The Mythology and Folklore Database
C6A - Diver – turtle/frog.
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
A turtle or toad (frog) brings a desired object from the bottom or from the underworld.Berezkin category: Disasters
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
C6 has 17 other sub-motifsC6. In texts with an emphasis on authenticity, characters dive or otherwise descend into the underworld to bring back to earth something desirable that is located at the bottom (deep below) (aka "The Earth Diver" motifs) (cf. fairy tale motif k27x9). C6a. A turtle or toad (frog) brings a desired object from the bottom or from the underworld. C6b. The desired object is brought up from the bottom by a muskrat (rarely a beaver or otter). C6c. The bird dives and brings up the desired object from the bottom. See motif C6. C6c1. Two or more different birds (in Siberia, often a loon and a duck) successively try to retrieve something from the bottom. Only one succeeds. C6c2. Birds must dive to retrieve soil from the bottom, from which land will emerge. The loon cannot reach the bottom, refuses to dive, or tries to hide the soil it has retrieved (usually punished for this). C6c3. The loon dives and brings back a piece of earth (grass, etc.), which turns into land (it is the only or the only successful diver). C6c4. A duck or similar waterfowl dives and brings back a piece of earth, which turns into land (it is the only or the only successful diver). C6d. Land (earth) is formed from a small amount of solid substance (silt, sand, clay, mud) that characters retrieve from the underworld (usually from the bottom of the ocean). C6e. A crustacean retrieves earth from under water or from the underworld. C6f. The characters attempt to retrieve a living creature or part of its body that has sunk to the bottom of the water. See motif C6. C6g. The boar brings earth from the bottom and/or scatters it on the water. C6h. The insect brings soil (from the bottom of the sea or from somewhere far away). c6h1. The earth brought from the underworld was found in the belly of a worm or insect, from where it was taken. C6i. A zoomorphic character returns from the underworld covered in mud. He shakes himself off, or the mud is scraped off him, and earth emerges from it. C6i1. There is water everywhere. Earth is raked up from the bottom into a mound, its top rises above the water and turns into dry land. C6j. In the same narrative, the story of the creation of man and the attempt to prevent it follows immediately after the story of obtaining earth from the bottom of the sea or from the underworld. C6j1. An anthropomorphic deity sends someone to fetch earth from the bottom of his enemy. At first, the enemy or both characters sometimes have the appearance of birds. After the enemy brings the earth, a confrontation begins between the two characters, who now always have anthropomorphic appearances. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of C6's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L1C1 | 96.03% | Fleeing from demonic characters, a group of men – relatives of a girl – ascend to the sky and remain there. See motif L1C. |
| I13A | 95.89% | A huge aquatic or celestial serpent, dragon, or snake-like creature with horns on its head. |
| J59A | 95.33% | After shooting an arrow (rarely: throwing a ball), a person flies on it, behind it or in front of it, or sends another person on the flying arrow. Cf. motif J59. |
| H2 | 94.56% | Animals ask God to make humans (tigers: domestic animals) mortal or otherwise reduce their numbers, as they fear that humans will trample them, deprive them of food or habitat, force them to work, etc. |
| B87A | 94.42% | A dim star next to the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper (Tibetans: Little Dipper) Ursa Major – dog. |
| K22B | 94.41% | The inhabitants of another world are attacked by certain enemies. A human helps them to defeat these enemies, because these creatures are not dangerous to humans. See motif K22. |
| L65D | 93.81% | When the older sister becomes a cannibal, the younger sister (temporarily) escapes. Cf. motifs L1B, L65C. |
| K27M | 92.94% | Task: to kill and bring an animal of a certain (often unusual) colour or shape. See motif K27. |
| K23 | 92.79% | Birds attack inhabitants of another world or a person who has entered another world. See motif K22. |
| F55A | 92.06% | A demonic character persuades a woman to expose a certain part of her body, because that is the only place where a certain object should be placed. The demon kills the woman, tearing off that part of her body. Usually, the woman uses or names various locations, and the character rejects each one in turn until he finds the right one. |
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 23 traditions: Melanesians and Papuans of Central Solomons: Vella la Vella (Bilua language), Shortland islands (Mono language), San Cristobal, Saint Georgia, Eddystone, Vangunu, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Inland Tlingit, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Blackfoot, Arapaho, Teton (incl Oglala), Gros Ventre, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Okanagon, Sanpoil, Cherokee, Pomo, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Sierra Miwok, Yokuts, Seri, Yupa (Yukpa), Siona, Secoya, Coreguaje, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal)