The Mythology and Folklore Database
I22 - Moving objects, D931.3, D1553.
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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
There are objects that, while remaining in place, move constantly or periodically (collide and diverge, fall and rise, open and close, rotate).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
I22 has 10 other sub-motifsI22. There are objects that, while remaining in place, move constantly or periodically (collide and diverge, fall and rise, open and close, rotate). I22a. The sky constantly beats against the earth like the lid of a boiling cauldron. I22b. Migratory birds (or shamans in the form of birds) fly from our world to another; the path lies through a narrow opening between jutting rocks, or the sky strikes the earth, crushing those who fly through; and/or at the passage to the other world there is a character who feeds on birds; and/or in the world on the other side of the pulsating barrier there is the mistress of the birds. I22b1. Some migratory birds (shamans in the form of birds) die on the border of our world. I22c. The character safely slips, sails or flies through the opening, which then slams shut, but the edge of the stern of the boat, the tail of an animal or bird, the body of a riding animal, the hero's companion or his own heel is crushed, torn off, etc. I22d. To obtain a miraculous life-giving (healing) remedy, one must penetrate the space behind the shifting rocks. I22e. The deceased, travelling to the afterlife, must pass by colliding rocks or other moving obstacles. I22f. The character must pass small objects (trees, logs, blades) that constantly collide and diverge, fall and rise. I22g. Mountains (rocks) are mentioned that constantly collide and diverge, or a crevice or gap in a vertical rock that opens and closes. Cf. motif I22g1, Colliding rocks. I22g1. In another world, the hero sees many strange things, including colliding stones (but they do not block his path). I22h. The character must jump over a gap (abyss) beneath his feet, which alternately widens and narrows, or a river whose banks converge and diverge. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I22's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| B3B | 97.85% | Initially, the earth or the world as a whole was small in size, then it grew; fertile soil grew from a small amount of initial substance. See motif B3A (the earth grows from a piece of solid substance thrown onto the surface of the water). |
| J46 | 95.98% | Antagonists perish by falling into water or attempting to cross a water barrier. See motifs J42, J44. |
| B3A | 94.18% | The waters are primary. The earth is lowered onto the water, appears above the water, grows from a piece of solid substance placed on the surface of the water or liquid mud, from an island in the ocean, is exposed when the waters recede, etc. |
| F9 | 94.04% | For various reasons, sexual intercourse with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man, or so it seems to him: Teeth, blades or sharp stones in the vagina or on the inside of the thighs; the vagina is a toothy mouth. See motif F9A. |
| K1F | 93.53% | One man traps another, driven by jealousy or the desire to possess his rival's wife. See motifs K1A, K1E, K2A. |
| E1B | 92.94% | A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions. |
| L65 | 92.63% | An infant or small child turns out to be a demon and kills people. |
| M81 | 92.59% | Wandering, the hero finds himself in a place where blind or blind (two or more) live. |
| B82 | 92.41% | The raven (less often another bird of prey, or another black bird the size of a raven) was first white, and then turned black. |
| C6 | 92.26% | In texts with an emphasis on authenticity, characters dive or otherwise descend into the underworld to bring back to earth something desirable that is located at the bottom (deep below) (aka "The Earth Diver" motifs) (cf. fairy tale motif k27x9). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 125 traditions: Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabs; Berbers of Mauritania (Zenaga), Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Batak (Toba, Dairi), Lampung (Lampong); South Sumatra Malays (incl. Bengkulu), Negrito (incl. Mamanwa), 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, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Lepcha, Sicily, Sicilians, Slovakians, Slovaks, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Western Ukrainians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Uzbek, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Ingush, Georgians, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Bashkirs, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Dolgans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Udeghe, Oroch, Nivkh, Chukchi, Aleuts, Central Yupik, Nunivak Island, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Tagish, Inland Tlingit, Tahltan, Athna, Koyukon, Tanana, Beaver, North Alaskan Inupiat, Netsilik, Caribou, Eyak, Haida, Tsimshian, Lenape (Delaware), Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Micmac, Ottawa, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Winnebago, Shawnee, Yuchi, Mandan, Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Kiowa Apache, Plains Cree, Assiniboine, Crow, Comox, Pentlatch, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Twana (Skokomish), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Nez Perce, Tillamook, Yurok, Chitimacha, Alabama, Koasati, Choctaw, Chicasaw, Cherokee, Pomo, Chumash, Yokuts, Northern Foothills Yokuts (Chukchansi, Dumna, Kechayi), Kawaiisu, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Cahuilla, Cupeño, Navajo, Jicarilla, Hopi, Huichol, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Yupa (Yukpa), Sicuani, Kandoshi (Murato, Maina); Iquito, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Chayahuita , Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Tupinamba, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Moseten, Chimane, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Kayabi, Paresi, Craho, Mataco, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Papua-New Guinea Southern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Gimi, Kiwai, Bina, Mawabula, Mawatta, Keraki, Gambadi (incl. Kwavaru), Purari River delta, Masingara, Wiram (=Suki), Ngain, Daga, Elema, Phoenicia, Morocco, Greenland, Berbers of Algeria