The Mythology and Folklore Database
G8 - Overgrown clearing, D1565.1+, E30.1.
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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
People or animals cut or gnaw at a tree, mountain, or pillar of the sky. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their task (usually when they take a break) or periodically (at certain times).Berezkin category: Fertility and Agriculture
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
G8 has 7 other sub-motifsG8. People or animals cut or gnaw at a tree, mountain, or pillar of the sky. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their task (usually when they take a break) or periodically (at certain times). G8a. A man cuts down a tree to make a boat or something else from the trunk (Yap: a board for building a house; one of the texts from Ulithi: a wooden bird), goes away to rest, and upon returning finds the tree intact again. Usually, the character who restored the tree in the man's absence then cuts down the tree himself and makes what the hero needs. G8b. A person hides in a tree or (Kazakhs) hides behind walls. Another tries to cut down the tree (break down the walls) to get the person, but the cut tree grows back (or the already felled tree rises, the wall is restored). G8c. The first ancestors try to cut down a tree (less often a high rock) to get useful plants hanging on the branches (at the top) or water or fish in the trunk. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their work, or periodically. G8d. A tree (pillar, mountain) is cut down (gnawed, ground down) or prevented from being cut down in order to save the world (or the gods, the king, etc.) from danger. G8e. A character unsuccessfully cuts down a tree growing on the moon. G8f. Characters cut down a tree, but the trunk grows back. They manage to finish the job after the splinters are carried away or burned. G8g. There is a unique tree that must be bent or felled. Different creatures inhabit its separate parts and/or objects of special importance are made from its wood. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of G8's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| A14 | 96.80% | The meeting of the sun and the moon is the cause of eclipses or lunar phases. |
| I72A | 93.84% | Stars – children of the moon and/or sun. |
| H5 | 93.77% | Reptiles or invertebrates possess a life-giving agent; they are contrasted with humans as immortal mortals and/or responsible for the fact that humans die and are not reborn; the dead turn into snakes. See motif H4. (The first death comes from a snake bite (centipede), but snakes are not opposed to humans as immortals to mortals.) |
| A3 | 93.22% | The Moon is female or hermaphroditic, the Sun is male or, possibly, male. |
| A14A | 92.03% | The sun and moon (month) are or have been in hostile relations either constantly or from time to time. |
| K25E | 91.80% | Humans in general or a specific ethnic, tribal or social group are considered descendants of an earthly man and woman of supernatural origin. |
| I41 | 91.55% | A rainbow is a reptile (usually a snake), less often a fish or snake-like, usually dangerous, object (snake tongue, scorpion tail). |
| I42 | 91.45% | The rainbow is a pair of creatures, usually a man and a woman, male and female. |
| I108 | 91.23% | The Pleiades are a single character, not a group of people. |
| B2E | 91.11% | The Earth or the world as a whole is a male character (alone or alongside a female character). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 81 traditions: Ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Ganda, (Ba)Nyoro, Nyankole, Masaba (Gisu), Luia (=Luyia, Haya, Luhya, Bantu Kawirondo; incl. Vugusu, Maragoli), Rwanda (incl Hutu, Tutsi, Kiga), Rundi, (Ma)Shi, Banyabungu; Rega, Lingala, (Ba)Ngala, Ntomba, Kioque, (Ki)Bangi, Bolia, Balolo, Boloki, (Ba)Akwa, (U)Poto, Zulu, Swazi, Kosa (Xosa, Xhosa), Other West Chadic: Ngas, Bolanchi, Tangale, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Songhai, Tuareg, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Lobi, Mandjak, Mankanya, Pepel, Balant, Felupe, Diola (Jola), Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Melanesians of the islands of Massim District ( =Milke Bay Province) to the east of New Guinea: Dobu, Rossel, Fergusson, Goodenough, Murua (Woodlark), Trobrian Islands, d'Entrecasteau Islands, Northern Vanuatu: Banks Islands (incl Mota, Mota Lava, Gaua, Santa Maria), Torres Islands, Tikopia, Bellona, Rennell, partly Aneytium, Futuna (=Erronan, not to be mixed with Futuna in Western Polynesia), Vaeaka-Taumato, incl Matema, Nifeloli, Nukapu, Nupani, Pileni, Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands), Society Islands: Tahiti, Borabora, Raiatea, Northern Cook Islands: Rakahanga, Manihiki, Tongareva, Tuamotu, incl Pukapuka (different from Pukapuka in Cook Islands), Vahitahi, Anaa, Hao, Fangatau, Mangareva, Hawaii, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Tuvalu (Ellice), Yap, Ulithi, Ngulu, Truk, Eastern Fayu, Losap, Pulap, Puluwat, Mortlock (incl. Satawan), Marshall Islands, incl Ailinglapalap, Arno, Jaluit, Kili, Lae, Maloelap, Majuro, Ratak, Wotho, Ujae, Jaluit (=Jalooj), Namdrik, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Khmer, Khasi, Nepali; Tharu, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Meo (Hmong) of Thailand, Laos and Northern Vietnam, Lepcha, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Estonians, Norwegians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Persians, Georgians, Gagauz, Bashkirs, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Darkhad, Kets, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Tutchone, Shuswap, Jicarilla, Warihio (Guarijío), Tarahumara, Kekchi; Mopan, Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Chimila (Ette), Sicuani, Guayabero, Yaruro, Makiritare (Yecuana), Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kofan, Aguaruna, Huambiza, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Yagua, Kayabi, Nambikwara, Paresi, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje), Caduveo, Mbaya, Senufo, Morocco, Berbers of Algeria, China