The Mythology and Folklore Database
I31 - The master and mistress of the dead.
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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
In the afterlife, the souls of the dead are met by a pair of mythological characters – a man and a woman, or the master of the dead appears to women in female form and to men in male form.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
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| A12E | 94.29% | The spider attacks the sun or moon (usually causing lunar eclipses). |
| L14 | 90.18% | People bring a small creature (usually a worm or reptile) into their home and raise it, or it settles into a man-made dwelling on its own. The creature turns into something terrifying or magnificent. See motif L13 (raised monster attacks people). |
| I16 | 89.71% | Early humans have no mouth, anus, or genitals, and their women are unable to give birth. |
| G23A | 89.70% | Parts of the body and organs of living beings are transformed into various plants (teeth into corn, testicles into yams, etc.). |
| I43A | 88.80% | A giant reptile, serpent, fish, or chain of fish stretches across the earth and/or supports the sky. Usually associated with the Milky Way, sometimes with a rainbow. |
| M7 | 88.61% | The character goes to the lower world, to the sky, to the country on the horizon, etc. and waits for someone to give him a ride to his goal. Usually, some animals/birds or celestial bodies follow by, and the last (often the Sun or Month) delivers. |
| F9E1 | 88.50% | A woman's womb is dangerous because it contains a toothy or stinging animal (not just its mouth) or many such creatures. |
| L13 | 88.07% | People feed a dangerous creature, or it grows on its own in a man-made enclosure. Once it becomes big and strong, it starts to destroy people. |
| I43B | 87.82% | The Milky Way is a reptile, fish or chain of fish. |
| I14 | 87.80% | Creatures without an anal opening are described. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 2 traditions: Papua-NewGuinea Highland Papuans:Trans New Guinea & unclassified:Chimbu,Gimi,KaugelHuli,Gadsup,Kuman,Kutubu,Foi (Foe),Kyaka,Kamano (Kafe),Mawatta,Kukukuku (=Anga,=Sambia;Manki,Nauti,Ejuti),Baruya,Kewa,Tembregak,Menya,Melpa,Wiru,Pondoma, Northern Vanuatu: Banks Islands (incl Mota, Mota Lava, Gaua, Santa Maria), Torres Islands