Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L123 — Traces lead in all directions.
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
OverviewIn order to confuse the pursuer, the character leaves traces leading in all directions before running away.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L31B | 99.49% | Upon discovering a reptile on land, people touch it or sit on it, stick to it, and it crawls away with them into the water. See motif L31. |
| D4J | 99.41% | The thief, the thief's assistant, or the owner of fire is a rabbit, a hare, or (ofaye) a guinea pig. See motif D4A. |
| F25 | 96.63% | Women have been stained with someone else's or their own blood, or with blood-like paint, ever since women began menstruating. |
| L31 | 95.67% | People are forced against their will to follow an object, person or animal (usually sticking to it) that carries them far away (usually into water or into the sky). |
| E6A | 94.28% | People walk across a (frozen) body of water to reach their current place of residence, while some remain on the other side or drown. |
| K27YY4 | 94.28% | The hero must obtain tree bark, which is fraught with danger. |
| J19 | 94.09% | While her husband or brother is hunting, an evil spirit comes to his wife or sister; he kills her or takes her away. Her sons, who were torn from her womb or born at that time, are saved. |
| M48 | 94.00% | Trickster asks another zoomorphic character to turn him into a creature of his kind, but if he breaks the condition for transformation, he becomes himself again. Usually, a trickster asks a bison or elk to turn it into a bison or elk. The bison (elk) rushes to the trickster, which bounces off in fear. The next time the trickster stays in place, metamorphoses, but regains its former appearance after trying to turn another trickster into a bison, etc. |
| J56 | 93.98% | A son or sons come to their father. He subjects them to trials in order to find out whether they are really his children. |
| J59B | 93.89% | To revive the dead, the character shoots an arrow into the sky or throws an object. It is assumed that the dead, fearing the falling object, will come back to life and run away. |
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
8 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Shuswap, Alabama, Koasati, Northern Shoshone, Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Eastern Shoshone, Tacana, Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay)
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