The Mythology and Folklore Database
H7F1 - Death as a devourer.
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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
Death devours the dead and thus satisfies its hunger.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
H7 has 16 other sub-motifsH7. Death (as well as illness and old age) is a special character, distinct from the lord of the underworld. It takes away a person's soul or otherwise causes their death. H7a. Having received knowledge from Death (rarely: Happiness or a certain spirit) about whether the sick person will be healed or not, whether she is going to take his soul, the person will know whether he will recover. U.nyak praises him for his impartiality; U.t himself; the poor man scolds the doctor, becomes rich. Usually he sees where exactly Death (spirit, etc.) is near the bed, whether it is going to take his soul, whether the person will recover. U. praises him for his impartiality; U. himself; the poor man scolds the sick man, and on this basis knows what will happen to him. H7b. A person asks Death (a spirit) to climb a tree or sit on a bench, to which they stick and can only be freed with his permission. H7b1. Having received a magic bag, into which any creature can be forced against its will at the owner's discretion, a person gains power over Death or devils. H7b2. A man named Poverty makes Death swear that it will never come to him. Therefore, poverty is inevitable in the world. H7c. Death promises to take a man after he finishes his prayer or song (formerly ATU 1199B). The man breaks off his prayer (song) in the middle, and Death cannot take him. H7c1. The trickster first deceives Death (the devil), and then, also by deception, enters paradise. H7d. A man calls Death, and when it comes, asks it to help him lift a bundle of firewood or pull a cart with firewood. H7e. In the past, people knew when they would die, so before their death they stopped doing their work or performed their duties half-heartedly. H7f. God gives instructions that certain categories of people must die and suffer. The character who receives the instructions, caring for the people, passes on other orders to the executors. H7f1. Death devours the dead and thus satisfies its hunger. H7f2. The character embodying death had a body visible to humans. Then death became invisible. H7g. A person sees many burning candles or lamps. When one of them burns out, someone dies. H7g1. A man (usually looking for a godfather for his newborn son) rejects God (the saints) and the devil, but praises Death: it treats everyone without prejudice (or is richer than everyone else). h7g2. Knowing that Death is approaching, a person hopes that it will seek him on land, so he settles on the surface of the water or under the water. But Death finds him. H7h. Despite the warning, man goes to where Death is at that moment. Death enters his body or follows him, and since then, people have been mortal. H7i. Old Age, Illness, or Hunger are special characters, but Death is not mentioned. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H7's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| F89 | 91.29% | A sister and brother live alone. The brother refuses to commit incest. The sister resorts to cunning, as a result of which the brother mistakes her for a stranger and marries her. |
| H43AB | 91.29% | Man is mortal because he was spat upon at creation. |
| B72A | 90.58% | Mother (stepmother, adoptive father) does not give food to a girl or (less often) a boy. The child asks migratory birds to take him with them, they give him bird clothing, he flies away with them, becoming a bird. |
| M3B | 90.37% | Trying to grab a hare, another animal tears off (bites) its tail. It's been short ever since. |
| A13A | 89.26% | The raven steals or hides the sun, or attempts to do so. |
| L42D | 89.09% | A man runs away from a cannibal across the ice, the cannibal pursues him, licks the blood spilled on the ice, his tongue freezes, he dies, or falls to his death after slipping on the ice. |
| K32E | 88.56% | A negative character, object or locus is contrasted with one or two positive ones, such as wood with gold and silver. |
| M45A | 88.50% | A person is sleeping or pretending to be asleep or dead. Animals take him for a dead man - they mourn him, carry him to bury him, they are going to eat it, etc. A person beats the crowd and/or obtains benefits. |
| B72B | 88.19% | A girl or, less commonly, a boy turns into a bird after his mother (father, guardian) refuses to give him water or food or otherwise mistreats him. |
| K56A8 | 88.17% | A girl marries an animal (brings it with her), and it turns into a handsome man. Another girl tries to do the same, but dies or suffers harm. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 12 traditions: Ugarit, Phoenicia, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Gondi (mostly Northern Gondi), Khakas, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Western Tungus (Evenki), Western Siberia Tungus (Evenki): Sym River, Ket River, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area