Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M53E — Allegedly inedible whale
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 (always a raven) kills a whale and points others to imaginary signs that whale meat is not suitable for food. People believe and all the meat goes to the deceiver.
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.
M53 has 6 other sub-motifs
RelatedM53. The character invites others to gather around him, focusing on an activity (usually dancing with their eyes closed or lowered), and then kills the crowd (usually one at a time).
M53a. raven gathers seals or other marine mammals around and deceives them into killing them.
M53b. Trickster claims he's carrying songs in his bag. See M53 motif.
M53c. trickster, inviting birds to dance around him with their eyes closed, kills them one at a time and threatens to turn red at the one that opens their eyes; this is an empty threat, or for a bird that opens eyes and eyes have really turned red ever since.
M53d. The character pretends to be enemies coming; when people run away in fear, the character takes what the deceived people owned.
M53e. A character (always a raven) kills a whale and points others to imaginary signs that whale meat is not suitable for food. People believe and all the meat goes to the deceiver.
M53f. The character is involved in preparing food supplies. After leaving under some pretext, he returns in the form of a monster or predator. Everyone runs away, the deceiver eats supplies, and then returns as usual. As a result, it was exposed.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K27N3C2 | 100.00% | The hero's father-in-law, the bear, sets him difficult tasks and trials. |
| M190 | 100.00% | The beaver carries the porcupine across a water barrier. Usually, he throws it into the water or leaves it on an island. |
| E9M | 99.66% | A man marries a bear (white or grizzly) that takes the form of a woman, or a woman who takes the form of a bear. |
| K54A | 99.61% | A man and a friendly giant live together. The friendly giant fights another giant and asks the man for help. The help consists of the man damaging the enemy's legs. |
| M46E | 99.08% | They (promise to) give a child the Sun (and or the Moon) to play with |
| B101 | 98.99% | Angry at the birch tree, the character beats or cuts it, leaving stripes on the bark that remain to this day. |
| K32C | 98.78% | The deceiver takes the place of the real wife, and the real wife becomes an owl. See motif K32. |
| M123 | 98.78% | A bird of prey or scavenger (raven, owl, hawk, coyote) marries (or attempts to marry) a partner who (or whose brothers) are geese or other waterfowl. The marriage is disrupted or proves unsuccessful. |
| M61A1 | 98.78% | The character (always a raven) provokes a seagull to quarrel with another bird, telling each one that the other was hostile or offensive towards her. |
| E15B | 98.64% | Bird women sew the birch bark covering of the hero's boat. See motif E15. |
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
8 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Central Yupik, Chugach, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Tanana, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Haida, Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay)
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