The Mythology and Folklore Database
A15 - Crossing paths.
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Motif Summary - Motifs with Simlar Dispersals - Map of Myth Distribution - List of Traditions - Myths |
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
An eclipse or the appearance of spots on the lunar disc is explained by the fact that the moon or sun turns onto the wrong path or the paths of the luminaries intersect. See motif A14.Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 1, Sun and Moon
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| E24 | 96.59% | Joints appeared in humans after the first ancestor (or several first ancestors) fell from a height, breaking their arms and legs. |
| I82C | 93.79% | Venus or an unidentified star in the eastern and/or western sky – the wife of the Moon. See motif I82b. |
| F8 | 92.98% | In the beginning (.55.60.67.73.) women and men lived separately from each other, then came together. Cf. motif F45 (Amazons). |
| I82C1 | 89.71% | The Moon has two wives (usually the Morning Star and the Evening Star). With the caring one, he grows fat, with the other, he starves and grows thin. |
| E5C | 88.51% | The first humans or deities-ancestors descend to earth from the sky. |
| H1C | 85.23% | People cease to be reborn (or no longer come to the living) after the deceased is buried in the ground for the first time or someone tramples the earth on a fresh grave, preventing the deceased from rising from the grave. |
| J58C | 85.11% | A chain of arrows forms a bridge across a water barrier. |
| L45 | 84.94% | A strong character traps a weak one and leaves someone to guard the prey. The guard fails to fulfil his duties (usually tricked by the weak one), and the weak one escapes. {African borrowings in America are difficult to distinguish from possible local cases} |
| H24C | 84.68% | People open a vessel (a bundle, a basket, etc.) containing death (or old age, illness), and therefore they are mortal. |
| H36H | 84.22% | Creatures, including a frog or toad, must cross an obstacle. This does not go as planned and results in humans becoming mortal. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Murle, Me'en (Bodi), Didinga, Efe Pygmies, Kango (Mbuti) Pygmies, Enenga, Mpongwe, Kuta (Koto), Nkomi, Masango, Mindumu, Mbede, Mitsogo, Bawunga, Ndumu (Ndumbo), Duma, Teke, (B)wende, Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Hausa, Teda (Tedaga), Southern Gur (Oti-Volta): Grusi, Kabiye, Kasena, Lyela (Lyele), Wala, Dyan, Bia: Anyi, Agni, Baule, Nsema, Mangareva, Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), Inland Tlingit, Tlingit, Locono, Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Paresi, Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay)