The Mythology and Folklore Database
H6D - Stolen immortality.
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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
Having obtained a means of ensuring immortality, the character falls asleep or leaves the means unattended. At this time, another character steals the means.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A4A | 99.04% | So that people do not look at it, the Sun blinds their immodest eyes (usually with needles, which are its rays). |
| A12G | 98.98% | The character tries to eclipse the moon for telling on him. |
| A4B | 97.39% | The sun decided to walk across the sky during the day because it is afraid of the night. |
| M171D | 97.17% | The character exchanges one thing for another and ultimately receives a musical instrument (usually a drum). |
| M130A | 97.12% | A trickster lures an animal into a hunter's trap. Another animal advises the victim to pretend to be dead and helps it escape. |
| M198B4 | 96.82% | The fake fortune teller, expecting to be exposed, utters words that reflect his state of mind. The thieves standing nearby perceive some of the words as their names, believe that the fortune teller has found out about them, and ask him not to reveal them. |
| M30D | 96.62% | To get into the air, a character without wings (usually a turtle or a frog) grabs a stick with the ends held in their beaks by two birds. |
| F51B | 96.60% | To find out the nature or location of a character's locus, another person secretly attaches a long thread to it and follows it. |
| M192 | 95.65% | A scavenger who has climbed into an animal carcass or put on a fresh animal skin cannot get out of it (usually because the skin has dried out in the heat). He gets out when the skin becomes soft again or someone helps him. |
| A12F | 95.54% | The stars fade because the moneylender demands that they repay their debt. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Arabs of Egypt, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Sindhi, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Persians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Southern and Central; Ryukyu Islands: Yaeyama, Miyako, Okinawa, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), China