Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K29D — Drunken elephants.
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
OverviewTo catch an animal or supernatural character, the water in a reservoir is replaced with wine, honey, etc., or containers with alcohol are left in plain sight. The creature, having lost control of itself, is captured.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K29 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedK29a. The hero demonstrates his magical abilities or cunning by remaining alive in a hot bath, oven, fire, or among burning vegetation.
K29b. The hero is asked to climb (or is thrown) into a pit, which is immediately filled with earth or into which a pole or stones are lowered, K959,6 (Posthole murder). The hero proves his magical abilities by climbing out of the pit alive.
K29c. They hope to kill the hero by knocking a tree down on him or tying him to a tree. He comes back alive, dragging the tree behind him.
K29d. To catch an animal or supernatural character, the water in a reservoir is replaced with wine, honey, etc., or containers with alcohol are left in plain sight. The creature, having lost control of itself, is captured.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I87AD | 99.59% | A giant hides a persecuted person in his mouth â usually (perhaps always) in a tooth cavity; or the person remains alive in the giant's mouth, hiding in a tooth cavity. Cf. motif M21a. |
| I35A1 | 99.53% | The character claims the role of the thunder god and imitates him. |
| L96A | 99.47% | A person sighs, after which a character named Oh, Uh, Hey-way, etc. appears. |
| K35C | 99.40% | The dev (ajdaha, sea king) did not kill the man who descended to him, as people assumed, but rewarded him because he greeted him and/or answered his question correctly. |
| K85E | 99.34% | Magical horses live in water. |
| K90B | 99.14% | The antlers of a deer or the tusks of an elephant, which a snake or dragon is trying to swallow, get stuck in its mouth. |
| K121 | 99.08% | At the crossroads, it is indicated that one road is safe, another is neutral, and the third is deadly dangerous. There can only be two roads â dangerous and safe. The hero travels along the dangerous road. |
| B33E | 98.93% | The last cold month regrets that it did not come earlier or that it is too short. In that case, it would have frozen everyone. |
| F70E2 | 98.93% | The father sends his daughters or sons on a difficult task one by one. At the very beginning of the journey, their courage is put to the test. Only the youngest son or daughter passes the test. Usually, the father stands in their way, taking the form of an enemy or a predator, but only the youngest son or daughter bravely enters the fight. |
| I132A | 98.85% | A girl sits on a swing and it lifts her up to the sky. |
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
22 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 22 traditions: Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Albanians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Western Ukrainians, Uzbek, Persians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Georgians, Armenians, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Gagauz, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Chuvash, Udmurt, Chechens, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians
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