Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J3 — Conception from under the earth.
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
OverviewA woman conceives a son or twins in a way that is incomprehensible to her; the reason is that when she sits on the ground, a male character (animal) creeps under the ground and fertilises her from below.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I37D | 98.06% | Mushrooms are the excrement of a mythological character. See motif I37. |
| F96 | 97.54% | A girl or wife rejects an unattractive man. He becomes handsome (usually after encountering a supernatural being), and those who treated him badly are punished. |
| K18A | 96.48% | The boy's father is recognised as the man whose bow or arrows he chooses. See motif K18. |
| M12 | 96.32% | Unable, unwilling or unable to obtain game (fish), the hunter (fisherman) cuts flesh from his own body, removes his own entrails and collects his blood. He usually offers this to others under the guise of animal meat or fish. Alternatively, a woman cuts flesh from her own leg to feed her husband. |
| J60 | 95.70% | A woman conceives twins from two different fathers. |
| K11A1 | 94.94% | Pieces of flesh or feathers from a monstrous/unusual bird turn into present-day birds (or their plumage). |
| D13C | 94.87% | Two companions or brothers live together. The older one has a wife, whom he hides. To discover her, the younger one, left alone in the house, makes her laugh. |
| I28A | 94.87% | Large animals that are hunted go underground and cause earthquakes. |
| L63 | 94.49% | The character eats food with the womb or anus. See motif F9A. |
| E14A | 94.28% | People kill demons, examine their bodies, make ritual costumes and masks, reproducing the appearance of the slain. |
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
5 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Hopi, Diegueño: Ipai, Tipai, Kamia (Kumeai), Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Chorote
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