Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I17A — Dwarfs without bodily orifices.
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
OverviewCreatures without an anal opening or mouth - dwarves.
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects.
I17 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedI17. Creatures without mouths, anuses, or genitals, unable to give birth, live underground, in the sky, across the sea, or in certain areas. (Traditions describing women unable to give birth are marked with an asterisk*).
I17a. Creatures without an anal opening or mouth - dwarves.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| F36 | 93.68% | (Adopted) children of a woman or man kill the lover (or spouse of non-human nature) of their father or (adoptive) mother. |
| D4D | 93.30% | The opossum obtains fire for humans. See motif D4A. |
| A24 | 92.68% | The first ancestors live in twilight. When they first find themselves in the rays of the sun, they (spontaneously or by someone's will) perish, turning into animals, spirits, or stones. |
| L58 | 92.03% | A man refuses to give food to his closest relatives or spouse; as punishment, he or his food changes its nature. |
| A23 | 91.81% | The first ancestors come together to choose who will become the sun, to raise the sun to the sky, to see the sun rise for the first time, and to name the sun correctly. See motif A22. |
| D4G | 91.76% | Hummingbird steals, finds or spreads fire. See motif D4A. |
| L26 | 91.41% | During the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food. |
| M121 | 91.41% | A louse or other similar creature (flea, tick, firefly) is sent to follow a certain character. |
| C14 | 91.06% | During or on the eve of a global catastrophe (flood, darkness), animals or monsters attack people. (See motif C13A (rebellion of things: animated objects and/or domestic animals threaten people, attack them).) |
| J33 | 90.88% | A boy, a young man, or two children live in the house of an older character. In order to elicit a certain reaction from him, they kill a person or a large animal, stuff the scarecrow with insects, worms, ashes, grass, or inflate it. |
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: Mansi, Tanana, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Zuni, Lipan, Tepehua, Totonac, Paez, Guambia, Pijao; Ilama culture, Yupa (Yukpa), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Tacana, Kayapa
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