Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I20C1 — Dwarves – inhabitants of rocks and hills.
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
OverviewDwarves do not live deep underground, but inside hills, in rocks, in mines, etc., and usually come out from there onto the ground.
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.
I20 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedI20. The inhabitants of the underworld or the land on the horizon where the sky meets the earth are dwarves. See motif I14A.
I20a. Anthropomorphic inhabitants of the upper world – giants.
I20b. People in the upper world are different from those on earth and gird themselves below or above the waist.
I20c. Dwarves live in an underground world that partly resembles the earthly world. If dwarves and humans meet, it happens underground.
I20c1. Dwarves do not live deep underground, but inside hills, in rocks, in mines, etc., and usually come out from there onto the ground.
I20c2. The inhabitants of the land on the horizon (where the sky meets the earth) are dwarves.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L4B | 99.73% | The character learns about the violation of the prohibition to enter a certain room, as evidence of this has been preserved on the body of the heroine (hero) or on an object in her (his) hands (often blood on a key or an apple). |
| H7B1 | 99.70% | Having received a magic bag, into which any creature can be forced against its will at the owner's discretion, a person gains power over Death or devils. |
| H7G | 99.66% | A person sees many burning candles or lamps. When one of them burns out, someone dies. |
| J51A | 99.64% | To climb a rock or tower, one must stick bones into it and climb them like a ladder. |
| K101B | 99.64% | A girl or young man is freed from a spell after the hero endures three nights of torment or fear inflicted by demons. The girl or young man themselves are not dangerous to the hero; they help him. |
| K131A | 99.61% | Several animals (often a lion, a falcon, an ant) argue (usually over prey or habitat). The hero resolves their dispute, and they grant him the ability to take on their form (to possess their qualities). |
| L100C | 99.59% | When a man comes to a beautiful woman who lives alone, she asks him to perform a trivial task (close the door, etc.) and uses magic to leave him in an awkward and uncomfortable position (holding the door handle, etc.) for the whole night. The next night, the same thing happens to another (rarely: the same) admirer. Each, ashamed, tells the others that he enjoyed it. |
| L9G | 99.55% | A man's hair or beard of an unusual colour is a sign of his demonic nature. |
| K57B | 99.55% | To stop a beautiful woman from running away, a man in love with her smears resin or glue on the threshold (porch). The shoe sticks, and all the girls try it on to find its owner. |
| M39G2 | 99.54% | Numskulls try to shovel nuts with a pitchfork. F stranger shows them how to do this work more easily with a shovel (a basket) |
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
22 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 22 traditions: Minahasa (incl. Tondano, Tentemboan), Bantik, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, France, Dutch, Flemish, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Kashubians, Hungarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Livonians, Finns, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Nenets, Icelanders, Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Frisians, Faroe Islands
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