The Mythology and Folklore Database
B98C - The bat is deceived by a deity.




6 Myths, Legends and Folktales
5 Unique Narratives for Motif B98C
4 Cultures & Traditions where B98C is told
25 Mythemes Indexed
3 Sub-Motifs of Motif B98C


Please log on to view the narratives.




 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

The heavenly deity could have healed the bat's mother or child, but did not do so, and they died.

Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar


B98 has 3 other sub-motifs


B98.  The bat (rarely: ostrich) tries to join either the beasts or the birds, or finds itself excluded from both.
B98a.  The bat becomes an outcast among other creatures (usually after trying to join either the animals or the birds).
B98b.  The Bat comes into conflict with other creatures in connection with someone's death or funeral.
B98c.  The heavenly deity could have healed the bat's mother or child, but did not do so, and they died.

 Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of B98's motifs?



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
B2G100.00%The chameleon walked on the ground when it had not yet hardened.
B98B100.00%The Bat comes into conflict with other creatures in connection with someone's death or funeral.
C30B100.00%In response to the claims of an animal or spirit, a person offers to remove their traces from the field or to walk without leaving any traces. The spirit is unable to do so.
D13HH100.00%A person visiting another world should not laugh or show surprise when seeing strange things. Those who break this rule will perish or suffer harm.
E1B1100.00%A man who has married an unusual girl is warned that she must not perform certain tasks or eat certain foods. Other members of his household ensure that the young woman breaks the prohibition, and as a result she dies or disappears.
E31B100.00%Several women participate in reviving a dead man and argue about who did more to revive him.
F73A100.00%The vulva is an unhealed wound on the body of the first women, or the first humans did not copulate because they thought that the vulva was a wound.
H1BB100.00%One character refuses to resurrect another's beloved dog, and this conflict is linked to the loss of the ability to resurrect people.
H31100.00%God summons several characters, including man and the heavenly bodies, and makes man mortal and the heavenly bodies immortal.
H36I100.00%The goat or sheep is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. See motif H36.

 See more...

Please log on to view the narratives.



Map of Motif Dispersal

Click here for a clustered map

Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom



This motif has been recorded in 4 traditions: Sakata, Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo)


Please log on to view the narratives.