Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J49 — The Moon's wife falls down.
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 wife and/or sister of the Moon unsuccessfully tries to climb up to him in the sky or reaches him but returns to earth.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| E34 | 97.91% | The cannibal is killed. From his ashes arise musical instruments taboo for women, used in male rituals. |
| B30A | 97.31% | A fish emerges from the remains of a killed person or creature. At first, it is concentrated in one place, then spreads throughout the water. |
| B30B | 96.71% | Animals arise from the remains of a killed person. |
| F26 | 96.31% | The transfer of sacred musical instruments (horns, trumpets) from women to men is associated with the onset of menstruation in women. |
| F49A | 93.09% | A small animal (mouse, rat, rabbit, two-wombed animal, bird) explains how to give birth. See motif F49. |
| G8C | 93.04% | The first ancestors try to cut down a tree (less often a high rock) to get useful plants hanging on the branches (at the top) or water or fish in the trunk. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their work, or periodically. |
| I43B | 92.00% | The Milky Way is a reptile, fish or chain of fish. |
| G10 | 91.55% | A tree whose trunk has been cut down remains hanging because it is held up from above. |
| J22D | 91.30% | Foreigners or animals of two different species emerge from a single person or animal cut in half. |
| A22 | 90.78% | One or two people fall into fire or boiling water and ascend to the sky, turning into the sun and/or the moon. |
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
10 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Dusun, Murut, Kelabit, Tombonuwo, Bajau, Tidong, Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Palawan (incl Agutaynen), Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Zapotec, Chatino, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Witoto, Ocaina, Xipaya
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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