The Mythology and Folklore Database
K100C - The snake bites the girl's suitors, ATU 507 (main part, variant 2).
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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
A woman (rarely a young man) does not know that inside her (him) there is something dangerous for her (his) marriage partner (usually a snake), or that on her wedding night she will turn into a snake, or that a snake will crawl in on her wedding night. The hero or his companion eliminates the danger. {Motif K100C is similar to F9f1, but the latter belongs to the cosmological-etiological category and is associated with the idea of a dangerous woman, while K100C is adventurous}.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K10 has 9 other sub-motifsK10. A monstrous bird (bat) attacks people, heroes engage in battle with it. See motifs K10A – K10G. K10a. Heroes kill a dangerous bird; during or before the battle, they hide in a shelter (hut, cage, vessel, sack, well) or cover themselves with an object that protects the body. K10b. A huge bird carries away to its nest a cage, bag or other container in which people are located. See motif 10A. K10c. The hero (twins) is weighed down with the blood-filled intestines of an animal. A bird pierces them with its claw, blood flows, the bird thinks its prey is dead, and brings the man to its nest. He kills the adult bird and either kills or transforms the chicks. Cf. motif M91A. K10d. A flying monster carries the hero away to a distant island. The hero kills the monster and uses a boat, bridge or rope made from part of the monster's body to return. K10e. In the bird's habitat, the hero finds the people it has kidnapped and helps them return home. K10f. The character turns the children of a flying monster into ordinary eagles or owls. K10g. Finding himself in the nest of a giant bird on a tree or rock, a man descends to the ground with the help of an adult bird (attaching its feathers or wings to himself), and more often - a chick (grabbing its legs, sitting on the chick, attaching its feathers or wings). K10h. A bird carries a woman or boy to its nest, feeds them, but does not let them go. The captive runs away. K10i. The tree opens its trunk and hides the hero fleeing from a man-eating bird. The monster that flies in after him is held tightly by the tree, which squeezes its trunk again. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K10's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L72C | 99.46% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws a mirror behind him, which turns into an obstacle for his pursuer (ice, lake, etc.) or attracts his attention and causes him to lose time. (In the Udmurt version, objects destroy obstacles in the character's path). |
| A35A | 99.20% | Moon spots - mud (manure, clay, ash, dough, dirty rag) thrown in the face of the Moon/Moon as a result of a family or love conflict - often by a brother/sister or mother. |
| F9F1 | 99.15% | Inside the woman there is a snake (snakes, scorpions, just poison) that comes out of her mouth. {Motifs F9f1 and K100C are almost identical, but the first can be included in the cosmological-etiological category and is associated with the idea of a dangerous woman, while the second belongs to the adventure category}. |
| K73B5 | 99.11% | A woman is accused of actions that she could not have committed by her very nature. To refute the accusation, an example of something equally absurd and impossible is given, or it is pointed out that the interlocutor accepts the impossible but does not believe in the possible. |
| M198 | 99.10% | In the house of the khan (judge, king, etc.), three brothers (rarely one person) determine that the food and drink served to them smell of dead flesh, dog, goat, etc., and (or that) the host who receives them is illegitimate or of low birth. After questioning the servants and his mother, the host is convinced that the brothers are right. |
| I89 | 98.94% | 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. |
| M198A3 | 98.83% | 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. |
| M91C3 | 98.83% | 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. |
| E9H | 98.73% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dove. |
| B51A | 98.71% | The snake is the enemy of the swallow (usually because the swallow prevents the snake from destroying people – the snake sends a mosquito or other blood-sucking insect to find out whose blood tastes better; the mosquito returns to report that it is human blood; the swallow bites off its tongue, and the snake plucks the feathers from the swallow's tail). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 36 traditions: Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Bengali, Sindhi, Kashmiri, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Latvians, Estonians, Western Ukrainians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Uzbek, Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Nogai, Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz, Georgians, Armenians, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Talysh, Kara Kalpak, Uyghur, Turkmen, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Morocco, Berbers of Algeria