Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M123D — The raven – devourer of carrion.
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 bird from the corvid family is rejected after its mate or relatives discover that it eats carrion or filth.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M123C | 98.90% | A non-migratory bird sets off south with migratory birds, but is unable to reach its destination. |
| M94A | 98.88% | The demonic character kills his victims, provoking them to slide down the mountain. |
| M29A1 | 98.38% | In three or more different episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is raven (crow) |
| A31A | 98.32% | Upon learning that her husband or lover has committed an act incompatible with accepted norms, a woman cuts off her breast and shows it to him. |
| B16B | 97.98% | The sea is salty because a wolverine or a fox bathed in it or urinated in it. |
| B38B | 97.98% | Two quadrupeds (or a quadruped and another creature) adorn each other themselves or are adorned by someone else. |
| I123 | 97.42% | Altair with a small neighbouring star from the constellation Aquila or Vega with a similarly faint star are considered to appear during or immediately after the winter solstice, although they are actually visible before that. |
| K51 | 97.17% | The husband feigns death, disappears or leaves home for a long time. The wife learns that he has married another woman, finds and, as a rule, kills her husband and/or rival, who often turns out to be a creature of non-human nature. |
| B96 | 96.61% | The heroes' enemy turns into a large commercial fish (usually a sturgeon) or (rarely) a commercial aquatic mammal. |
| B38C | 96.17% | The raven and the loon paint each other. |
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
15 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Tats, Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chukchi, Chipewyan, Koyukon, Tanana, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Oregon Athabaskans: Lower Umpqua, Tututni (incl Joshua), Upper Coquille, Galice, Tolowa, Itelmen
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