Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I41B — The rainbow drinks water.
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
OverviewThe rainbow drinks (draws into itself) water (and living creatures).
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature.
I41 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedI41. A rainbow is a reptile (usually a snake), less often a fish or snake-like, usually dangerous, object (snake tongue, scorpion tail).
I41a. A rainbow rises from an anthill or termite mound.
I41b. The rainbow drinks (draws into itself) water (and living creatures).
I41b1. The rainbow drinks, swallowing fish, people, etc. along with the water. Sometimes this fish falls from the sky to the ground.
i41b2. A rainbow emerges from the mouth of a reptile, amphibian or invertebrate animal.
I41c. Rainbow or Milky Way – reflection of a snake (fish) on land or in the sea.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K131D | 99.22% | Mention is made of footwear that allows the character to quickly cover enormous distances. |
| A23C | 99.17% | Birds argue about which of them will fly higher or arrive first. The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely (he hides in the feathers of a strong bird and flies away with it). |
| L37A2 | 99.14% | A man comes to ask God (fate, the sun, etc.) questions that he was asked to ask by those he met along the way. Someone asks when he will be freed from his duties. Answer: let him leave another person in his place. |
| K107D1 | 99.08% | Waiting for his magical wife, the young man falls asleep. The wife cannot wake him up and leaves (this episode is often repeated). |
| M114I | 99.08% | When asked where her father, mother, brother, etc. are, the girl or boy answers in such a way that only an intelligent person can guess what is meant (father went to make an enemy out of a friend, mother went to make one out of two, etc.); or the girl explains the meaning of similar phrases uttered by others. |
| M199B | 99.04% | A man and his opponent agree to test their strength by throwing a stone. The opponent throws the stone, and the man releases a bird he had hidden beforehand. The bird does not return, and the opponent admits defeat. |
| K127A | 99.03% | The heroine must remain silent for a long time and therefore cannot respond to the accusations. They want to execute her, but at that moment the restrictions expire and she is saved. |
| K100F1 | 99.01% | A man (king) catches a strange (anthropomorphic) creature. His son releases the wondrous captive (after which he flees from his father's wrath or is banished). The freed captive helps him. Cf. motif K161. |
| K151 | 99.00% | A magical helper grants a poor man's simple wish. The poor man or his wife ask for more and more. In the end, the helper punishes the beggar (usually by taking away everything that was given). {Many references to texts outside Europe in Uther 2004 are not related to the plot of ATU 555 and do not contain the K151 motif. This applies in particular to the Arabic and Ossetian variants}. |
| K117B | 99.00% | The hero causes various people (and animals) to stick to each other (or to objects). |
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
59 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 59 traditions: Acoli (Acholi), Lur (Alur, Luri), Lango, Ngbakka, Mbum (incl Mbai), Mundang, Fali, Tupuri, Maya (=Bali), Nyong, Kalenjin; including Sabaot, Nandi (Nande), Arusha, Kipsigis, Pokot (Suk), Keiyo (Elgeiyo), Marakwet, Sebeei, Congo (Koongo, Bacongo; incl Vili, Fioti, (Ma)Yombe, MuKunyi), Ndombo, Luango (Loango), Zombo (Sambo), Laadi (Laari), (Ba)Fioti, Woyo (Kiwoyo), Ronga, Flores, incl Mangarai (Western Flores), Nage, Keo, Riung, Ngada or Nad'a (Central Flores), Sika (Eastern Flores), Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), Negrito (incl. Mamanwa), Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Dards (Kalash, Kho, Kohistani, Shina, Pashai), Early Chinese written sources, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Basques, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, France, 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, Poles, Kashubians, Slovakians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Livonians, Estonians, Karelians, Vepsians, Western Sami, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Armenians, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Uyghur, Chuvash, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Central Yakuts (Sakha), Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Mura (Pirahã), Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Aimara, Kanamari, Galicians, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Terek Cossacks, Bosnians, Japan, Russian Federation
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