The Mythology and Folklore Database
I89 - The lost caravan.




70 Myths, Legends and Folktales
70 Unique Narratives for Motif I89
16 Cultures & Traditions where I89 is told
55 Mythemes Indexed
0 Sub-Motifs of Motif I89


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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

There is a star that brings death and misfortune; it is usually told how people mistake a star or constellation rising at night for the Morning Star, set off on a journey and lose their way.

Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
M29Z99.71%hero of the story is a character named “Beardless” or Aldar-Kose (Aldar is a “deceiver”, a braid is “beardless”).
M198A499.70%Those who listened to the story must answer who they liked more: the husband who let his wife go to another man after the wedding, the robber who did not harm her, or the man who immediately sent her back to her husband.
B46A199.68%The stars of the Big Dipper – thieves or robbers.
M91C399.64%A person releases an animal or a bird - supposedly with his wife instructing his wife to cook food, etc. Another does not understand deception and buys an animal.
E4199.38%A skilled blacksmith, as a special gift, can take iron heated in a furnace with his bare hands, knead it like dough, and shape it as desired. Usually, he breaks a certain taboo and loses his gift. (The motif was identified and the material collected by Ruslan Doutalieyev).
C3399.27%A strongman-god-fighter is chained to a rock or a pillar for centuries.
M198A399.15%One of the brothers secretly takes valuables belonging to all of them or is illegitimate. The brothers come to an authoritative figure to determine who is the thief or illegitimate child. Usually, the figure tells a story and determines the culprit based on the reaction of those who have come.
I87AD99.15%A giant hides a persecuted person in his mouth – usually (perhaps always) in a tooth cavity; or the person remains alive in the giant's mouth, hiding in a tooth cavity. Cf. motif M21a.
J32C99.04%At night, a demonic character comes to the grave of the deceased, intending to harm him.
N2498.96%You can see a light that resembles a second moon or a second sun. It comes from a pretty girl.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Northern Taiwan: Atayal (Tayal; Taruko (Toda, Taokas, Torok, Taroko), Pazeh, Sedeq (Sediq, Seedeq, Sazek), Saisiyat (Saixia), Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Albanians, Balkarians, Persians, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Armenians, Gagauz, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kara Kalpak, 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), Turkmen, Zuni


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