The Mythology and Folklore Database
G13B - Mushrooms as inferior food.
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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
Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate mushrooms. Creatures of a non-human nature feed on mushrooms. Mushrooms are imaginary, inferior food.Berezkin category: Fertility and Agriculture
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 6, Origin and interpretation of culture elements, in particular related to agriculture, inadequate forms of subsistence and economic activity before the establishment of the present norms
G13 has 3 other sub-motifsG13. Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate rotten or soft wood (ceiba – Ceiba L., balsa – Ochroma (Bombax) Sw.); some people eat rotten wood. G13a. Before the advent of cultivated plants (fire, hunting skills), people ate earth, clay, and stones. G13b. Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate mushrooms. Creatures of a non-human nature feed on mushrooms. Mushrooms are imaginary, inferior food. G13c. Before the advent of cultivated or edible wild plants, people ate what is now considered unfit for consumption: (rotten) wood, bark, earth, stones, mushrooms. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of G13's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| F9C | 96.84% | Snake (in Oceania – moray eel) in the vagina; vagina – snake's mouth; snake crawls out of a woman's mouth and bites off a man's penis during intercourse; woman with a toothy womb is associated with a snake. |
| D5 | 96.61% | The original owner or inventor (but not the embodiment) of fire is a female character. |
| E7 | 96.29% | The path from one part of the world to another passes through a narrow opening. The character gets stuck in the opening, permanently severing the connection between the worlds. |
| G24 | 94.87% | The first seeds (shoots, tubers) of cultivated or important wild food plants and/or agronomic knowledge were brought from the sky (received from the gods). |
| L3 | 94.45% | The demon takes on human form and comes to his wife (less often to another woman). Usually, the woman (alone or with a child) runs away and/or kills the monster, either by herself or with someone's help. |
| B17 | 94.23% | Darkness is a special object that can be carried and transferred (usually brought from the original owner in a vessel or bag). |
| E6 | 93.93% | When a woman of childbearing age (she is menstruating, miscarrying, pregnant, with a child, or simply fat) tries to pass from one world to another, the connection between the worlds is severed forever. |
| G13A | 93.65% | Before the advent of cultivated plants (fire, hunting skills), people ate earth, clay, and stones. |
| F18A | 93.43% | The penis of a male character is much longer than normal or becomes so. During intercourse, it usually crawls towards the woman like a snake. (Only texts with a focus on authenticity are included, not anecdotes). |
| E8 | 93.05% | The first humans or the wife of the first ancestor were made of wood. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Khmer, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Sinhalese; Vedda, Arapaho, Lacandon, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan)