Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
N10 — Transparent body
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 woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described. This transparency is a sign of beauty.
Berezkin category: Fabulous and epic formulas
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 13, Formulae.
N10 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedN10. A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described. This transparency is a sign of beauty.
N10a. A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described - bones are visible through the skin, bone marrow is visible through the bones. This transparency is a sign of beauty.
N10b. A girl or (rarely) a young man with a transparent neck is described, through which you can see the drinks and/or food that this girl or boy swallows. This neck is a sign of beauty.
N10c. A girl is described, through whose body you can see her internal organs or the food she has swallowed. This is a sign of beauty.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L72D | 98.09% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws behind him a pair of scissors, which turn into some kind of obstacle in the path of his pursuer. |
| I94 | 97.28% | The Pleiades are something holey. |
| I68B | 96.91% | On a certain night of the year, any wish that is expressed or conceived will come true. Cf. motif M13. |
| K126 | 96.48% | A predatory beast or demon eats the hero's horse, but in return is forced or voluntarily helps him. |
| C28 | 95.84% | A demonic character takes possession of a valuable item without which another character (and people) will perish. The demon is tricked into returning the valuable item. |
| H27A1 | 95.52% | Reptiles and insects crawl out of holes in the ground, bringing disease. |
| N10B | 95.45% | A girl or (rarely) a young man with a transparent neck is described, through which you can see the drinks and/or food that this girl or boy swallows. This neck is a sign of beauty. |
| H27A | 95.18% | When creating the earth, a negative character asks a positive character for as much earth as is necessary to prop up a staff, stake. |
| J26A | 94.85% | Among children of a woman or two women living together, there is a boy and a puppy, or a puppy was placed with a woman, and her son was thrown out. The puppy lives with the woman and helps her. |
| I128 | 94.64% | The Big Dipper – a ladle, a scoop. |
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
48 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 48 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), Simeulue, Nias, Catalan, France, 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, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Karelians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Uzbek, Wakhi, Ishkashimi (including Sanglich), Munji, Pashto, Persians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Ossetians, Ingush, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Laks, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Kumyk, Terekemen, Nogai, Kurds, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Turkmen, Chuvash, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Shor, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Nenets, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Nanai, Negidal, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Asiatic Eskimo (Sirenek, Naukan, Chaplino), Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Chechens, Southern Altai: Teleut, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Russian Federation
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