The Mythology and Folklore Database
F70E - Girl turns into a man, ATU 514.
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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
A girl pretends to be a man, magically acquires male nature and lives with his wife. Cf. motif K137 (in Uther 2004, plot 514 mistakenly includes a Karakalpak text with our motif K137).Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
F70 has 8 other sub-motifsF70. A woman falsely accuses a man of assaulting her. F70a. Accusing a man or young man of assaulting her (usually sexually), a woman presents fabricated material evidence (tearing her clothes, scratching her body, etc.). See motif F70. F70b. A woman takes revenge on a man who rejected her love (but does not necessarily pretend that the man tried to force himself on her). F70c. A young man loses his male organ, but restores it with magic (and marries happily). Cf. ATU 750K. In ATU 318, this episode is described as one of many possible ones related to the theme of the unfaithful wife. F70d. A girl pretends to be a man or a eunuch, or a girl hides a disability, or a man pretends to be a girl. Someone reveals a secret. At the last moment, the hero or heroine magically gets rid of the disability (acquires male or female nature), the informer is disgraced (executed). F70e. A girl pretends to be a man, magically acquires male nature and lives with his wife. Cf. motif K137 (in Uther 2004, plot 514 mistakenly includes a Karakalpak text with our motif K137). F70e1. An old man needs a son to do men's work. (Only the youngest) daughter takes on this task (successfully passing the test set by her father), pretending to be a man. F70e2. The father sends his daughters or sons on a difficult task one by one. At the very beginning of the journey, their courage is put to the test. Only the youngest son or daughter passes the test. Usually, the father stands in their way, taking the form of an enemy or a predator, but only the youngest son or daughter bravely enters the fight. F70f. Finding themselves in a deserted place, people accidentally change their gender. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of F70's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L100 | 99.88% | A young man and woman fleeing from their pursuers take on the appearance of different but associatively related creatures or objects (a pond and a duck, a minaret and a muezzin, etc.). Usually, their pursuers do not recognise them. |
| K107A | 99.78% | Before reaching their goal, the character must wear out iron shoes or an iron staff. |
| K75A3 | 99.75% | Appearing incognito to an authoritative character, the hero works for him as a groom. |
| L100G | 99.74% | A servant serves his master a roasted bird, one of whose legs has already been eaten. He tells him to look at the chickens, geese, etc., which are standing on one leg. When they run away, it becomes clear that they all have two legs. Usually, the servant says that if the master had scared the roasted goose, it would have shown its second leg too. |
| K100B | 99.73% | A person helps to bury a dead man (pays his remaining debt, honours a saint). The revived dead man (saint) helps him overcome difficulties. See motif K100A. |
| K93B3 | 99.73% | To have a child, a woman eats fish, an apple or something else. Part of it (often the peel, broth, skin, etc.) is eaten by a mare, dog or other animals. The woman gives birth to a son (twins), the mare to a foal (foals), the dog to a puppy (puppies). |
| M191A | 99.70% | Mice decide to hang a bell around a cat's neck or tail so that they will know when it is approaching. Usually, none of the mice are able to do this. |
| K67C | 99.68% | The character agrees that under certain conditions another person may tear the skin from his back or cause him some other bodily harm. |
| M182A1 | 99.66% | A man catches several wild animals and releases them on the promise that they will bring gifts or prove useful. The animals fulfil their promise. |
| L114B | 99.65% | After receiving the task or on his own initiative, the trickster enters the character's house (usually that of the cannibal) several times, each time taking one of his belongings or one of his family members. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 32 traditions: Enenga, Mpongwe, Kuta (Koto), Nkomi, Masango, Mindumu, Mbede, Mitsogo, Bawunga, Ndumu (Ndumbo), Duma, Teke, (B)wende, Gujarati, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Ireland, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Spain, Spaniards, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Kashubians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Finns, Norwegians, Western Ukrainians, 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), Persians, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Georgians, Armenians, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Turkmen, Oriya (incl. Dom/Domba/Dombo, Ghasi, Bhat and other Oriya-speaking castes of Odisha), Wallons, Picardie