Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J56 — The trial of the sons.
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 son or sons come to their father. He subjects them to trials in order to find out whether they are really his children.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
J56 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedJ56. A son or sons come to their father. He subjects them to trials in order to find out whether they are really his children.
J56a. Heroic brothers are transformed into pots or frying pans, but only the elder is able to sit in the fire long enough.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K27YY4 | 98.67% | The hero must obtain tree bark, which is fraught with danger. |
| D4J | 96.69% | The thief, the thief's assistant, or the owner of fire is a rabbit, a hare, or (ofaye) a guinea pig. See motif D4A. |
| F25 | 95.89% | Women have been stained with someone else's or their own blood, or with blood-like paint, ever since women began menstruating. |
| F51A | 95.31% | After incest is discovered, the sister openly demands her brother as her husband, turns into a monster, and kills people. |
| L31 | 95.30% | People are forced against their will to follow an object, person or animal (usually sticking to it) that carries them far away (usually into water or into the sky). |
| H14 | 95.24% | A woman who has returned from the world of the dead flies back, becoming a bird or a fly. |
| L31B | 94.72% | Upon discovering a reptile on land, people touch it or sit on it, stick to it, and it crawls away with them into the water. See motif L31. |
| M29H | 94.23% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| L123 | 93.98% | In order to confuse the pursuer, the character leaves traces leading in all directions before running away. |
| J12 | 93.76% | A girl or two sisters wander, usually in search of a suitable groom or husband who has left or lives far away. Along the way or upon reaching their destination, they encounter false suitors. (Traditions in which two heroines travel rather than one are highlighted in bold (motif j13). |
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
23 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 23 traditions: Luba (Baluba, Luba-Katanga, Shaba), (Ba)Holoholo, Tumbwe, Bena-Piana, Tabwa, Benabena-Mitumba, Zela, Bene-Marungu, Mongo (Mongo-Nkundu), Nkundu, Ngelima, Ngombe, (Ba)Tetela), Pende, Wu(Kusu), (Ba)Mbala (incl Saie, Kwilu), Ot Danum, Ngadju, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Yuchi, Kiowa Apache, Cherokee, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Ute, Navajo, Western Apache (White Mountain, San Carlos), Hopi, Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Eastern Keres (Cochiti, Sia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, Paguate, Seama), Tewa (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe; Hano), Tiwa (Taos, Picuris; Sandia, Isleta), Towa (Jemez), Pima, Sicuani, Wayapi, Emerillon, Juruna, Xipaya, Tupinamba, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Tenetehara
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements Š Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
Š 2024â2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.