Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I30 — The lord of the dead meets women.
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
OverviewIn the world of the dead, its master or mistress copulates with all new arrivals.
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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| F95 | 98.20% | Two companions or brothers live together. One has a wife, whom he hides. The other suspects her existence, destroys her, or tries to get a wife for himself. |
| F42A | 96.82% | In the community of the first ancestors, young men or boys turn into birds or bats and fly away. |
| F48 | 95.03% | Individual women differ physically because the pieces of flesh divided from the first woman were not identical, or because the males who copulated with the first woman were animals of different species. |
| M18A | 94.37% | The character becomes the object of fishing or hunting, presenting himself as a target for enemies. Numerous arrows, darts, and harpoons stick into his body without causing harm, and he carries them away. See motif M18. |
| M14A | 93.16% | To take revenge on his wife or her relatives for (allegedly) causing him offence, the husband roasts his wife alive. See motif M14. |
| F42 | 92.83% | Feeling wronged, men leave their wives or sisters. |
| F43A | 92.63% | In the community of the first ancestors, women kill, attempt to kill, or transform men. |
| D12 | 92.59% | People in the past or inhabitants of distant lands cooked food in the sun; or the owner of the fire lies, saying that the food was cooked in this way. |
| B36 | 92.28% | Birds, fish, and four-legged animals deliberately or accidentally smear themselves with colouring substances or divide parts of another's body among themselves, thereby acquiring their current appearance. |
| H24F | 92.13% | The character has the ability to put a large amount of meat or fish into a bag or container that is easy to carry. |
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
3 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 3 traditions: Papua-NewGuinea Highland Papuans:Trans New Guinea & unclassified:Chimbu,Gimi,KaugelHuli,Gadsup,Kuman,Kutubu,Foi (Foe),Kyaka,Kamano (Kafe),Mawatta,Kukukuku (=Anga,=Sambia;Manki,Nauti,Ejuti),Baruya,Kewa,Tembregak,Menya,Melpa,Wiru,Pondoma, Hopi, Opata
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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