Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I12 — World axis.
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 tree, a pole with branches, rarely a smooth pole connects the tiers of the universe. The most distinct variants, according to which the tiers of the universe are strung on a tree, are marked in italics.
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I20A | 94.11% | Anthropomorphic inhabitants of the upper world β giants. |
| L93 | 92.65% | A demon, a man-eater, chops down a tree or a rock on top of which the hero is hiding. While he is resting, the animal throws his axe into the water, carries it away or damages it. See motif L92. |
| L64 | 92.21% | A certain character removes, takes out a part of his body (head, scalp, lungs), takes it in his hands, puts it back. |
| L92 | 91.56% | A demon, a cannibal, chops down a tree or rock on top of which the hero has climbed. Another character offers the cannibal a rest and takes over the chopping, but only spoils his work or (among the Athapaskans) kills him as soon as the cannibal hands him his axe. (African variants are clearly borrowed from Eurasia). |
| D1 | 91.37% | A woman (usually elderly) is the embodiment of fire β alone or together with her husband, the master of fire. Cf. motif D5 (woman possesses fire). |
| N37 | 91.14% | The character is said to sleep under the sky (like a blanket). |
| L95 | 90.62% | A person (usually a child or teenager) returns to a previous location for a forgotten item (often a toy) and finds a demon there, from which they struggle to escape. |
| I82H | 90.49% | The name of Venus sounds like Cholpan, Cholbon, Tsolmon, etc. (Δol- 'to sparkle, to shine' [VΓ‘mbΓ©ri 1879: 155]). |
| H40 | 90.27% | 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. |
| I32 | 89.71% | There was or is a tree on which babies grow; the souls of unborn babies; whose leaves have turned into people; whose trunk is covered with many female nipples or flowers from which babies suck milk or juice. |
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
49 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 49 traditions: Batak (Toba, Dairi), Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Khmu (Kammu), Puoc, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Nepali; Tharu, Kafir, or Nuristani: Prasun; Kati (incl. Paruni), Ashkun (Ashunu), Waigali, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Nogai, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Mansi, Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Udeghe, Nanai, Olcha (Ulch), Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Oregon Athabaskans: Lower Umpqua, Tututni (incl Joshua), Upper Coquille, Galice, Tolowa, Okanagon, Sanpoil, Flathead, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Tzotzil, Yucatec, Itza, Lacandon, Makiritare (Yecuana), Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Nambikwara, Toba (incl PilagΓ‘), Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa, Southern Altai: Teleut, China
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