Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K100B — The Grateful Dead Man, ATU 505.
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 person helps to bury a dead man (pays his remaining debt, honours a saint). The revived dead man (saint) helps him overcome difficulties. See motif K100A.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K10 has 9 other sub-motifs
RelatedK10. A monstrous bird (bat) attacks people, heroes engage in battle with it. See motifs K10A – K10G.
K10a. Heroes kill a dangerous bird; during or before the battle, they hide in a shelter (hut, cage, vessel, sack, well) or cover themselves with an object that protects the body.
K10b. A huge bird carries away to its nest a cage, bag or other container in which people are located. See motif 10A.
K10c. The hero (twins) is weighed down with the blood-filled intestines of an animal. A bird pierces them with its claw, blood flows, the bird thinks its prey is dead, and brings the man to its nest. He kills the adult bird and either kills or transforms the chicks. Cf. motif M91A.
K10d. A flying monster carries the hero away to a distant island. The hero kills the monster and uses a boat, bridge or rope made from part of the monster's body to return.
K10e. In the bird's habitat, the hero finds the people it has kidnapped and helps them return home.
K10f. The character turns the children of a flying monster into ordinary eagles or owls.
K10g. Finding himself in the nest of a giant bird on a tree or rock, a man descends to the ground with the help of an adult bird (attaching its feathers or wings to himself), and more often - a chick (grabbing its legs, sitting on the chick, attaching its feathers or wings).
K10h. A bird carries a woman or boy to its nest, feeds them, but does not let them go. The captive runs away.
K10i. The tree opens its trunk and hides the hero fleeing from a man-eating bird. The monster that flies in after him is held tightly by the tree, which squeezes its trunk again.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K8C1 | 99.82% | A tiny man is first accidentally swallowed by a large herbivore, then carried off by a wolf that began to eat the carcass of this animal. |
| K132 | 99.80% | A small character (usually a rooster) comes to a powerful enemy. Thanks to creatures and objects that he encounters along the way and hides in his body or bag, the character remains unharmed after all attempts to destroy him. Cf. motif L126. |
| F70E | 99.73% | A girl pretends to be a man, magically acquires male nature and lives with his wife. Cf. motif K137 (in Uther 2004, plot 514 mistakenly includes a Karakalpak text with our motif K137). |
| K93B3 | 99.72% | To have a child, a woman eats fish, an apple or something else. Part of it (often the peel, broth, skin, etc.) is eaten by a mare, dog or other animals. The woman gives birth to a son (twins), the mare to a foal (foals), the dog to a puppy (puppies). |
| K77B | 99.70% | Having left their owners, domestic animals find an empty house or build a house. Robbers or predatory animals come there. Domestic animals attack or simply scare them away. Predators do not understand who they are facing and flee. |
| K107A | 99.69% | Before reaching their goal, the character must wear out iron shoes or an iron staff. |
| M38D2 | 99.65% | Several characters (usually three), which are small objects, go traveling and must cross the river. This fails. |
| K93 | 99.64% | After a series of adventures and victories, the hero finds himself in trouble. His twin or brother follows in his footsteps, meets the same characters, but when he encounters the final enemy, he defeats him and revives (frees) the hero. |
| M39A6G | 99.64% | person explains that he lends part of his earnings, and pays the debt in the other part, i.e. raises children and supports parents. |
| L100 | 99.64% | A young man and woman fleeing from their pursuers take on the appearance of different but associatively related creatures or objects (a pond and a duck, a minaret and a muezzin, etc.). Usually, their pursuers do not recognise them. |
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
54 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 54 traditions: Old and New Testament, Morocco Arabs, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Konkani (incl Goa), Sinhalese; Vedda, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Catalan, Maltese, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Wakhi, Ishkashimi (including Sanglich), Munji, Tajik, Persians, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Nogai, Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz, Georgians, Kalmyk, Talysh, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Bashkirs, Mongols (Khalkha), Wallons, Picardie, Icelanders, Eastern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Frisians, Russian Federation
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