Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K41 — Thunder against the snake.
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 character representing a thunderstorm or a giant bird fights a snake or other large creature living in water or underground.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J12D | 94.32% | After a girl marries a worthy suitor, the rejected suitor or his relatives kill the rival. See motif J12. |
| J40 | 92.55% | The sky is inhabited by creatures that descend to kill people. Usually, the creature carries away a person or many people, or a human head. The hero (usually a close relative of the deceased) avenges the killer and/or returns the kidnapped person (persons; the carried-away body part). |
| B52A | 90.62% | Flying over the world, a bird (usually a vulture) dries the earth after a flood with its wings or otherwise gives it its present appearance. |
| L28 | 89.88% | A person who eats unusual or forbidden meat or fish, or touches something forbidden, turns into a reptile or a fish. |
| I13A | 89.73% | A huge aquatic or celestial serpent, dragon, or snake-like creature with horns on its head. |
| K27O | 89.67% | The confrontation between heroes and antagonists unfolds in the form of a ball game. |
| L15B | 89.63% | The character can only be killed with a specific plant, which is not usually used for making weapons. |
| M24A | 87.05% | turtle man goes to war, kills people (usually a woman). He gets caught or killed. In his animal form, he continues to live on. See M24 motif. |
| M65 | 86.64% | trickster bakes meat obtained by trick, deception; immobilized by sticking to a tree, ground, or stone; at this time, another character (fox, wolf, coyote, birds) eats all the meat. See M53 motif. |
| L29 | 86.54% | A person catches fish where it should not be, usually in a small forest pond isolated from running water; those who eat this fish die, undergo metamorphosis and/or are attacked by monsters. See motif L28. |
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
70 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 70 traditions: Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Old and New Testament, Ugarit, Phoenicia, Burmese, Intha, Eastern Arunachal Pradesh: Abor (incl Minyong, Shimong, Padam, Pasi, Panggi), Apa Tani (Apatani), Bori, Bugun, Dafla (=Nyishi, Nisi, Nishing, incl Tagin), Gallong (=Galo, Adi), Mishmi, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Hittite, Hurrit, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Svans, Armenians, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mongols (Khalkha), Nenets, Chukchi, Central Yupik, Inland Tlingit, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Tlingit, Haida, Heiltsuk (Bellabella), Oowekeeno, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw), Nootka (Nu-chah-nulth), Makah, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Eastern Cree, Montagnais, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Tuscarora, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Cheyenne, Arapaho, Teton (incl Oglala), Mandan, Iowa, Arikara, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Gros Ventre, Plains Cree, Assiniboine, Crow, Hidatsa, Comox, Pentlatch, Quileute, Chemakum (Hoh), Kutenai, Caddo, Cherokee, Northern Shoshone, Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Eastern Shoshone, Mayo, Yaqui, Sinaloa, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Tzutujil, Zapotec, Chatino, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Lacandon, Paya (Pech), Sumu, Misquito, Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography, Cuna; XVI century data on Eastern Panama, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Xipaya, Northern Peru: Sierra (Kechua-speaking communities, Cajamarca, Ancash, Huanuco and San Martin departments; Chavin pre-Columbian iconography; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Byzantine, China
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