Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

L9A — Ostronog, G341.1.

70 Myths, legends and folktales
70 Unique narratives for motif L9A
48 Cultures & traditions where L9A is told
7 Sub-motifs of motif L9A
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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

Overview

The character's leg is crippled (intentionally or accidentally) or originally pointed. He uses the pointed bone for hunting, fishing or killing people.

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.

L9 has 7 other sub-motifs

Related

L9.  The character's body parts resemble cutting or stabbing weapons.
L9a.  The character's leg is crippled (intentionally or accidentally) or originally pointed. He uses the pointed bone for hunting, fishing or killing people.
L9b.  The sharp elbows or (rarely) knees of the character resemble knives or awls.
L9c.  The character kills others with a sharp protrusion on his chest.
L9d.  The character has sharp nails or knife-like hands, which he uses to kill people.
L9e.  The anthropomorphic character has a nose resembling a copper or iron beak.
L9f.  A person with a nose or teeth made of gold or silver is a sign of their demonic nature.
L9g.  A man's hair or beard of an unusual colour is a sign of his demonic nature.

🌐 See a combined distribution map for all of L9’s motifs

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny
MotifSimilarityMotif summary
E13A98.00%Sacred knowledge, objects and rituals were first obtained by humans from the inhabitants of the underwater world.
K18A97.67%The boy's father is recognised as the man whose bow or arrows he chooses. See motif K18.
D13C97.63%Two companions or brothers live together. The older one has a wife, whom he hides. To discover her, the younger one, left alone in the house, makes her laugh.
I28A97.63%Large animals that are hunted go underground and cause earthquakes.
M7397.50%Two characters compare their excrement or vomit to learn about each other's diet and decide which of them is the more powerful beast. One of them manages to replace the selections. (Traditions in which vomiting is substituted are greasy).
J6097.23%A woman conceives twins from two different fathers.
J3697.01%The turtle drags the hero's parents under water.
J1696.54%The character perishes because, being forced to look for insects in the head of another, he refuses to chew insects, spits them out in disgust, or is suspected of doing so.
C9A96.16%During the flood or when crossing a river, those who drowned or were saved turn into aquatic or amphibious animals.
F9696.03%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.

See the 100 most similar distributions →

Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

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Traditions

48 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 48 traditions: Soqotri, Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Maka (Makaa), Baya, Kaka, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Western Woods Cree, Eastern Cree, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Blackfoot, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Cheyenne, Arapaho, Arikara, Gros Ventre, Plains Cree, Assiniboine, Crow, Carrier, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Quileute, Chemakum (Hoh), Quinault, Tillamook, Oregon Athabaskans: Lower Umpqua, Tututni (incl Joshua), Upper Coquille, Galice, Tolowa, Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Yagua, Ticuna (Tucuna), Juruna, Xipaya, Suruí, Gaviâo, Zoro, Arua, Cinta Larga, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Trumai, Rikbaktsa, Iranxe, Paresi, Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Canela: Ramkokamekra, Apaniekra, Craho, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje), Makka, Chamacoco (Ishir), Mataco, Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Chorote, Toba (incl Pilagá), Selknam

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