Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I59 — The Milky Way – scattered straw.
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 Milky Way is associated with agriculture and scattered objects – straw, chaff, less commonly flour, hay, peas.
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations.
I59 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedI59. The Milky Way is associated with agriculture and scattered objects – straw, chaff, less commonly flour, hay, peas.
I59a. Astral objects or lunar spots are associated with stories about the theft of various items, the value of which is insignificant (straw, firewood, cabbage, etc.).
I59b1. The Milky Way – the road to a distant city, usually with religious significance (Rome, Jerusalem, etc.).
I59b2. The Milky Way – St. James' Way.
I59b3. The Milky Way – the road of salt traders, "Chumak Way".
I59b4. The Milky Way is associated with snow, hoarfrost, and cold.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K88A | 99.58% | The stepmother (aunt, rival) blinds a young woman. The latter regains her eyesight (often by exchanging them for some valuable item). |
| M75C | 99.54% | A person is offered to climb a rock or tree to get treasures. A return descent is not possible. Doomed to death, the hero remains alive. |
| M75B | 99.42% | A person hides in the skin or carcass of a large animal. A bird brings a skin or carcass to the nest without knowing what it brought the person. |
| K33A6 | 99.04% | A kid (lamb, gazelle, etc.) runs up to a pond into which its owner has pushed it and says that knives are being sharpened and water is being boiled to slaughter and cook it. |
| M165 | 98.52% | One zoomorphic character promises another to sew a coat (boots), asks him to bring sheep, eats them, and does not sew anything. |
| K168A | 98.51% | A person thinks that they are holding something intended for food (a calf's head, a melon, bread, etc.), but these objects turn into human heads or limbs. Cf. motif K80c1. |
| K75A2 | 98.47% | Appearing incognito to an authoritative figure, the hero works for him as a gardener. |
| F9G | 98.43% | A powerful woman defeats and kills her suitors. The hero or his assistant defeats her (usually on their wedding night, subduing her with rods or a whip). The hero marries the heroine. |
| K114 | 98.09% | Several brothers leave home immediately after or shortly before their mother gives birth to a girl (usually they want a brother and wait for news about who their mother has given birth to, but accidentally or maliciously a signal is given that a boy has been born). The girl grows up and goes in search of her brothers. |
| J32A | 98.05% | When dying, a person orders that someone spend the night at his grave or bring something to the grave. |
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
45 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 45 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, Dutch, Flemish, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, 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, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Uzbek, Wakhi, Ishkashimi (including Sanglich), Munji, Tajik, Persians, Ossetians, Ingush, Lezgians, Archin, Kürin; Khinalug, Tabasaran, Aghul, Tats, Armenians, Gagauz, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Uyghur, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Kerek, Chechens, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Bosnians, Morocco, Iraq, Montenegro, Russian Federation
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