The Mythology and Folklore Database
E31A - Creators and saviours of girls, ATU 653, 653A, 653B.
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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
Several men (women) participate in the rescue, creation or revival of a girl (man), or mourn her (his) death. The question arises as to whom the revived person should belong to or who contributed more to the revival. Alternatively, three men create something valuable, each contributing their part. The question arises as to whose contribution is more important.Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior
E31 has 5 other sub-motifsE31. A man makes a wooden doll and behaves as if it were alive. It does not come to life, or comes to life only partially or temporarily. A real woman replaces the figure and marries the carver. E31a. Several men (women) participate in the rescue, creation or revival of a girl (man), or mourn her (his) death. The question arises as to whom the revived person should belong to or who contributed more to the revival. Alternatively, three men create something valuable, each contributing their part. The question arises as to whose contribution is more important. E31a1. Three (rarely four or two) men participate in the creation of the girl: one carves the figure out of wood, another dresses her, and the third brings her to life. To whom should the animated girl belong? E31a2. The girl must be given to one of several men. She herself or someone else explains that one of the suitors can be called her father, another her brother (etc.), and only one can be her husband. E31b. Several women participate in reviving a dead man and argue about who did more to revive him. E31c. Several men, each possessing a unique skill, bring a (kidnapped) girl from a distant country. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of E31's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M156 | 98.98% | A dangerous animal (rarely: a spirit) is about to kill a human or another animal – usually the one who freed it from a trap. A third character acts as a judge and saves the human – most often by luring the ungrateful back into the trap. |
| M157 | 98.42% | The character claims that a man, male animal or object gave birth (or had a period), or that an animal of one species gave birth to a young of another species, or that a woman gave birth to an animal or inanimate object. |
| K38D1 | 98.21% | Fearing a monster living in the water or wishing to end a flood or drought, a girl is sacrificed or voluntarily hides in the waters. |
| K33 | 97.34% | When a malevolent woman pushes another woman into a body of water (a well), the latter drowns or loses her human form, but manages to return to the world of humans. Cf. motif k32m |
| L19B | 97.04% | Creatures (any, except ornithomorphic ones) with more than 10 heads or an odd (but more than one) number of heads are described or depicted (in the case of listing creatures in order of increasing number of heads, the series ends with an odd number). |
| M91C1 | 96.87% | The character (pretends to) take possession of someone's property (usually setting the owner to be killed instead of him), says that he got everything at the bottom of the river, in the abyss, etc., to him they believe. |
| F5 | 96.81% | The character does not want to or cannot give all the suitors his daughters in marriage and turns them into girls of various animals. (Usually after the flood or at the beginning of time, men want to marry the only daughter of a deity or patriarch). |
| M91C2 | 96.65% | character is placed in a bag or chest, locked in a cage, tied, etc., to drown, burn, etc. When left for a while, the character pretends to be in the bag voluntarily or because he does not want to become a chief, marry, etc.; the other agrees to take his place. See M91c1 motif. |
| L94 | 96.50% | A demon or animal helps a person or agrees to let them go, but in return takes a promise to give them a daughter or son. |
| I120 | 96.48% | Food and clothing can be obtained from the horns of domestic animals (oxen, cows, goats). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 91 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Algeria Arabs, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Shone (Shona, =Mashona, =Karanga), Makoni (Shoni dialect), Remba (=Hungwe, Wahungwe); Zezuru, Rozwi, Ndau (Vandau), Swahili, Midjikenda (incl Giryama), Nyika, Duruma; Ngindo, Kiluguru and other Islamic groups of the Eastern Coast of Africa, Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Enenga, Mpongwe, Kuta (Koto), Nkomi, Masango, Mindumu, Mbede, Mitsogo, Bawunga, Ndumu (Ndumbo), Duma, Teke, (B)wende, Igbo (Ibo); Isoko, Urhobo, Songhai, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Southern Gur (Oti-Volta): Grusi, Kabiye, Kasena, Lyela (Lyele), Wala, Dyan, Akan, Ashanti, Akwapim; Ga (Accra), Kra, Twi (Chwi, Chi), Bia: Anyi, Agni, Baule, Nsema, Fula (Fulbe, Fulani, Pular), Khmer, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Malayali; Kannikaran, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Nepali; Tharu, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Sinhalese; Vedda, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Early Chinese written sources, Koreans, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Basques, Catalan, Maltese, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, Dutch, Flemish, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Norwegians, Swedes, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Uzbek, Yazgulami, Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Svans, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Talysh, Kara Kalpak, Uyghur, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Turkmen, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Udmurt, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Shor, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Waiwai, Kono (=Kone), Wai, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Oriya (incl. Dom/Domba/Dombo, Ghasi, Bhat and other Oriya-speaking castes of Odisha), Wolof, Arabs of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Emirates, Oman,, Icelanders, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Frisians, Morocco, Congo