The Mythology and Folklore Database
H14 - The woman flies back.




9 Myths, Legends and Folktales
9 Unique Narratives for Motif H14
6 Cultures & Traditions where H14 is told
39 Mythemes Indexed
0 Sub-Motifs of Motif H14


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 woman who has returned from the world of the dead flies back, becoming a bird or a fly.

Berezkin category: Paradise Lost

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
F51A98.25%After incest is discovered, the sister openly demands her brother as her husband, turns into a monster, and kills people.
K4295.69%A young bird woman energetically searches among a group of men for one she likes, takes him by force and makes him her husband; she turns into a monster, pursues and kills men, but is ultimately killed herself.
F2595.60%Women have been stained with someone else's or their own blood, or with blood-like paint, ever since women began menstruating.
F28C95.28%A woman masturbates with the penis of a large animal that one of the men killed while hunting.
J5695.24%A son or sons come to their father. He subjects them to trials in order to find out whether they are really his children.
L15A194.89%The character's vulnerable spot is located at the bottom of the foot (heel, toe, sole, ankle).
L15A94.85%The character's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs.
F8294.80%The son-in-law resorts to trickery to sleep with his mother-in-law, or the mother-in-law with her son-in-law. Usually, the son-in-law insists that his mother-in-law, rather than his wife, accompany him on a hunt.
M29H94.58%See the motives in square brackets.
M5293.70%The character (by deception) kills an ungulates. He asks another to refresh the carcass, looks for a knife to do it, or a fire to fry the meat. The other freshens the carcass, gives fire or a knife, but takes or tries to take all the meat for himself.

 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 6 traditions: Plains Ojibwa, Cherokee, Luiseño, Juaneño, Zuni, Huichol, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete


Please log on to view the narratives.