Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I106 — The Great Bear is a single character.
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
OverviewThe Great Bear is one anthropomorphic character, not a group of people.
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations.
I10 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedI10a. Individual layers or categories of the sky or clouds differ in colour.
I10b. Individual layers or categories of earth differ in colour (and other characteristics).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| F79 | 97.15% | The character successively marries various women of non-human nature, but each time (usually, except for the last) he is disappointed. |
| K10E | 91.51% | In the bird's habitat, the hero finds the people it has kidnapped and helps them return home. |
| K47A | 91.31% | A woman mates with a dog. Her children grow up to be humans and usually become the ancestors of certain ethnic groups. |
| L65 | 89.28% | An infant or small child turns out to be a demon and kills people. |
| M84B1 | 88.71% | A person enters a country from where fish come to people (and comes back). |
| M29A | 88.50% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| H36FF | 88.47% | The raven (crow) or other large bird of prey tries to kill people and/or is responsible for the fact that humans (tigres: domestic animals) are mortal or susceptible to disease. |
| L79 | 88.21% | The girl marries a powerful, benevolent character; his first wife is a monster; he kills her or is satisfied that she has been killed by his new wife. |
| L59 | 88.14% | A woman eats the best food or eats fruit before it is ripe; as punishment, she undergoes metamorphosis. |
| K10F | 88.06% | The character turns the children of a flying monster into ordinary eagles or owls. |
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: Old and New Testament, Yao, Makua, Viet, Muong, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Tutchone, Tagish, Tahltan, Koyukon, Western Woods Cree, Eastern Cree, Plains Cree, Carrier, Chilkotin, Oregon Athabaskans: Lower Umpqua, Tututni (incl Joshua), Upper Coquille, Galice, Tolowa, Navajo, Jicarilla, Papago, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Orinoco Kariña, Yaruri, Tamanak, Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Caraja, China
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