Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L47 — Backwards – the slain enemy.
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 hero's enemy approaches him upside down or backwards, giving the hero the opportunity to kill him or escape. See motif L46.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| J59 | 90.52% | To reach the sky, one must shoot an arrow that will pierce the vault of heaven. See motif J58; see motif J59A: a man flies after or on an arrow (without the motif of an arrow piercing the vault of heaven). |
| J58 | 90.17% | Characters shoot arrows (darts) that stick into each other and form a chain. They usually climb up the chain to the upper world. |
| F96 | 89.89% | A girl or wife rejects an unattractive man. He becomes handsome (usually after encountering a supernatural being), and those who treated him badly are punished. |
| J14 | 89.74% | To find the man of her dreams, a woman follows the sounds of music or singing; she usually distinguishes imposters by listening to their clumsy performance. See motif J12. |
| I66 | 89.44% | The Milky Way is ash or smouldering embers. |
| M12 | 89.35% | Unable, unwilling or unable to obtain game (fish), the hunter (fisherman) cuts flesh from his own body, removes his own entrails and collects his blood. He usually offers this to others under the guise of animal meat or fish. Alternatively, a woman cuts flesh from her own leg to feed her husband. |
| K4 | 89.03% | The character climbs a tree or rock to get a bird, bird eggs, or chicks, climbs into a bird's nest, comes into conflict with another character, and/or cannot climb down. See motifs K1, K2A. Traditions in which the nest destroyer is a woman are highlighted in italics; bold italics indicate those in which the character falls into the trap not through the fault of another person, but by accident, or, having climbed up to destroy the nest, does not fall into the trap at all, although he quarrels with his companion; an asterisk* marks those in which the character remains in the trap (undergoes a metamorphosis). |
| J30 | 88.80% | Before the heroes defeat their antagonists or flee from them, they find or receive the remains or property of the victim. |
| J3 | 88.54% | A woman conceives a son or twins in a way that is incomprehensible to her; the reason is that when she sits on the ground, a male character (animal) creeps under the ground and fertilises her from below. |
| L46 | 88.54% | The character walks, climbs or descends upside down, or sees the world turned upside down. |
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
20 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 20 traditions: Ganda, (Ba)Nyoro, Nyankole, Masaba (Gisu), Luia (=Luyia, Haya, Luhya, Bantu Kawirondo; incl. Vugusu, Maragoli), Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Northern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Dolgans, Shasta; Chimariko, Coastal Miwok, Warao, Locono, Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Amahuaca, Cashinahua, Sharanahua, Yaminahua, Yawanahua, Capanahua), Kayabi, Paresi, Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon
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