Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I46B — The rainbow predicts the harvest.
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 colour of the rainbow can be used to predict the harvest of individual crops.
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar.
I46 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedI46. Rainbow – an ornamented part of clothing, bright fabric, decoration, belt.
I46a. The rainbow is associated with a woman, usually an elderly one.
I46b. The colour of the rainbow can be used to predict the harvest of individual crops.
I46c. The rainbow is a rope to which cattle are tied.
I46d. Rainbow – a hunting loop, a trap.
I46e. Rainbow - sword, cutting weapon.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K145 | 99.96% | A person is predicted to be torn apart by a wolf or to die during a wedding. The prediction turns out to be true. In the case of a wedding, the bride turns into a wolf and kills the groom. |
| M182A1 | 99.95% | A man catches several wild animals and releases them on the promise that they will bring gifts or prove useful. The animals fulfil their promise. |
| K56A4D | 99.94% | A stepmother sends her stepdaughter to a house in the forest, giving her ashes, sand, etc. instead of food. The stepdaughter turns them into flour, groats, etc. |
| L100B1 | 99.88% | The young man forgets his magic bride and meets another woman. At the last moment a bird tells the story about his real bride and he recalls everything. Usually two birds, a male and a female, have a dialogue in which the female can tell the male that he will be as cruel with her as this youth who has forgotten his bride. |
| M141 | 99.76% | Several animals of different species find themselves in a pit from which they cannot escape. They devour each other, and the last one manages to escape. |
| M191 | 99.74% | The fox (dog, squirrel) lives with the cat and pretends to be a strong beast; forest predators are frightened and bring meat to appease the cat. |
| K107A | 99.67% | Before reaching their goal, the character must wear out iron shoes or an iron staff. |
| L114B | 99.66% | After receiving the task or on his own initiative, the trickster enters the character's house (usually that of the cannibal) several times, each time taking one of his belongings or one of his family members. |
| M39G | 99.64% | The girl weeps, imagining the dangers that threaten her future child; remembering an incident that could end badly; jealous of the fiancé she does not have; distracted from urgent matters, considering the name of the future child instead of meeting the groom. |
| F70E | 99.64% | A girl pretends to be a man, magically acquires male nature and lives with his wife. Cf. motif K137 (in Uther 2004, plot 514 mistakenly includes a Karakalpak text with our motif K137). |
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
17 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 17 traditions: Sicily, Sicilians, France, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Tabasaran, Aghul, Kumyk, Terekemen, Georgians, Armenians, Gagauz, Turkmen, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)
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