Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I67 — Emu and nandu in 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
OverviewThe giant figure of an emu (in Australia) or a rhea (in South America) is visible in the Milky Way.
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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I134 | 99.42% | Along the axis of the Milky Way, a creature with a long neck (llama, emu, rhea) can be seen. |
| B20 | 89.42% | People ascend to the sky to hunt, fish, or gather honey; they do not give honey, fish, or good meat to the person who remained below; that person makes sure that they remain in the sky forever. |
| B21 | 85.25% | People climb trees to hunt, fish or gather honey. The tree is felled, people fall down and undergo a metamorphosis, or remain in the upper world. |
| D13F | 80.71% | Laughter causes the appearance or spread of fire or the sun. Usually, the owner of fire or the sun loses it after bursting into laughter. |
| B7C | 75.48% | Fresh water, which its sole owner hides in a vessel or pond, is scattered throughout the world. |
| A30 | 71.95% | The moon descends to earth to eat children, corpses or the bones of the dead. |
| I30 | 70.53% | In the world of the dead, its master or mistress copulates with all new arrivals. |
| B42E | 65.56% | In the cosmic hunting plot, the object of pursuit is the rhea (Rhea americana, a large flightless bird). See motif B42. |
| A28 | 65.00% | The clever sun-man involves the foolish moon in various tricks that the latter is incapable of devising himself. Trying to repeat the sun's actions, the moon suffers a fiasco. Cf. motif B1F. |
| M10 | 64.93% | A girl or woman gets stuck in a hollow while extracting honey, or greedily sucks honey in some other way and as a result dies or undergoes a metamorphosis; a woman stuck in a narrow passage turns into honey, into a honey bee. |
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: Batak (Toba, Dairi), Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Kamayura, Canela: Ramkokamekra, Apaniekra, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje), Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Vilela, Mataco, Toba (incl Pilagá), Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa, Northern and Southern Tehuelche
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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