Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K11A — Feathers turn into birds and people.
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
OverviewPlucked feathers of a (huge) bird turn into actual birds (or their plumage) or humans emerge from them.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar.
K11 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedK11. Brothers (brother and sister) kill a monstrous bird. Its eyes turn into heavenly bodies (among the Oaxacan Indians) or something else (among the present-day Condors of the Yokuts).
K11a. Plucked feathers of a (huge) bird turn into actual birds (or their plumage) or humans emerge from them.
K11a1. Pieces of flesh or feathers from a monstrous/unusual bird turn into present-day birds (or their plumage).
K11b. The bones of a huge bird are turned into reeds or bamboo for making arrows or sarbacanes.
K11C. The plucked feathers of a huge bird turn into plants.
K11D. Pieces of flesh from a huge creature that has fallen apart or been cut into pieces turn into ordinary animals, birds or fish.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| F52 | 99.21% | The first ancestor bird puts pubic hair or part of a woman's genitals on its head; since then, birds of this species have had a crest. |
| K58A | 99.17% | The character brings water for irrigation or a fish river to the place where the girl agrees to meet him, and does not bring water if she refuses. (The parallel between the myths of Peru and Oregon was first noted in Lehmann-Nitsche 1935a; 1936). |
| M103 | 99.17% | One character asks another how her (his) children acquired valuable qualities (became beautiful, obedient, etc.). The other replies that children must be baked in ashes, kept in fire, burned, etc. The first character does so, and her or his children die or are maimed. |
| C6F | 98.58% | The characters attempt to retrieve a living creature or part of its body that has sunk to the bottom of the water. See motif C6. |
| F21 | 98.33% | While the character copulates with a woman, she turns into a tree or a rock. His penis gets stuck in her. |
| K11A1 | 97.94% | Pieces of flesh or feathers from a monstrous/unusual bird turn into present-day birds (or their plumage). |
| J58B | 97.86% | With the help of a chain of arrows, the sky or the sun is pulled down or pushed up, or a hole is made in the sky. |
| K42 | 97.81% | A young bird woman energetically searches among a group of men for one she likes, takes him by force and makes him her husband; she turns into a monster, pursues and kills men, but is ultimately killed herself. |
| J53A1 | 97.58% | The children of the murdered man kill the murderer's children, luring them to a place where they perish from heat or smoke. |
| K18B | 97.38% | Men or women approach the little boy one after another or take him in their arms. The person who makes the boy stop crying is recognised as his parent. See motif K18. |
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
34 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 34 traditions: Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Southeast Australia: Kamilaroi, Yualarai (Ualarai, Euahlayi), Milpulo (Mailpurgu), Wuradjeri (Wiradjurim, Wiradjeri, Wurundjeri, Yarra, Yarra Yarra), Wongaibon (Wonghibon), Noongahburrah (Narran, Narran River), Kurnai, and many others (see file 0.doc), Eastern Arunachal Pradesh: Abor (incl Minyong, Shimong, Padam, Pasi, Panggi), Apa Tani (Apatani), Bori, Bugun, Dafla (=Nyishi, Nisi, Nishing, incl Tagin), Gallong (=Galo, Adi), Mishmi, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Yuchi, Kiowa Apache, Yuki (Yuki proper, Coastal Yuki, Huchnob), Wappo, Sierra Miwok, Lake Miwok, Plains Miwok, Coastal Miwok, Owens Valley Paiute, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Ute, Southern Paiute, Navajo, Jicarilla, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Western Apache (White Mountain, San Carlos), Zuni, Lipan, Papago, Mayo, Yaqui, Sinaloa, Huastec (Teenek), Gulf Nahuatl, Sanema, Waiwai, Kamayura, Caraja, Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Canela: Ramkokamekra, Apaniekra, Craho, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje)
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