Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K35A2 — Beast with a glowing skin.
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
OverviewA man kills an animal with glowing fur. Upon learning of this, an authoritative figure gives him difficult tasks.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K35 has 13 other sub-motifs
RelatedK35. The deceiver pretends to be a hero in order to take his place (to possess his woman). (This motif includes all texts with motif K35a3).
K35a. In exchange for improving his current situation, the character agrees to have his body injured or branded.
K35a1. Setting off on a journey, a person (often against the advice of their horse) picks up a precious feather. Upon learning of this, an authoritative character gives them difficult tasks.
K35a2. A man kills an animal with glowing fur. Upon learning of this, an authoritative figure gives him difficult tasks.
K35a3. In order to obtain the privileges enjoyed by the hero, the deceiver manages to swap status with him.
K35a4. In order to get rid of the hero and take his place, the deceiver pushes him into the sea or leaves him on a distant island. The hero survives and returns.
K35a5. An authoritative character leaves an object (a letter) for a little boy, by which he will be able to recognise him when he grows up and comes to him.
K35a6. The character illuminates the room with a light-emitting object (usually a feather) that he has found.
K35a7. A character finds a feather, the touch of which brings health and beauty.
K35b. The hero gives his rivals the food that the king sent them all to get, but what the rivals got turns out to be poisonous, useless, or tasteless, while what the hero brought, regardless of how it looks, gets praised.
K35c. 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.
K35c1. The young man is not killed, but rewarded, because he answered correctly (evasively) the question of a powerful character â which of the two women he should marry, which is more beautiful, which object or material is more valuable, etc.
K35c2. When the ship unexpectedly stops, the hero descends to the bottom of the sea, behaves correctly with the local inhabitants, and returns to the ship.
K35c3. For reasons that are not immediately clear, the ship stops in the middle of the sea (rarely: a horse stops in the middle of the road).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| N28E | 100.00% | In a list of things that do not exist in the world, a bridge across the sea, ocean or lake is mentioned |
| K27X4 | 99.45% | The character is told to climb a tree (pole, mountain, etc.) while holding a full open vessel in his hand and not spilling a drop from it. |
| H55A | 99.23% | Finding himself in another world, a man sees a husband and wife trying to cover themselves with a single blanket, which is not big enough for them, or they do not have enough room for two on the bed. See motif H55A. |
| I82E | 99.00% | It is said that Venus or another star sold her mother or father in order to adorn herself luxuriously and dress up. |
| K14B | 99.00% | A man is advised not to do anything until he is expressly asked to do so. He unwisely offers to let someone use his knife and is subsequently accused of a crime. |
| M168B | 99.00% | A bird or a person who becomes a bird is given the task of bringing a stick that is neither straight nor crooked. This bird is still searching for it. |
| N25 | 99.00% | said that characters spend a long time (days, weeks, months, years) on the road, but end up walking a journey as long as a grain, needle, or other small object. |
| K27Z7A | 98.78% | A man is going to kill the person who found out why he severely punished his ex-wife. |
| M199J | 98.75% | A giant puts a man on his shoulders to carry him across a river. Believing that the man is strong, he asks why he is so light. The man replies that if he puts all his weight on the giant, the giant will not be able to carry him. The giant pricks him with an awl (knife, nail) and asks him not to put all his weight on him again. |
| K133 | 98.54% | A man notices that his horse (donkey) looks tired and learns that an animal or demonic creature is riding it. Cf. motif M182a. |
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
4 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 4 traditions: Rutul, Tsakhur, Nogai, Georgians, Armenians
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