Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L83 — An incomplete body turns into lightning/thunder.
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 character who has only a head left (motif L5) or who has burned his leg (motif L82) turns into lightning/thunder (or emits lightning/thunderclaps).
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B67 | 99.80% | A fallen tree and/or its stump turns into a mountain (mountain range) or rocks. (Usually, the branches of this tree bear the fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants, see motif G5). |
| L26 | 98.98% | During the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food. |
| M121 | 98.98% | A louse or other similar creature (flea, tick, firefly) is sent to follow a certain character. |
| I27B | 98.57% | A dog carries a person across a river to another world. See motif I27. |
| L1E | 98.32% | A monstrous bird is created from a small amount of human or animal flesh (usually from the heart) or from lumps of manioc starch. |
| G11 | 98.31% | The squirrel plays an important role in cutting down a giant tree (usually chopping or trying to chop the vine that holds it, see motif G10). |
| B62 | 98.27% | Man believes that vultures live better than humans, changes his appearance to that of a vulture. The former vulture lives with the man's wife, and the man usually does not like his new life. |
| B7D | 98.15% | Water pours from a broken bone, flooding the earth. |
| I129 | 98.15% | The rainy season is associated with the appearance of the Heron constellation in the sky. |
| L7B | 98.15% | While chasing a person, spirit, monster or beast, he mistakenly throws himself after a calabash floating down the river. |
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
6 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Colorado (Tsachila), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kofan, Tariana, Tacana
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