The Mythology and Folklore Database
I46E - Rainbow sword.
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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
Rainbow - sword, cutting weapon.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
I46 has 5 other sub-motifsI46. Rainbow – an ornamented part of clothing, bright fabric, decoration, belt. I46a. The rainbow is associated with a woman, usually an elderly one. I46b. The colour of the rainbow can be used to predict the harvest of individual crops. I46c. The rainbow is a rope to which cattle are tied. I46d. Rainbow – a hunting loop, a trap. I46e. Rainbow - sword, cutting weapon. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I46's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| F5 | 98.31% | The character does not want to or cannot give all the suitors his daughters in marriage and turns them into girls of various animals. (Usually after the flood or at the beginning of time, men want to marry the only daughter of a deity or patriarch). |
| L94E | 98.31% | A supernatural character who helps the hero or heroine under certain conditions – the white wolf. |
| K80A1 | 94.39% | A bird (usually arising from the remains of the murdered person or embodying their soul) tells of the crime committed or takes revenge on the murderer itself. |
| I100C | 94.35% | God turned the husband into a cuckoo, and the wife and children into the Pleiades. |
| M159 | 94.23% | The strongest character (usually a lion) offers to divide the spoils (harvest). The more cunning character refuses his share, but remains unharmed. Usually a wolf (hyena, jackal) divides the spoils, giving the lion the larger share, but the lion beats him. The third character gives the lion everything. The lion asks who taught him to divide so well and receives the answer: the one whom the lion mauled. |
| C35A | 94.17% | A zoomorphic character gives wise advice concerning the state of the Sun. The advice is accepted, but the advisor is punished by the Sun or is henceforth pursued by the Sun. |
| K38D1 | 93.75% | Fearing a monster living in the water or wishing to end a flood or drought, a girl is sacrificed or voluntarily hides in the waters. |
| H7 | 93.52% | Death (as well as illness and old age) is a special character, distinct from the lord of the underworld. It takes away a person's soul or otherwise causes their death. |
| M176 | 93.21% | The characters agree to jump over a ditch, stream, fire, etc., or walk across a log, rope, etc. One or all of them {specified in brackets} fall. |
| M157A2 | 93.17% | The character claims that the calf (kid, etc.) was not born (brought) by a cow (goat, etc.) belonging to another owner, but by his own animal of a different species or male sex, or by an inanimate object (usually a cart). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Malagasy, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Karachays, Balkar, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Saudi Arabia, Russian Federation