The Mythology and Folklore Database
A37C - The arrow hits the barrier.
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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
The character shoots an arrow into the sky, aiming to hit a celestial body or deity, but the arrow hits an obstacle blocking the target.Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature
A37 has 3 other sub-motifsA37. The character deliberately and by resorting to special means (usually shooting with a bow) strikes the sun or several suns or attempts to do so. A37a. A small animal (marmot, rabbit, mole, toad, frog, earthworm) or a person who turns into such an animal tries to hit the heavenly body with arrows or helps the archer. Since then, this animal has been hiding in burrows and in water. A37b. A small animal (marmot, rabbit, mole, frog) or a person who turns into such an animal tries to hit a target in the sky (a celestial body or a bird) with arrows and as a result loses their thumbs. A37c. The character shoots an arrow into the sky, aiming to hit a celestial body or deity, but the arrow hits an obstacle blocking the target. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of A37's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| A12F | 100.00% | The stars fade because the moneylender demands that they repay their debt. |
| K33C1 | 100.00% | A character thrown into the water is transformed into a flower (usually a lotus). |
| K76H | 100.00% | A young man, temporarily having a strange or monstrous appearance (freak, animal, etc.), woos a princess, but is rejected. Then he causes natural disasters or creates personal troubles for the king, who is forced to give up his daughter. |
| L39B | 100.00% | The tree grows from a flatbread (pie, etc.) and usually bears flatbreads instead of fruit. |
| K136 | 99.89% | The young man turns out to be the owner and leader of a herd of cattle, and with his herd of cows or buffaloes he is summoned to the king (usually after his hair is found by the princess). |
| M100A | 99.89% | One of the characters leads another to the edge of a cliff with the aim of lighting a fire, or lights a fire at the edge of the cliff. As a result, the other falls and is killed. |
| K27Z2 | 99.71% | A noble woman is forced to leave her home, gives birth to a son, and is separated from him. The young man grows up and almost marries his mother, but at the last moment everything is explained. {The Sudanese text, attributed to this plot in el-Shamy 2004 and subsequently in Uther 2004, does not fit the definition; it is quite possible that the Latvians, Romanians and Ukrainians are also mentioned incorrectly in Uther 2004}. |
| K37E | 99.71% | The clairvoyant cannot identify the person who revealed the secret, because that person does so while hiding among objects that are never found together in everyday life. |
| K116A | 99.70% | The king takes or is about to take the poor man's wife. She suggests that the king put on clothes that are not his own (usually those that belonged to her husband). After that, the king is killed by his own soldiers (dogs), who believe him to be a poor man (jester, devil). |
| M106D | 99.68% | By saying that his name is "Son-in-law" ("Husband," "Uncle," etc.), the character deceives others. The victims find no sympathy, since as a relative he has the right to behave in this manner. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Turkmen, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Darkhad, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori