Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K22 — Cranes and pygmies, F535.5.1.
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 inhabitants of a distant land, who differ from (ordinary) people, occasionally fight off enemies of a non-human nature who attack them.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature.
K22 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedK22. The inhabitants of a distant land, who differ from (ordinary) people, occasionally fight off enemies of a non-human nature who attack them.
K22a. Birds or other creatures that are harmless to ordinary people attack dwarves living in another world. See motif K22.
K22aa. There is a country whose inhabitants are migratory birds that live with us in the summer and turn into people when they fly away to their own country.
K22b. The inhabitants of another world are attacked by certain enemies. A human helps them to defeat these enemies, because these creatures are not dangerous to humans. See motif K22.
K22c. Inhabitants of another world who are birds (bird-people) are afraid of birds or animals that are not dangerous to ordinary people, but which regularly attack them.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K23 | 98.66% | Birds attack inhabitants of another world or a person who has entered another world. See motif K22. |
| K22A | 96.89% | Birds or other creatures that are harmless to ordinary people attack dwarves living in another world. See motif K22. |
| K22B | 95.97% | The inhabitants of another world are attacked by certain enemies. A human helps them to defeat these enemies, because these creatures are not dangerous to humans. See motif K22. |
| L15A | 95.18% | The character's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs. |
| B87A | 94.27% | A dim star next to the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper (Tibetans: Little Dipper) Ursa Major – dog. |
| H18 | 93.32% | Hunted animals were concentrated in one place. A certain character creates them there or allows them to scatter. |
| F10 | 93.22% | A woman has a second mouth (usually in her vagina) with sharp teeth. A man inserts or throws a stone, bone, stick, etc. into this mouth, knocking out the teeth or extracting toothy animals from it in this way. |
| L98 | 93.20% | The demon that carries off children and threatens heroes, people, etc., is the eagle owl; there is a race of owls that is hostile to humans. |
| H24B | 93.19% | The character must open the vessel containing the soul of the deceased when he reaches the place or after a certain time has passed; if he opens it before the time is up, the soul flies away. See motif H24. |
| B42P | 93.02% | The Big Dipper is identified with a bear. |
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
57 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 57 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Chagga (Jagga; incl Wasu), Pare, Digo, Nicobarese, Chin-Naga: Ao, Mao, Sema, Zeme, Kolren, Kom, Lhota, Rengma, Angami, Kabui, Tangkhul, Koirenf, France, Ancient Greece, Finns, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Georgians, Armenians, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Western Tungus (Evenki), Western Siberia Tungus (Evenki): Sym River, Ket River, Nanai, Asiatic Eskimo (Sirenek, Naukan, Chaplino), Inland Tlingit, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), Tlingit, Tsimshian, Bella Coola (Nuxalk), Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Blackfoot, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Kiowa Apache, Gros Ventre, Crow, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Comox, Pentlatch, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Natchez (incl Avoyel), Alabama, Koasati, Cherokee, Navajo, Jicarilla, Western Apache (White Mountain, San Carlos), Zuni, Lipan, Warihio (Guarijío), Tarahumara, Cuna; XVI century data on Eastern Panama, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Tacana, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Chechens, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area, China
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