Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H27A — A hole in the ground where a stake was driven.
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
OverviewWhen creating the earth, a negative character asks a positive character for as much earth as is necessary to prop up a staff, stake.
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.
H27 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedH27. Before spreading throughout the world, stinging or blood-sucking insects or reptiles, diseases or evil spirits were kept in a vessel, bag or other small container. See motif H24.
H27a. When creating the earth, a negative character asks a positive character for as much earth as is necessary to prop up a staff, stake.
H27a1. Reptiles and insects crawl out of holes in the ground, bringing disease.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J26A | 99.39% | Among children of a woman or two women living together, there is a boy and a puppy, or a puppy was placed with a woman, and her son was thrown out. The puppy lives with the woman and helps her. |
| C28 | 98.89% | A demonic character takes possession of a valuable item without which another character (and people) will perish. The demon is tricked into returning the valuable item. |
| I91 | 98.81% | At the foot or around the base of a tree connecting the tiers of the universe or of gigantic size and considered the main tree of the world, there is a spring or water body, the water of which usually has unusual properties. |
| H27A1 | 97.76% | Reptiles and insects crawl out of holes in the ground, bringing disease. |
| K52C | 96.87% | Demonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion and that those present also see animals (waterfowl, fish or marine mammals). |
| H40 | 96.84% | The dog guards and protects (successfully or unsuccessfully) a human figure that has not been completely finished by the creator, or the entrance to paradise. |
| A29B | 96.59% | A character associated with the upper world and a character associated with the earth or the lower world each seek to possess the hero or heroine who is associated with the Moon. |
| N10A | 96.56% | A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described - bones are visible through the skin, bone marrow is visible through the bones. This transparency is a sign of beauty. |
| H43AA | 96.15% | Having created the human body, the creator leaves. At this time, his opponent spits on the figure, which has not yet come to life, smears it with mud, etc. |
| A29 | 95.70% | A character associated with the upper world and a character associated with the earth or the lower world each strive to possess a human being and pull him towards themselves. One or both rivals are women. The character of the upper world and/or the one for whom the struggle is being waged is associated with the luminaries â the sun, the moon, Venus. |
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
21 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 21 traditions: Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Anatolia Turks, Chuvash, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Tofa (Karagas), Khakas, Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Nenets, Kets, Southern Altai: Teleut, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Russian Federation
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 Š 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.
Š 2024â2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.