Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H44 — The bloody division of offspring (ATU 485).
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
OverviewA human enters into a relationship with a non-human being. When they part, the being tears apart (or intends to tear apart) their child. (Most of the data was collected by S.Y. Neklyudov).
Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
H44 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedH44. A human enters into a relationship with a non-human being. When they part, the being tears apart (or intends to tear apart) their child. (Most of the data was collected by S.Y. Neklyudov).
H44a. Two characters, one associated with the sky or water, and the other with the earth or the world of spirits and humans, divide the child they have given birth to or the people they have created. Usually, the sky (water, spirit) takes the imperishable part, and the earth (human) takes the perishable part.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L19B2 | 98.33% | A creature with nine heads is mentioned – either singly or at the end of a series of creatures with fewer heads. |
| K27HH | 97.52% | The character is tasked with quickly separating small particles of different types (usually seeds of different plant species) mixed together in a single vessel, or counting the number of grains, or gathering scattered or already sown grain. |
| K76 | 97.28% | A boy who is born or found has a strange or ugly appearance (ball, nut, sack, half-human, dwarf, animal), but then demonstrates magical powers and turns out to be handsome (usually getting a bride of high status). The princess's magical spouse initially has a non-human or ugly appearance. |
| H18B | 97.27% | Having received livestock from supernatural characters, a person (usually due to violating a prohibition on looking, shouting, etc.) immediately loses all or most of the animals (they go into the water, into the sky, scatter, etc.). |
| B52C | 97.27% | When the earth and sky were created, they turned out to be different sizes. The earth was compressed, and mountains appeared. See motif B52. |
| B43A | 96.91% | The character is created from many materials or objects, or from materials brought from different places. |
| K56B | 96.86% | Two men take turns meeting a character who can reward and punish. One behaves correctly and is rewarded, the other (or two others) behave incorrectly and are punished (rarely: not rewarded). |
| M57C | 96.63% | An animal (donkey, bull, horse, goat, bear, leopard) or inanimate object makes gold or food stand out, or a character makes others believe that this is the case. |
| K76A | 96.37% | A frog or toad marries a beautiful woman, or a handsome young man marries a frog. |
| K73 | 96.27% | A young wife (promises to give birth and) gives birth to wonderful children (or one son). In the absence of her husband, attempts are made to kill the wife or her child (usually by slandering them to the husband), but they remain alive. (For medieval European variants, see Newell 1906). |
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
26 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 26 traditions: Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Central Taiwan: Bunun (Vonum), La'arua, Tsou, Kanabu, Kanakanabu, Early Chinese written sources, Kirati (Kiranti): Rai (incl Thulung), Limbu, Newar, 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, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Ancient Greece, Vepsians, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz, Kazakh, Mari (Cheremis), Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Daur (Daghur), Maldives, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Bhutan, China, Russian Federation
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