Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I135 — Heavenly skin or cloth.
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 sky (Milky Way, clouds) is an animal skin or a piece of cloth.
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.
I13 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedI13a. A huge aquatic or celestial serpent, dragon, or snake-like creature with horns on its head.
I13b. A small snake, the snake has horns on its head.
I13c. Reptiles possess a treasure that humans take or try to take. Usually it is a crown, a precious stone, or horns on a snake's head.
I13d. A person enters the dwelling of snakes, spends a long time there, is released or escapes. While in the dwelling of snakes, he usually licks a stone that relieves thirst and hunger.
I13e. The snake agrees to let the man go on condition that he does not tell anyone about their meeting. Under threat of death, the man breaks his promise. The snake teaches him to drink a broth made from its flesh and takes revenge not on the man, but on those who forced him to break his word.
I13F. In autumn, a man falls asleep in a bear's den. When he wakes up, he thinks that the night has passed, but it is already spring. Usually, the bear gives him advice before parting.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A32J | 96.08% | A shaman with a tambourine ascends to the moon and remains there, visible in the silhouette of the lunar spots. |
| B42M1 | 96.08% | The three main stars of the Big Dipper's handle are associated with people of three different nationalities. |
| B64A | 96.08% | Fish and birds fight (usually by shooting arrows at each other). Since then, fish have had many small bones in their bodies and/or birds' legs have taken on their current form. |
| B72D | 96.08% | A woman makes herself wings (beak, tail) from clothing accessories and turns into a bird or a flying creature. |
| B74A | 96.08% | Red cloths are sewn over the character's eyes (threads, eyelids are painted red) or he does it himself. He sees everything in red or his eyes have turned red forever. |
| D1A1 | 96.08% | Because a woman offended the fire, its mistress takes her child away. |
| E13 | 96.08% | The shamanic tambourine is compared or associated with a lake. |
| E1E | 96.08% | The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk. |
| K32H2 | 96.08% | A man executes his wife by leaving her to be eaten by ants. |
| K56A1 | 96.08% | The groom, the bringer of prosperity, orders the girl who has come to perform work that she herself is unable to do. The groom's mother performs the work, and the girl is accepted by the groom. See motif K56A. Except for the Ket people: the work is performed by tiny women sitting in or behind the mother-in-law's ear. |
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
14 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 14 traditions: Southern Gur (Oti-Volta): Grusi, Kabiye, Kasena, Lyela (Lyele), Wala, Dyan, Akan, Ashanti, Akwapim; Ga (Accra), Kra, Twi (Chwi, Chi), Batak (Toba, Dairi), Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Nenets, Kets, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Chukchi, Kamayura, Mapuche
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