Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I31 — The master and mistress of the dead.
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 afterlife, the souls of the dead are met by a pair of mythological characters – a man and a woman, or the master of the dead appears to women in female form and to men in male form.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A12E | 94.29% | The spider attacks the sun or moon (usually causing lunar eclipses). |
| L14 | 90.18% | People bring a small creature (usually a worm or reptile) into their home and raise it, or it settles into a man-made dwelling on its own. The creature turns into something terrifying or magnificent. See motif L13 (raised monster attacks people). |
| I16 | 89.71% | Early humans have no mouth, anus, or genitals, and their women are unable to give birth. |
| G23A | 89.70% | Parts of the body and organs of living beings are transformed into various plants (teeth into corn, testicles into yams, etc.). |
| I43A | 88.80% | A giant reptile, serpent, fish, or chain of fish stretches across the earth and/or supports the sky. Usually associated with the Milky Way, sometimes with a rainbow. |
| M7 | 88.61% | The character goes to the lower world, to the sky, to the country on the horizon, etc. and waits for someone to give him a ride to his goal. Usually, some animals/birds or celestial bodies follow by, and the last (often the Sun or Month) delivers. |
| F9E1 | 88.50% | A woman's womb is dangerous because it contains a toothy or stinging animal (not just its mouth) or many such creatures. |
| L13 | 88.07% | People feed a dangerous creature, or it grows on its own in a man-made enclosure. Once it becomes big and strong, it starts to destroy people. |
| I43B | 87.82% | The Milky Way is a reptile, fish or chain of fish. |
| I14 | 87.80% | Creatures without an anal opening are described. |
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
9 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 9 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, Melanesians of the islands of Massim District ( =Milke Bay Province) to the east of New Guinea: Dobu, Rossel, Fergusson, Goodenough, Murua (Woodlark), Trobrian Islands, d'Entrecasteau Islands, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Chorti, Lacandon, Mai Huna (Coto, Orejon), Tupari, Makurap, Sakirap, Ajuru (Wayoro), Suruí, Gaviâo, Zoro, Arua, Cinta Larga, Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa
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