The Mythology and Folklore Database
H36F - The raven – an unsuccessful messenger.
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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
The raven is sent to deliver an important item or message. He distorts the message or loses what has been entrusted to him.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
H36 has 17 other sub-motifsH36. A character is sent to deliver instructions or certain items. The messenger distorts the message, brings the wrong items, loses what he is carrying, delays (and is overtaken by another messenger). This has important consequences for him and for the future lives of the people. H36a. The character distorts the message conveyed to him, deliberately lies, brings the wrong thing, loses what he is carrying, delays (and is overtaken by another messenger). As a result, people become mortal (they do not revive after death). H36aa. The messenger must tell people what they should do if they want to avoid death, but he distorts the instructions and people become mortal. In Mesoamerican variants, it is not about people in general, but about a specific character. H36b. The chameleon is to blame for the fact that man is mortal or that he must labour; he loses the trust placed in him by the deity. See motif H36. H36c. The lizard is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. See motif H36. H36d. The hare distorts God's command and/or is responsible for the fact that humans are mortal. See motif H36. H36e. The rat is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. H36f. The raven is sent to deliver an important item or message. He distorts the message or loses what has been entrusted to him. H36ff. The raven (crow) or other large bird of prey tries to kill people and/or is responsible for the fact that humans (tigres: domestic animals) are mortal or susceptible to disease. H36g. God sends a messenger to the people to tell them to eat infrequently (once a day, once every three days, etc.). The messenger says that one should eat often – at least two or three times a day. H36g1. When a bull (ox, cow) is ordered to convey certain instructions to people, he confuses them or deliberately distorts them. H36g2. When a character, who later became a dung beetle, was ordered to convey certain instructions to people, he distorted them. H36gg. The coyote is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal. H36h. Creatures, including a frog or toad, must cross an obstacle. This does not go as planned and results in humans becoming mortal. H36hh. The frog or toad is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal. H36i. The goat or sheep is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. See motif H36. H36j. The lark is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. h36k. Trees try to prevent humans from appearing on earth, fearing that they will cut them down. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H36's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M147 | 95.13% | A weak animal tells a strong animal that everyone is afraid of him, the weak one, and suggests testing this. He walks in front of the strong animal, everyone runs away, and the strong animal believes that they are running away from the weak one. |
| M99A1 | 95.04% | The character is going to pierce all the birds with their beaks (to string them on a rope) or cut them off altogether. |
| E31A2 | 94.92% | 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. |
| B116A | 94.84% | A person or animal eats a sacred book or its remains. During the ritual, this knowledge is actualised in oral speech, in the sounds of a musical instrument made from part of an animal's body, or in parts of an animal's body used for divination. |
| M167 | 94.80% | In the dark, a person mistakes a tiger (lion, demon) for another person or a domestic animal (bull, ox). |
| A12F | 94.73% | The stars fade because the moneylender demands that they repay their debt. |
| A37C | 94.73% | The character shoots an arrow into the sky, aiming to hit a celestial body or deity, but the arrow hits an obstacle blocking the target. |
| K33C1 | 94.73% | A character thrown into the water is transformed into a flower (usually a lotus). |
| K76H | 94.73% | A young man, temporarily having a strange or monstrous appearance (freak, animal, etc.), woos a princess, but is rejected. Then he causes natural disasters or creates personal troubles for the king, who is forced to give up his daughter. |
| L39B | 94.73% | The tree grows from a flatbread (pie, etc.) and usually bears flatbreads instead of fruit. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 12 traditions: Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Algeria Arabs, Burmese, Intha, Palaung (De Ang, Deang), Tajik, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Egypt