Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

L103 — Magical flight: Atalanta, R231.

187 Myths, legends and folktales

187 Unique narratives for motif L103

127 Cultures & traditions where L103 is told

1 Sub-motifs of motif L103

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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

Overview

The fugitive throws or creates objects behind him, which the pursuer, wasting time, collects, eats or destroys, even though they do not hinder his progress.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.

L10 has 1 other sub-motifs

L10. The character has a sharp (biting) tail or a protrusion on its back. See motif L9, cf. motif L9C.
L10a. A demonic character approaches a man's campfire. The man leaves a log in his place and hides. The character throws himself on the log, mistaking it for a sleeping man; usually, the hunter kills or wounds the demon.

🌐 See a combined distribution map for all of L10’s motifs

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny

Motif	Similarity	Motif summary
J23	93.33%	People in general or older brothers (siblings, older sister) disappear one after another. A woman raises a boy or twins from infancy. Sometimes, left alone, she miraculously conceives a son or finds a baby. He defeats the antagonists, usually reviving or freeing the missing ones.
M23	92.60%	The character pretends to be afraid of only one method of killing, which in reality is not dangerous for him (K581: turtle: If you throw me into the water, I will drown! ). {All American variants with a rabbit are most likely of African origin and are not included in the correlation table}.
M30	91.76%	character who has no natural wings or can't fly long distances rises into the air, but falls or, having lost its wings, stays where he can't return from. (The motive includes several options, but even when taken together, they don't cover the whole world. Texts with M25 and M28 motifs are counted as including the M30 motif).
I36	91.63%	Thunder and lightning (two thunders, two lightnings) – characters related by kinship, marriage or property.
K28	91.55%	The uncle on the mother's side or the father of the young hero (or grandfather, if he replaces the father, who is not mentioned) is his enemy and rival, giving him difficult tasks with the aim of destroying him.
L72	90.01%	While fleeing, the character throws small objects behind him, which turn into powerful obstacles in the path of the pursuer, or (rarely) the pursuer creates such obstacles in the path of the fugitives. (Cf. SUS 1979, No. 313H = AA 313I, p. 114: escape by throwing magical objects, an episode in various types of fairy tales).
K27	89.12%	The character receives tasks that are deadly dangerous or can only be accomplished with supernatural abilities or helpers; the hero completes the tasks and/or miraculously survives. The confrontation between the characters unfolds as a game or competition in which the loser loses their life or status.
K27N	88.88%	A young man must complete difficult tasks or win a competition in order to obtain permission to marry. The person giving the tasks is indicated in square brackets. See motif K27.
L85	88.78%	The character has only half a body (vertically). See also L85C, "Half-chicken".
B2A	88.49%	The earth is a female character (alone or alongside a male character) and is considered to be female or associated with women.

See the 100 most similar distributions →

Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

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Traditions

127 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 127 traditions: Mehri; Harsusi, Jibbali (Shahri, Shauri), Malagasy, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Nuba, Shilluk, Anuak, Mangbetu (Ngbetu), Mangbutu, Moru, Madi, Lugbara, Lendu (=Bale), Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Shone (Shona, =Mashona, =Karanga), Makoni (Shoni dialect), Remba (=Hungwe, Wahungwe); Zezuru, Rozwi, Ndau (Vandau), Rwanda (incl Hutu, Tutsi, Kiga), Rundi, (Ma)Shi, Banyabungu; Rega, Sakata, Congo (Koongo, Bacongo; incl Vili, Fioti, (Ma)Yombe, MuKunyi), Ndombo, Luango (Loango), Zombo (Sambo), Laadi (Laari), (Ba)Fioti, Woyo (Kiwoyo), Ronga, Lingala, (Ba)Ngala, Ntomba, Kioque, (Ki)Bangi, Bolia, Balolo, Boloki, (Ba)Akwa, (U)Poto, Bushoong: (Ba)kuba, Dengese, Ngongo; Yansi, Mbundu (Umbundu, Kimbundu, Chimbundu, Ovimbundu), Kwanyama, Owambo (=Ambo), Zulu, Swazi, Kosa (Xosa, Xhosa), Tswana (Chwana), Suto (Soto; incl Pedi, Mbire), Enenga, Mpongwe, Kuta (Koto), Nkomi, Masango, Mindumu, Mbede, Mitsogo, Bawunga, Ndumu (Ndumbo), Duma, Teke, (B)wende, Hausa, Kru: Kru proper, Sapo (Sapã), Grebo, Kran (Krahn, Guere-Krahn; incl. Putu, Tchien), Bete, Neyo, Wobe, Devoin (Dey), Belle (Kuwaa), Bassa, Sikon, Tuareg, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Akan, Ashanti, Akwapim; Ga (Accra), Kra, Twi (Chwi, Chi), Khoekhoe (=Hottentot; incl Nama, Korana); Damara, Southern Solomons: southern part of Santa Ysabel (Bughotu), Guadalcanal, San Cristobal, Malaita, Ulawa, Melanesians of Admiralty Islands (incl Manus); Seimat (Western Islands), Niue, Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Yap, Ulithi, Ngulu, Ifaluk, Woleai, Lamutrek, Faraulip Satawal, Elato, Western Fayu, Truk, Eastern Fayu, Losap, Pulap, Puluwat, Mortlock (incl. Satawan), Ponape, Ngaik, Mwoakil (Mokil), Kusaie (Kosrae), Marshall Islands, incl Ailinglapalap, Arno, Jaluit, Kili, Lae, Maloelap, Majuro, Ratak, Wotho, Ujae, Jaluit (=Jalooj), Namdrik, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Chin-Naga: Ao, Mao, Sema, Zeme, Kolren, Kom, Lhota, Rengma, Angami, Kabui, Tangkhul, Koirenf, Himachali-Pahari (Western Pahari), Sinhalese; Vedda, Namuci (Namuyi), Naxi; Pumi (Primi), Kirati (Kiranti): Rai (incl Thulung), Limbu, Newar, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Sicily, Sicilians, 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, Slovakians, Slovaks, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Uzbek, Baluch, Tats, Kazakh, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Mansi, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Darkhad, Khakas, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Chukchi, Asiatic Eskimo (Sirenek, Naukan, Chaplino), St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Central Yupik, Inland Tlingit, Athna, Koyukon, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Mackenzie Delta, Copper, Netsilik, Caribou, Iglulik, Polar Inuit, West Greenland, Labrador Inuit (Koksoagmiut), Haida, Tsimshian, Nootka (Nu-chah-nulth), Makah, Micmac, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Menominee, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Blackfoot, Arapaho, Osage, Omaha, Ponca, Pawnee, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Plains Ojibwa, Crow, Tillamook, Kalapuya, Alabama, Koasati, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Ohlone (Costanoan), Sanema, Anambe, Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Vilela, Kodiak, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Morocco, China, Japan, Russian Federation

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