The Mythology and Folklore Database
J51 - A piece is missing, E33.
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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
The character is dismembered or eaten; he is revived from his remains, but since one of his bones was broken, swallowed or carried away (or a drop of blood or a piece of flesh was lost), the revival fails, or the character remains defective in some way.Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
J51 has 4 other sub-motifsJ51. The character is dismembered or eaten; he is revived from his remains, but since one of his bones was broken, swallowed or carried away (or a drop of blood or a piece of flesh was lost), the revival fails, or the character remains defective in some way. J51a. To climb a rock or tower, one must stick bones into it and climb them like a ladder. J51a1. To retrieve an object from a hard-to-reach place, the girl orders it to be dismembered (or just have its fingers cut off) and then reassembled, after which it comes back to life. J51a2. A girl must penetrate an inaccessible place with the help of chicken bones. She loses one or there are not enough bones. By cutting off her finger and using it as she would use the bones, the girl achieves her goal. J51b. The moon has been eaten or has died and its body has decomposed. It is revived, but a small part (the bone) is missing. This determines the characteristics of the moon or the characteristics of human anatomy. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of J51's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K102A2 | 98.44% | The mother seeks to destroy her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair. Cf. motif L86: Children flee from their demon mother. |
| M84 | 96.64% | A person, animal, fish, or (rarely) a large fruit is killed and eaten. After a meal, what is eaten revives, usually after the bones (seeds) are put together. Cf. motive C16. |
| L57A | 96.61% | The enemy takes possession of part of the character's body (remains). Another (usually resorting to trickery) returns what is missing, and the character comes back to life or recovers. |
| I45A | 95.60% | Pointing at or staring at the moon or stars will cause illness (death) or the pointing finger to rot or wither. |
| K29A | 93.71% | The hero demonstrates his magical abilities or cunning by remaining alive in a hot bath, oven, fire, or among burning vegetation. |
| M62A | 93.63% | The hero quietly damages each of the two characters; they accuse each other, quarrel, fight. |
| K177 | 93.61% | A girl or woman sets off on a journey to find or return her fiancé or husband, or flees from danger, and her journey ends in a successful marriage. |
| M27 | 93.36% | The tree or staircase that people took to heaven collapses; on the way back, people fall down. Usually some stay in the sky forever or longer than others. |
| L17A | 93.13% | A character or creature has an eye or a second pair of eyes on the back of the head or on the back. Cf. motif L17b, "mouth on the back of the head". |
| L118 | 92.91% | One character provokes another to stick a part of their body into a split log (between two boards, etc.) and knocks out the wedge. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 50 traditions: Chin-Naga: Ao, Mao, Sema, Zeme, Kolren, Kom, Lhota, Rengma, Angami, Kabui, Tangkhul, Koirenf, Telugu (incl. Yanadi, Chenchu), Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Ancient Greece, Norwegians, Swedes, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Turkmen, Bashkirs, Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Chukchi, Tagish, Inland Tlingit, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Montagnais, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Winnebago, Osage, Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Plains Ojibwa, Chilkotin, Sechelt (incl Sisiatl), Squamish, Halcomelem, Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Yuracare, Mataco, Chorote, Puelche, Chechens, Wallons, Picardie, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Egypt