The Mythology and Folklore Database
I20C - Dwarves – inhabitants of the underworld.
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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
Dwarves live in an underground world that partly resembles the earthly world. If dwarves and humans meet, it happens underground.Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
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
I20 has 5 other sub-motifsI20. The inhabitants of the underworld or the land on the horizon where the sky meets the earth are dwarves. See motif I14A. I20a. Anthropomorphic inhabitants of the upper world – giants. I20b. People in the upper world are different from those on earth and gird themselves below or above the waist. I20c. Dwarves live in an underground world that partly resembles the earthly world. If dwarves and humans meet, it happens underground. I20c1. Dwarves do not live deep underground, but inside hills, in rocks, in mines, etc., and usually come out from there onto the ground. I20c2. The inhabitants of the land on the horizon (where the sky meets the earth) are dwarves. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I20's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I48 | 97.10% | The character is deprived of the ability to move, after which he acquires cosmic dimensions: he supports the earth (sky) or his movements cause earthquakes (less often - storms). |
| I85C1 | 94.34% | In the sky there is a vessel, a box or an indescribable container for storing rain (rain clouds). |
| M57B | 94.24% | Beads or metals are the bodily secretions of a deity. |
| J21 | 94.10% | Gods, ancestors of humans, and founders of dynasties are born from eggs. |
| F6 | 93.57% | (The first) woman does not have a vagina at first. Usually, it is made for her by a bird, animal, fish, etc. |
| I3 | 93.34% | Lightning (and thunder) is produced by an object (sword, arrow, whip, mirror, etc.) in the hands of a character; lightning is an object. |
| G12A | 93.23% | Cultivated plants arise from drops of blood or flow like blood from cuts on the body of a human or animal. |
| E1A | 92.80% | The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable. |
| I14 | 92.36% | Creatures without an anal opening are described. |
| I80 | 92.19% | A character who finds himself in the locus of a deity responsible for atmospheric phenomena violates certain prohibitions or instructions, thereby causing excessively strong thunderstorms, rain, snowfall or wind. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 37 traditions: Berbers of Morocco and adjacent parts of Algeria, Melanesians of southeastern New Guinea: Mekeo, Motu, Sinagoro, Koita (Koitapu), Mukawa (Are), Wagawaga, Taupota, Awaiama, Gelaria, Goodenough Bay, Bartle Bay, Wedau (Wamira village), 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, Central Taiwan: Bunun (Vonum), La'arua, Tsou, Kanabu, Kanakanabu, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Nicobarese, Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Estonians, Finns, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Armenians, Udmurt, Zuni, Warihio (Guarijío), Tarahumara, Pame, Jonaz (Chichimeca-Jonaz), Mazahua, Otomi, Tojolabal, Chuj, Jacalteca, Kanjobal, Mocho (incl Tuzantec), Acatec, Sayula Popoluca (=Veracruz Mixe), Sierra Popoluca, Veracruz Zoque, Chinantec, Mazatec, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Paez, Guambia, Pijao; Ilama culture, Yupa (Yukpa), Guayabero, Sanema, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Waiwai, Locono, Colorado (Tsachila), Puinave, Tacana, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Lisu, Lolo (incl. Bai), Achang, Yi, Axi, Nasu, Jino, Taungyo, Kayapa