Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H50 — The sky god and the mistress of the dead.
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 pair of deities or first ancestors diverge. The man remains on earth or goes to heaven (remains in heaven), the woman becomes the mistress of the world of the dead, the earth, the underworld, usually associated with disease and poisonous animals.
Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A13A | 91.24% | The raven steals or hides the sun, or attempts to do so. |
| B72A | 91.15% | Mother (stepmother, adoptive father) does not give food to a girl or (less often) a boy. The child asks migratory birds to take him with them, they give him bird clothing, he flies away with them, becoming a bird. |
| I86 | 90.43% | The inhabitants of the upper world produce down, wool, and scales, which turn into birds, animals, and fish. |
| B72B | 90.15% | A girl or, less commonly, a boy turns into a bird after his mother (father, guardian) refuses to give him water or food or otherwise mistreats him. |
| F89 | 89.81% | A sister and brother live alone. The brother refuses to commit incest. The sister resorts to cunning, as a result of which the brother mistakes her for a stranger and marries her. |
| H43AB | 89.81% | Man is mortal because he was spat upon at creation. |
| M3A | 89.67% | The character invites aquatic creatures to count them, and to do this, form a chain; crosses it to the other side or climbs to land. See M3 motif. |
| M45A | 89.37% | A person is sleeping or pretending to be asleep or dead. Animals take him for a dead man - they mourn him, carry him to bury him, they are going to eat it, etc. A person beats the crowd and/or obtains benefits. |
| A32H | 89.29% | A tree, bush, branch, snag, etc. are visible on the lunar disc. See motif A32G. |
| M108 | 88.83% | The character is called upon to help perform a task (usually to transport property or provisions across a river) and takes away what has been entrusted to him. |
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
12 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 12 traditions: Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands), Tuamotu, incl Pukapuka (different from Pukapuka in Cook Islands), Vahitahi, Anaa, Hao, Fangatau, Mangareva, Ot Danum, Ngadju, Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Palaung (De Ang, Deang), Lepcha, Kirati (Kiranti): Rai (incl Thulung), Limbu, Newar, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Kets, Japan
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