The Mythology and Folklore Database
H6C2 - Living water in the land of darkness.
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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
At the edge of the world lies the land of darkness. Those who want to obtain living water or gold strive to get there.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects
H6 has 7 other sub-motifsH6a. Mortal humans are contrasted with plants, which regularly shed their bark, bloom in spring after winter dormancy, or reproduce vegetatively. See motif H4. H6b. The elixir of immortality, intended for humans, is not delivered to its destination, but falls on plants, which become evergreen, capable of regeneration or bearing fruit. (Traditions in which the "elixir of immortality" is linked to the motif of false news are marked with an asterisk. Cf. motif B115). H6bb. A character is sent to deliver a certain object or substance to people, the possession of which is essential to them. The messenger loses these objects or brings others. Usually, this refers to the ability to be reborn after death. Traditions not related to the explanation of human mortality are marked with an asterisk*. H6c. The raven (crow, vulture) is associated with death or contrasted with humans as immortal among mortals (sent to bring the elixir of immortality or water that revives the dead; drinks this water himself; teaches people funeral rites; etc.). H6c1. To obtain the desired object, the character grabs the young or the female bird (snake, crab) and promises to release them if the father (mother, male) bird delivers the desired object. H6c2. At the edge of the world lies the land of darkness. Those who want to obtain living water or gold strive to get there. H6c3. Large birds that fly in wedge formations (storks, cranes, swans, geese – German: Zugvögel) are associated with the otherworld (they bring children from there, carry children away to the non-human world, control living and dead water, etc.). H6d. Having obtained a means of ensuring immortality, the character falls asleep or leaves the means unattended. At this time, another character steals the means. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H6's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K168A | 98.52% | A person thinks that they are holding something intended for food (a calf's head, a melon, bread, etc.), but these objects turn into human heads or limbs. Cf. motif K80c1. |
| K114 | 98.29% | Several brothers leave home immediately after or shortly before their mother gives birth to a girl (usually they want a brother and wait for news about who their mother has given birth to, but accidentally or maliciously a signal is given that a boy has been born). The girl grows up and goes in search of her brothers. |
| K147 | 97.99% | The enemy dismembers the hero's body. The remains are tied to the horse's saddle, or the horse itself picks them up and brings them to friendly characters. They revive the hero. |
| F9G | 97.70% | A powerful woman defeats and kills her suitors. The hero or his assistant defeats her (usually on their wedding night, subduing her with rods or a whip). The hero marries the heroine. |
| K33A | 97.64% | Young siblings (most often a brother and sister) leave home. One of them (rarely: several brothers) accidentally breaks a taboo and is transformed into an animal (usually a hoofed animal) or (rarely) a bird; later, the spell is usually broken. |
| K157 | 97.57% | The character lures his opponents out one by one and cuts off each one's head as soon as they appear. Less commonly, a multi-headed opponent sticks out its heads one by one, and the hero cuts them off. |
| M127B | 97.46% | A character attaches a vessel or part of a vessel to their body, lowers it into the water, and the vessel pulls them along. |
| L85C | 97.42% | A character with half a body – a hen, a chick. Sometimes it is only a name, and the character's appearance is more anthropomorphic. |
| M39A6H | 97.30% | The king tells the commoner to pluck a goose (geese, shear a ram, etc.). He understands correctly: to rob the vizier. |
| K155A | 97.30% | A man (usually a king) raises his daughter (less often his son) in a closed room, ordering her to be fed boneless meat. One day, a bone is found in the meat, and the girl (boy) uses it to make a hole in the wall and sees the outside world for the first time. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Arabs of Egypt, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Persians, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism