Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K160 — Getting Satan's Hair, ATU 461.
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 hero is given the task of bringing back the hair, feathers, scales, etc. of a dangerous character. He does this with the help of the character's wife or mother.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K16 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedK16. Taking the form of a bird, bat, insect, small animal, or fish, the man enters the young woman's home (her father's house).
K16a. In an effort to show that he is a good hunter, a man regularly walks in front of a girl, pretending to carry prey. Once he slips, and the imaginary prey turns out to be a scarecrow stuffed with ashes or a bundle of termites.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L129 | 99.86% | The character is asked why his body parts, organs, and tools are the way they are. He answers (or the questioner gives explanations for him). In the end, one kills or maims the other. |
| M164A | 99.84% | Asking animals whether his mouth really smells bad (or his lair is dirty), the predator (lion, wolf) kills both those who answer honestly and those who flatter him. The cunning one says he cannot answer because he has a cold (he forgot his glasses). |
| J47A | 99.75% | A plant (usually not a mighty tree, but a legume) grows unusually fast, and a character climbs it to reach the sky. |
| M75B4 | 99.70% | To master a woman, the hero hides inside the hollow figure of a horse (bull, deer) or in an animal carcass. The character guarding the woman takes her to her. The hero gets outside and becomes a woman's lover. Or a woman hides inside the figure of a horse, which is taken to the man's chambers. |
| K61C1 | 99.66% | A person will die if they cannot find the answer to the demon's question. A person or their acquaintance accidentally learns the answer by overhearing the demon talking to himself or to another demon. See motif C29. |
| K56A7 | 99.66% | In winter, a girl (rarely a boy) is sent to bring something that is normally only available in summer. She brings it. |
| L37A2 | 99.65% | A man comes to ask God (fate, the sun, etc.) questions that he was asked to ask by those he met along the way. Someone asks when he will be freed from his duties. Answer: let him leave another person in his place. |
| K76E | 99.65% | The son (daughter) or foster child of a married couple is a pig. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man (she marries a handsome man). |
| B42Q | 99.63% | Ursa Major – chariot, cart. |
| K27Z8 | 99.62% | A person poses a riddle that can only be solved by knowing the circumstances in which he found himself. |
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
33 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 33 traditions: Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Bengali, Ireland, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, France, Dutch, Flemish, 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, Slovenians, Slovenes, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Finns, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Anatolia Turks, Kazakh, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Tunisia, China, Russian Federation
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