The Mythology and Folklore Database
A12D - Birds eclipse the sun.
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Source Data from Berezkin's Analytics Catalogue, if using this data please acknowledge and link to it here:
Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of Motif
Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12.Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 1, Sun and Moon
A12 has 8 other sub-motifsA12. A creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, winter and summer, night and day, phases of the moon) or occasionally (eclipses, eschatological catastrophes) attack the luminaries or block their light. A12a. During an eclipse or under other circumstances, predators attack the luminaries: wolves, bears, jaguars, pumas, dogs, foxes, raccoons. See motif A12. A12b. During an eclipse or at sunset (marked *), the luminaries are swallowed by a toad or frog. A12c. Eclipses of the sun, moon or their setting (marked*) are caused by a snake, lizard, dragon, fish or crocodile; these creatures attack the luminaries now or attacked them at the beginning of time. See motif A12. A12d. Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12. A12e. The spider attacks the sun or moon (usually causing lunar eclipses). A12f. The stars fade because the moneylender demands that they repay their debt. A12g. The character tries to eclipse the moon for telling on him. A12H. Eclipses of the sun or moon are caused by a woman's attack. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of A12's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| A5 | 92.29% | The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (rarely) has no gender. |
| L41 | 90.85% | After catching a person, the cannibal carries his prey home, but the captive escapes on the road or at the cannibal's house. See motif L38 (a person falls into a demon's trap). |
| D4A | 90.06% | Fire is stolen from its original owner, returned to people by the thief, or (the motif of theft is not expressed) brought with difficulty from a distant place. |
| I99 | 90.00% | The Pleiades – a group of boys, young men, men or people of different genders, but predominantly male. |
| I72 | 89.53% | Stars – anthropomorphic beings. See motif K19 (marriage to a star). Cases where the Star is a unique object, e.g. Venus, rather than one of many Star-people, are not included. |
| J4 | 89.44% | The heroes avenge the death (enslavement) of their father, uncle, grandfather, or mother and father, or in general their descendants, with the loss of men being the most painful. |
| I100B | 88.59% | The Pleiades - a group of people of any gender and age. See motifs i99 - i100A, aggregate data. |
| I47 | 88.21% | The rainbow smells disgusting, is associated with foul-smelling animals, is a stream of excretions, is associated with the lower body, causes inflammation or skin diseases, and is associated with death. |
| I82B | 88.00% | The Morning and/or Evening Star – a female character. |
| J46 | 87.98% | Antagonists perish by falling into water or attempting to cross a water barrier. See motifs J42, J44. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 20 traditions: Chagga (Jagga; incl Wasu), Pare, Digo, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Hungarians, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Armenians, Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Southern Selkups, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Alcea, Yurok, Chumash, Yokuts, Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Western Mexico Nahuatl, Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Bakairi, Mataco