Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M199G1 — Hold on to the handle, ATU 1052.
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 human (a weaker animal) deceives a strong giant (a demon, a stronger animal). One of the episodes: both carry a tree, the strong man takes hold of the top (by the crown), the man supposedly takes hold of the crown (by the top), but instead sits on the tree carried by the strong man or walks along pretending to support the branches.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| M95 | 99.91% | weaker character asks a stronger character to take the gift to his family and climbs into a basket, bag, etc. A strong character brings and leaves a gift without knowing that brought whoever sent this gift. Usually a girl hides her sisters in a bag (chest), and next time she sits there herself, and the cannibal believes that there are gifts for the girls' parents in the bag and carries the bag. |
| M38B2 | 99.87% | Each of the three brothers comes to his father with his wife (fiancée). The younger brother or his fiancée is considered worthless, but the girl turns out to be a sorceress and surpasses the brides of her older brothers in everything. |
| M81E | 99.85% | young man undertakes to herd cattle and is warned not to cross the borders of a giant, dragon, witch, etc. The young man violates the ban and kills a giant. |
| K61D | 99.82% | A young woman accidentally gives her fiancé, husband or mother-in-law the impression that she works a lot. To prevent the deception from being revealed, she or someone else makes others believe that women's work makes them ugly or turns them into animals. The husband forbids his wife to work. |
| B33E1 | 99.79% | It is said that the cold, which is stronger than anything else, can freeze boiling water, a foetus in the womb, etc. |
| I114 | 99.79% | Describes a ram or sheep with golden wool or the skin of such a ram. |
| L73A | 99.79% | The fugitives make sure that darkness spreads behind them, hindering their pursuers (while light pours in front of them). |
| M29Z2 | 99.79% | Being smart and witty, the Gipsy overcomes strong adversaries |
| A32D1 | 99.78% | Cain and Abel are associated with the moon, usually distinguishable (both or only Cain) in the silhouette of lunar spots. |
| M193A | 99.77% | A woman baked a flatbread (pancake, pie, dough figure). It rolled away (ran away). On its way, it encounters various people and/or animals who want to eat it. It rolls away from each of them, but a fox (rarely another animal) eats it. |
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
29 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 29 traditions: Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Kashubians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Tats, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Central Yakuts (Sakha), Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Faroe Islands, Russian Federation
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