The Mythology and Folklore Database
I42 - Rainbow – a pair of creatures.
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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 rainbow is a pair of creatures, usually a man and a woman, male and female.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
I42 has 1 other sub-motifsI42. The rainbow is a pair of creatures, usually a man and a woman, male and female. I42g3. In the forest person comes across a house that is made, completely or partly, of edible matter Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I42's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| H5 | 92.10% | Reptiles or invertebrates possess a life-giving agent; they are contrasted with humans as immortal mortals and/or responsible for the fact that humans die and are not reborn; the dead turn into snakes. See motif H4. (The first death comes from a snake bite (centipede), but snakes are not opposed to humans as immortals to mortals.) |
| G8 | 91.45% | People or animals cut or gnaw at a tree, mountain, or pillar of the sky. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their task (usually when they take a break) or periodically (at certain times). |
| I41 | 90.96% | A rainbow is a reptile (usually a snake), less often a fish or snake-like, usually dangerous, object (snake tongue, scorpion tail). |
| I72A | 90.51% | Stars – children of the moon and/or sun. |
| J47 | 90.07% | A character climbs up to the sky using a rope, ladder, etc., or climbs a tree or rock, or descends from the sky to the ground, or rises to the ground from the underworld. Another character climbs after them, but the rope or ladder breaks or is cut, and the character falls. |
| A14 | 89.44% | The meeting of the sun and the moon is the cause of eclipses or lunar phases. |
| F2 | 88.46% | The child is born from a tumour on the character's body, either placed there temporarily or emerging from blood that has flowed from a cut. |
| H39 | 88.36% | Creatures that are now dangerous (snakes, insects) swallow an uncontrolled substance and as a result become poisonous or immortal; creatures acquire their nature (usually becoming poisonous) by drinking or licking a special potion. |
| F45 | 87.83% | There are or were settlements where only women lived or live (cf. motifs F8, F45C). |
| H4 | 87.77% | Those who change their skin (bark, clothing) are immortal (forever young). (Cf. motif K56a5a: Skinning oneself to become young: To become a young beauty, an old or ugly woman asks to have her skin skinned off). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 26 traditions: Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Luba (Baluba, Luba-Katanga, Shaba), (Ba)Holoholo, Tumbwe, Bena-Piana, Tabwa, Benabena-Mitumba, Zela, Bene-Marungu, Congo (Koongo, Bacongo; incl Vili, Fioti, (Ma)Yombe, MuKunyi), Ndombo, Luango (Loango), Zombo (Sambo), Laadi (Laari), (Ba)Fioti, Woyo (Kiwoyo), Ronga, Hausa, Kposso, "Togo-Restvölker" (Adele, Akebu, Akposso, Bowiri/Bowili, Santrokofi, Lelemi, Borada Akrade, Teteman, Baakwa, Bowiri), Bushmen (all groups), Arnhem Land: Enindhilyagwa (Groote Eilandt), KuTiwi, Yulengor, Mara, Oenpelli, Murngin, Roper River, Maung, Murinbata, Murngin (Duwal), Millingimbi, Goulburn Island, Ngulugwongga, Yirrkalla, Voctoria River Downs, Alawa, Anu, Kunwinjku, 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, Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands), Flores, incl Mangarai (Western Flores), Nage, Keo, Riung, Ngada or Nad'a (Central Flores), Sika (Eastern Flores), Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Lampung (Lampong); South Sumatra Malays (incl. Bengkulu), Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Gujarati, Navajo, Seri, Warihio (Guarijío), Tarahumara, Kogi (Cagaba), Sanha, Creols of Aritama Valley, Sibundoy: Kamsa, Ingano (Inga), Panare (Eñape), Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Locono, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, China, Palau