The Mythology and Folklore Database
I2 - Lightning from the eyes or mouth.
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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
Lightning bolts fly from the eyes or mouth {specified} of a creature embodying a thunderstorm. See motif I1.Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| B48 | 94.60% | Harmless and herbivorous animals were or could become dangerous predators. |
| F59 | 94.47% | Pretending to be a woman, the trickster transforms part of his body, another character, or some object into a swaddled baby, female genitalia, or a female household item, or disguises an animal or object as a baby born to a new husband. |
| L86 | 94.16% | Having turned into a demon, a woman pursues her children. Cf. motif K102a2: A mother seeks to destroy her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair and/or sides with his father in a conflict between his parents. |
| K27N3C | 92.42% | A character who gives the hero difficult tasks or subjects him to trials is associated with a land or water animal or a fish. See motif K27. |
| K27X | 91.41% | A man marries a woman from another world; the wife leaves for her world, the man follows her; there, the woman has another fiancé(e) or husband, or the woman's brothers want to destroy the man; he undergoes trials and brings his wife back. See motif K27. |
| L15B | 91.37% | The character can only be killed with a specific plant, which is not usually used for making weapons. |
| K1E | 91.20% | The character is abandoned on an island or on the other side of a river or sea. See motif K1A. |
| I1 | 90.51% | Creatures that cause or embody rain and/or thunderstorms are birds or winged anthropomorphic characters. {Traditions in which birds are associated with thunderstorms and rain, but Thunder itself is not a bird, are marked with an asterisk (*). |
| D4C | 89.84% | Characters obtain the warm season from its original owners. |
| L99 | 89.69% | Having captured the character, the ogre orders him to bring wood or a spit to roast him. The character deliberately procrastinates, brings the wrong thing, or is helped to escape by some animal. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 39 traditions: Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Batak (Toba, Dairi), Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Early Chinese written sources, Lithuanians, Mordvins, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Forest Nenets, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Kets, Nivkh, Chipewyan, Tutchone, Tagish, Tsetsaut, Tanana, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Copper, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Menominee, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Winnebago, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Arapaho, Teton (incl Oglala), Mandan, Arikara, Plains Ojibwa, Hidatsa, Quileute, Chemakum (Hoh), Alcea, Cherokee, Yuki (Yuki proper, Coastal Yuki, Huchnob), Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Siriono, Mataco, Caduveo, Mbaya, Kodiak