Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L35 — Severed hand.
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 shaman or spirit comes at night and, reaching his hand into the hut, steals food or disturbs a woman. A man in the hut cuts off or tears off the hand.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
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 |
|---|---|---|
| G31 | 99.42% | A character ties trees with rope and effortlessly knocks them all down at once or pretends to do so. |
| E6 | 95.87% | When a woman of childbearing age (she is menstruating, miscarrying, pregnant, with a child, or simply fat) tries to pass from one world to another, the connection between the worlds is severed forever. |
| M43 | 95.71% | To kill or catch a monster, he sees a figure made of wood or clay or a living person. Most often, a monster's claws or sharp leg get stuck when they pierce a tree. |
| M5 | 95.50% | Once in a situation where his life depends on the will of a demon or animal, the hero feels like insulting or hitting him. See M1 motif. |
| F27 | 95.29% | It is dangerous for girls or women to approach water (water creatures drag them away or swallow them; a girl who approaches water dies; she becomes pregnant by a snake; through her fault, a flood or other disaster occurs; water spirits themselves come to a girl who has her first period). |
| F51 | 95.28% | Someone under cover of night/incognito approaches a person of the opposite sex. The marriage partner deliberately (to determine who it is) or accidentally (thereby exposing the visitor) makes a mark on his/her body (clothing). See motif A31. |
| I24 | 95.15% | A snake (or fish) forms a bridge across a river. |
| C1 | 94.89% | In the past, a catastrophic shift in the layers of the universe occurred or will occur in the future. Among the variants (sometimes combined): the sky fell to the earth; the present earth or underground world swapped places with the sky; the earth turned upside down; it fell into the underworld; the layers of the universe successively collapsed onto the earth or will swap places in the future. |
| H24F | 94.46% | The character has the ability to put a large amount of meat or fish into a bag or container that is easy to carry. |
| F24 | 94.44% | Women lose blood when they are bitten by fish, snakes, etc. |
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
11 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: Vepsians, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Tillamook, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Ticuna (Tucuna), Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Iranxe, Nambikwara, Paresi, Japan
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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