Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L94D — The tale with a tail.
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 demonic character accuses a man of stepping on (tearing off) the tail of a fairy tale. Cf. motif K100E, "Dangerous Fairy Tales".
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
L94 has 6 other sub-motifs
RelatedL94. A demon or animal helps a person or agrees to let them go, but in return takes a promise to give them a daughter or son.
L94a. When a person leans over the water, a demon grabs him by the beard and releases him on the promise that he will fulfil his demand.
L94b. A person promises to give to a supernatural character the first thing that comes their way (either something they have not yet seen in their own home, or something that is behind the door, etc.). The person thinks that they will have to give something of little value, but it turns out to be their own child.
L94b1. A man receives a box (bag, horn, etc.) as a gift, which he must open only at home. Driven by curiosity, he opens it on the way, and everything that should make him wealthy (houses, livestock, etc.) spills out. The demon who appears agrees to return everything, but sets a condition, the severity of which the man does not immediately understand.
L94c. If a deity grants victory, a person promises to sacrifice to it the first person who comes out to meet them at home. A son or daughter comes out.
L94d. A demonic character accuses a man of stepping on (tearing off) the tail of a fairy tale. Cf. motif K100E, "Dangerous Fairy Tales".
L94e. A supernatural character who helps the hero or heroine under certain conditions â the white wolf.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| C33B | 100.00% | The demise of the first race is associated with the appearance of wind. |
| F100A | 100.00% | In order to revive a man or remove an arrowhead (bullet) from his body, a chaste girl or woman must touch (step over) the dead or wounded man. |
| J59C | 100.00% | A character strikes the remains of the deceased with a whip or a lash, and the deceased comes back to life. |
| K167B | 100.00% | A boy is able to determine the sex and colour of a young animal in the womb. |
| K172 | 100.00% | A man describes his daughter to a potential groom as ugly and crippled. The groom agrees to the marriage, and the bride turns out to be beautiful. |
| K182 | 100.00% | A supernatural defender comes to the rescue upon hearing the alarm, but stops doing so after the alarm has been raised in vain. |
| K27U2 | 100.00% | An authoritative character orders to find out where the tumbleweed is rolling or what news it brings. |
| K73B2 | 100.00% | It is necessary to boil the pot by telling an incredible but nevertheless true story. |
| L103A | 100.00% | A girl, a young woman, runs away from a demonic character; she manages to run home, but her relatives do not open the door. The pursuer finds and eats her. (A musical instrument is made from her hair or intestines). (Overview of variants in Rakhno 2016: 475-484). |
| L110B | 100.00% | The stomach (spleen) removed from the body of a domestic animal or bird turns out to be a voracious monster. |
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
3 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 3 traditions: Kirghiz, Khakas, Southern Altai: Teleut
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