Turkmen, Udmurt, Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Central Yupik, Inland Tlingit, Ingalik (Der Hit’an), Tlingit, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Gulf Nahuatl, Chol; pre-Columbian Mayan iconography outside of Yucatan, Lacandon, Kogi (Cagaba), Sanha, Creols of Aritama Valley, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians
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