Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L74 — The Returned 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 bear or other powerful character tears off and carries away another character's hand. A third character steals the hand and returns it to the one from whom it was torn off.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
L74 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedL74. A bear or other powerful character tears off and carries away another character's hand. A third character steals the hand and returns it to the one from whom it was torn off.
L74a. The enemy carries the hero away or tears off and carries away part of his body, after which he hangs his victim or part of his body (usually over a fire) in order to cause the victim torment. Another character rescues the hero himself or returns the stolen part of his body to him.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I15A | 97.02% | Due to ignorance or haste, the mouth of anthropomorphic creatures is first cut vertically. |
| G1 | 96.33% | In order to acquire or regain values (land, soil, cultivated plants, sun, fire, shamanic knowledge, luck), people lure or steal the son or daughter of a certain character. |
| L59 | 94.25% | A woman eats the best food or eats fruit before it is ripe; as punishment, she undergoes metamorphosis. |
| B26 | 88.42% | A person who follows wild animals (temporarily) turns into one of them or their master, or lives with animals that look like humans to him. |
| M4 | 86.07% | When crossing a pond or descending from a tree, the character (usually despite a warning) steps at a specific animal or part of the animal's body . As a result, it falls into the water and often sinks. |
| I18 | 86.00% | Visiting the world of people without an anus or mouth (the underworld, if not otherwise), the hero or heroine enters or attempts to enter into sexual relations with the local inhabitants. See motif I14. |
| C5B | 85.85% | After a global catastrophe or during the creation of the earth, animals run around, making the earth large, reporting on its condition, or are sent to find out how large the earth is. |
| M75D | 85.81% | A man bereaves vultures of their hunting weapons or amulets |
| K27O2 | 84.36% | To destroy the hero, his opponents play ball with him, throwing a heavy dangerous object (a ball made of ice, bone, stone, iron, a walrus head, a biting skull, etc.). |
| K10F | 83.84% | The character turns the children of a flying monster into ordinary eagles or owls. |
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
10 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Chugach, Chipewyan, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Tanana, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Haida, Teton (incl Oglala), Comox, Pentlatch, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam
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