K1E — Abandoned on an island, K1616.

The character is abandoned on an island or on the other side of a river or sea. See motif K1A.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.

K1A.  A young man or man finds himself in a place where he is unable to move, but which is isolated from the ground: the top of a tree, a rock, a cave, a burrow, an island. This happens through someone else's fault: the antagonist lures or traps the hero, or (less often) leaves him no other option but isolation. After some time, the hero either finds a way to salvation himself, or is saved by someone else (often a bird or animal), or (rarely) undergoes a metamorphosis and no longer returns to his normal life. For texts with a fairy-tale episode in which the hero is sent down to the underworld and abandoned there, see motif K2A.
K1B.  A woman is lured onto a tree, rock or island and left there.
K1c.  A man is abandoned on an island but survives. After some time, the person who abandoned him comes to look at his bones. The abandoned man sails away in his boat, leaving him to die.
K1d.  The hero's wife's brothers try to kill him by leaving him on an island.
K1e.  The character is abandoned on an island or on the other side of a river or sea. See motif K1A.
K1f.  One man traps another, driven by jealousy or the desire to possess his rival's wife. See motifs K1A, K1E, K2A.
K1g.  The hero turns into a deer or creates a deer to gore the relative who sent him into a trap.
K1h.  The character finds himself inside a tree trunk or inside a rock; someone frees him by making a hole from the outside.
K1i.  Near the cliff, at the bottom of the pit, or in the underworld, a tree, reed, or vine grows, which the character uses to descend or climb to the ground.
K1j.  The abandoned one turns into a bird and returns home faster than the one who abandoned him.

This motif has been recorded in 88 traditions: Melanesians and Papuans of Northern Solomons: Buka, Bougainville (Siuai, Buin), Melanesians and Papuans of Central Solomons: Vella la Vella (Bilua language), Shortland islands (Mono language), San Cristobal, Saint Georgia, Eddystone, Vangunu, Kanaka (New Caledonia), Yap, Truk, Eastern Fayu, Losap, Pulap, Puluwat, Mortlock (incl. Satawan), Khmer, Palaung (De Ang, Deang), Sinhalese; Vedda, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Czech, Czechs, Hungarians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Georgians, Ainu, Nanai, Olcha (Ulch), Chukchi, Aleuts, Central Yupik, Chugach, Tutchone, Tagish, Inland Tlingit, Tahltan, Kaska, Tanana, Beaver, Copper, Polar Inuit, Baffin Land Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Heiltsuk (Bellabella), Oowekeeno, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw), Nootka (Nu-chah-nulth), Makah, Bella Coola (Nuxalk), Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Micmac, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Eastern Cree, Naskapi, Montagnais, Menominee, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Teton (incl Oglala), Iowa, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Assiniboine, Lillooet, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Comox, Pentlatch, Quinault, Tillamook, Alcea, Lower Chinook (Chinook proper), Caddo, Alabama, Koasati, Mono (Monache), Owens Valley Paiute, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Ute, Southern Paiute, Makiritare (Yecuana), Trio, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Yamana (Yaghan), Alacaluf, Biloxi, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Japan, Russian Federation