The Mythology and Folklore Database
I102 - The Milky Way – a tree.




14 Myths, Legends and Folktales
14 Unique Narratives for Motif I102
10 Cultures & Traditions where I102 is told
18 Mythemes Indexed
1 Sub-Motifs of Motif I102


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 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

The Milky Way – a tree, the trace of a tree.

Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations


I10 has 1 other sub-motifs


I10a.  Individual layers or categories of the sky or clouds differ in colour.
I10b.  Individual layers or categories of earth differ in colour (and other characteristics).

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
H7G190.91%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).
L4389.88%Characters dangerous to the hero (demons, robbers, merchants) mistake excrement, insects, snakes and other disgusting things (not intended for food) for something pleasant (edible).
B10289.87%Clouds are formed from smoke rising from the ground.
A2E86.19%The sun and/or moon – severed heads of anthropomorphic beings.
L486.10%The character consistently (almost) kills girls (rarely: his nephews or his wife's younger brothers) whom he brings to his home (usually a male character kills wives). The heroine or hero (the youngest of all) avoids the common fate, usually after discovering the captives or their remains.
L4986.01%Individual parts or pieces of a character's body are successively thrown down. (In American variants, those below usually mistake them for game, honey, or fish).
K27G285.43%The character must build a house out of bird feathers or cover the roof, bridge, etc. with feathers.
L23D84.73%A man captures a desirable woman. Trying to free herself, she transforms into various substances, materials, animals or (urarina, setebo) orders various dangerous animals to attack the man who captured her.
L7384.40%Trying to drink a river, lake, or sea, the antagonist bursts.
C2484.33%Someone is gnawing or chopping at the pillar supporting the sky or the earth; certain creatures are trying to destroy the barrier separating their world from the world of humans; if the work is completed, humans will perish.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Simeulue, Nias, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Estonians, Finns, Inland Tlingit, Yana, Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Trio, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon


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