Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I64A — Race on the Milky Way.
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
OverviewTwo different hoofed animals race across the sky. Usually, the Milky Way is the dusty trail they leave behind.
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.
I64 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedI64. The Milky Way â traces of animals that walked or ran.
I64a. Two different hoofed animals race across the sky. Usually, the Milky Way is the dusty trail they leave behind.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J5 | 93.99% | The role of the victim is played by two or more brothers (friends). See motif J4. |
| K27O3 | 93.92% | Two groups of characters compete in overcoming trials or play a game, divided into two teams (at least two episodes with different characters on both sides). The participants are either anthropomorphic but possess different unusual abilities, or they are different animals (natural phenomena, elements, etc.). Cf. motif K27xy (Characters with different properties in opposing camps). |
| B42H1 | 93.56% | In the plot of cosmic hunting, one of the astral objects is identified with an arrow or bullet, and it is emphasised that it struck an animal or three animals, which are identified with Orion's Belt. {In the Khoisan variants, it is emphasised that the arrow did not reach its target}. |
| M49 | 91.93% | The hero meets a character from the enemy camp and, taking on his form, penetrates enemies. Usually, the hero kills the person he meets and puts on his skin. |
| B42H | 91.86% | Orion's Belt â game, another star or group of stars within or outside Orion â hunter. |
| M51 | 91.76% | One of the two characters gets meat. The weaker deceives the stronger one, hiding the meat in his absence to eat alone later. |
| K21 | 91.48% | A girl ends up in the sky and gets married there. |
| J50B | 90.92% | The father (alone or with his brother) is only partially resurrected and is unable to live among people (he cannot be a warrior). The hero leaves him (in another world) or allows him to die completely. |
| H14 | 90.65% | A woman who has returned from the world of the dead flies back, becoming a bird or a fly. |
| F83 | 90.31% | The character does something forbidden and indecent in a place hidden from prying eyes, and then asks people what's new. They reply that there is no news â except that so-and-so (the character) did such-and-such. |
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
11 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: Dards (Kalash, Kho, Kohistani, Shina, Pashai), Ossetians, Georgians, Cheyenne, Oto, Pawnee, Kiowa, Kutenai, Chumash, Yokuts, Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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