Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K76E — Son (daughter) as a piglet.
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 son (daughter) or foster child of a married couple is a pig. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man (she marries a handsome man).
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 9, Identification of protagonists of the stories with particular animals or persons with particular qualities.
K76 has 9 other sub-motifs
RelatedK76. A boy who is born or found has a strange or ugly appearance (ball, nut, sack, half-human, dwarf, animal), but then demonstrates magical powers and turns out to be handsome (usually getting a bride of high status). The princess's magical spouse initially has a non-human or ugly appearance.
K76a. A frog or toad marries a beautiful woman, or a handsome young man marries a frog.
K76b. The son or foster son of snake spouses. He turns into a human. The snake is the princess's magical spouse, lost and returned.
K76c. The son (rarely – daughter) or foster child of a married couple emerges from a pumpkin (rarely: watermelon, nut) or is found inside it.
k76c1. A woman gives birth to a pumpkin, inside which there is a person (many people) or which turns into a person.
K76d. The son or foster child of a married couple is a hedgehog. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man.
K76e. The son (daughter) or foster child of a married couple is a pig. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man (she marries a handsome man).
K76f. A young man with the appearance of a calf marries and then turns into a handsome man.
K76g. The son or foster son of a married couple – a crab. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man.
K76h. A young man, temporarily having a strange or monstrous appearance (freak, animal, etc.), woos a princess, but is rejected. Then he causes natural disasters or creates personal troubles for the king, who is forced to give up his daughter.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J47A | 99.90% | A plant (usually not a mighty tree, but a legume) grows unusually fast, and a character climbs it to reach the sky. |
| K38F1 | 99.85% | After killing a monster or animal, the hero cuts off and hides a part of its body, usually the tongue. (In most cases, the deceiver takes credit for the feat, after which the hero presents the hidden item, thus exposing the deceiver). |
| L37A2 | 99.83% | A man comes to ask God (fate, the sun, etc.) questions that he was asked to ask by those he met along the way. Someone asks when he will be freed from his duties. Answer: let him leave another person in his place. |
| H7B | 99.80% | A person asks Death (a spirit) to climb a tree or sit on a bench, to which they stick and can only be freed with his permission. |
| K61C1 | 99.79% | A person will die if they cannot find the answer to the demon's question. A person or their acquaintance accidentally learns the answer by overhearing the demon talking to himself or to another demon. See motif C29. |
| L129 | 99.74% | The character is asked why his body parts, organs, and tools are the way they are. He answers (or the questioner gives explanations for him). In the end, one kills or maims the other. |
| K67E | 99.71% | Someone promises to fulfil their duties until they hear a bird singing at a certain moment in a temporal cycle (annual or daily). Another character imitates the bird. The first recognises the deception. |
| K61C | 99.71% | A demon agrees to help (agrees not to harm) a person on condition that the person guesses his name. At the last moment, the person accidentally learns the demon's name, and the demon disappears or rewards the person. |
| K127A | 99.69% | The heroine must remain silent for a long time and therefore cannot respond to the accusations. They want to execute her, but at that moment the restrictions expire and she is saved. |
| A32D2 | 99.66% | A man with a pitchfork in his hands can be seen in the silhouette of the moon's spots. |
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
19 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 19 traditions: Khmer, England, British, Bretons, Sicily, Sicilians, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Dutch, Flemish, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Hungarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Western Ukrainians, Ingush, Armenians, Gagauz, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Transylvanian Saksons
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