The Mythology and Folklore Database
B3C - Attempt to drown God.
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Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of Motif
When the creator, having created the land, lies down to rest, the antagonist tries to drown him, dragging him to the edge of the earth. As a result, the earth expands, and the antagonist is unable to reach its edge.Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
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
B3 has 6 other sub-motifsB3. At first, the earth is soft, resembling a swamp. B3a. The waters are primary. The earth is lowered onto the water, appears above the water, grows from a piece of solid substance placed on the surface of the water or liquid mud, from an island in the ocean, is exposed when the waters recede, etc. B3b. Initially, the earth or the world as a whole was small in size, then it grew; fertile soil grew from a small amount of initial substance. See motif B3A (the earth grows from a piece of solid substance thrown onto the surface of the water). B3c. When the creator, having created the land, lies down to rest, the antagonist tries to drown him, dragging him to the edge of the earth. As a result, the earth expands, and the antagonist is unable to reach its edge. B3d. The earth is obtained by a worm; it arises from worm excrement, extracted from the worm. B3e. At first, below the sky there is only air and water or (rarely) swamp, an indefinite abyss. A character descends from the sky, creates or has a support created for him, and the earth grows out of it; the earth is lowered, dropped from the sky; the earth is thrown, placed on the surface of the sea, and grows into land; the earth is brought from somewhere else (not from the underworld) and placed on the waters. (This is a more general motif compared to motif b79a1, "The bird dropped the firmament onto the waters"). B3F. A character in the sky accidentally drops an object. The search for this object in the world below the sky leads to the creation of the earth or a change in its appearance. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of B3's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| C31A | 98.67% | The master (mistress) of the underworld receives (should receive) heavenly lights or fire. Due to a trick or accident, they are not given to him or are returned. |
| K62A | 98.06% | A mouse (rat, mole, etc.) and a bird quarrel after failing to divide their winter supplies. (This episode usually serves as the beginning of a story about a war between birds and animals). |
| H6C1 | 97.81% | To obtain the desired object, the character grabs the young or the female bird (snake, crab) and promises to release them if the father (mother, male) bird delivers the desired object. |
| B110 | 97.79% | A character who is dragged along the ground or who runs, falls apart or hits the ground with different parts of his body. This determines the characteristics of the landscape and flora. |
| B42I | 97.46% | Cassiopeia is associated with a deer or elk. |
| H7F | 97.46% | God gives instructions that certain categories of people must die and suffer. The character who receives the instructions, caring for the people, passes on other orders to the executors. |
| K56A | 97.45% | Two or three sisters successively go to a powerful character. The first or the first two act incorrectly, perish or fail to achieve their goal. The last one acts correctly, is saved or rewarded. |
| K89D | 97.45% | Left alone in the house or finding herself in a stranger's house, a girl (less often a male character) hides by turning into a needle (a pin) or another tool for sewing or spinning. |
| A23B | 97.29% | Two characters argue about who will be the first to see the rising sun. The winner is the one who first notices not the sun itself, but its reflection or the trees and mountains illuminated by its first rays. |
| I131 | 97.09% | Every person's life corresponds to a thread; when the thread breaks, the person dies. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Poles, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Western Ukrainians, Anatolia Turks, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Mongols (Khalkha), Shor, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians