Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
N27C — The bird does not have milk
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
OverviewIt is claimed that the bird has no milk and/or breasts
Berezkin category: Fabulous and epic formulas
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 13, Formulae.
N27 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedN27. Bird milk (variant: chicken, pigeon, hawkish, etc.) milk is mentioned in fairy tales, riddles, paroemias and conspiracies as something very rare and difficult to obtain or non-existent actually.
N27a. It is said that somewhere there is (or was) even bird’s milk
N27b. It is said that someone is only lacking bird’s milk or that somewhere the only thing missing is bird’s milk
N27c. It is claimed that the bird has no milk and/or breasts
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| N27B | 99.87% | It is said that someone is only lacking bird’s milk or that somewhere the only thing missing is bird’s milk |
| K27SS | 99.62% | A strong man must overtake a woman, often an old woman. This is difficult or impossible to achieve. |
| B32A | 99.61% | The enemies of a hero sailing the sea turn into seals or dolphins. |
| I137 | 99.61% | One of the constellations is associated with footwear, usually with (worn-out) bast shoes. |
| I95B | 99.61% | Orion is a yoke. |
| K35A7 | 99.61% | A character finds a feather, the touch of which brings health and beauty. |
| K38F3 | 99.61% | To kill the dragon, the hero digs a pit and hides in it. When the dragon crawls nearby or over the pit, the hero strikes it with a fatal blow of his sword. |
| M39A2A | 99.61% | fool buys spoons and/or a table, tells the table to go on its own feet, throws away spoons because they rattle. The two episodes are usually combined. |
| M39A3B | 99.61% | fool decides that stumps need hats, puts pots on the stumps. |
| N28F | 99.61% | It is said that water has no boughs or twigs |
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
17 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 17 traditions: Lithuanians, Estonians, Karelians, Vepsians, Tats, Kalmyk, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Uyghur, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Early Russian written sources, Russian Federation
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