Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I38 — Dog-headed creatures.
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
OverviewThere are creatures that combine the characteristics of dogs and humans (usually people with dog faces or heads).
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.
I38 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedI38. There are creatures that combine the characteristics of dogs and humans (usually people with dog faces or heads).
I38a. The husbands of human women are dogs or dog-headed creatures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M140 | 99.24% | The character pretends to be dead, sick or infirm, is picked up, and eats the food that others are carrying – usually after first throwing it out of the cart, sleigh, sack, etc. |
| M109 | 98.69% | A zoomorphic character sits down, lowering his tail (penis) so that something edible will stick to it, but as a result he is left without a tail (penis) or dies. Cf. motifs M109A, M109C. |
| M57A1 | 97.97% | When a beautiful woman walks on the ground, jewels appear under her feet, flowers bloom, etc. |
| M90A | 97.82% | The girl will marry the person who guessed her name, or someone who will fit the ring, or someone who says what material a particular object is made of or originated, etc. The deceiver fulfills the condition. |
| H46 | 97.80% | A character (usually God) is about to deprive people of their food (most often grain), but does not do so for the sake of the dog (and/or cat; rarely for the sake of birds). Either God gave the ear of corn to the dog, and the man took it for himself. |
| I121 | 97.76% | Constellations (usually Ursa Major and Ursa Minor) are considered as two similar, paired objects. (For Africa, Eurasia and Alaska – paired names; for most of America – semantic association, but the names are not paired). |
| H54 | 97.72% | In order for a character's eyes to be (wide) open, their eyelids (eyelashes, eyebrows) must be raised, propped up, spread apart (rarely: cut off). |
| N28A | 97.70% | The roots (belt) of mountains or stones are mentioned in myths, riddles, spells, and songs as something that does not really exist. |
| K47B | 97.56% | A woman marries a man who originally had the appearance of a dog. The birth of children from a dog is not essential to the plot. |
| A23B | 97.54% | Two characters argue about who will be the first to see the rising sun. The winner is the one who first notices not the sun itself, but its reflection or the trees and mountains illuminated by its first rays. |
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
53 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 53 traditions: Yemen, Algeria Arabs, Shilluk, Anuak, Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Mentawai, Andamanese, Early Chinese written sources, Koreans, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, 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, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Armenians, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Uyghur, Mari (Cheremis), Mansi, Nenets, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Mackenzie Delta, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Hopi, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Early Russian written sources, Byzantine, Bosnians, Greenland, Yemen, China, Russian Federation
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