The Mythology and Folklore Database
K103C - The bull-helper fights in the copper forest.
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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
Sitting on a bull or a cow, a young man or woman runs away from their stepmother's house. Along the way, the bull fights other bulls (monsters), the last of which usually kills it.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 |
|---|---|---|
| M128 | 99.89% | Having agreed with his opponent that he would get animals with certain external characteristics or behaving in a certain way, the hero takes all or almost all of them when the livestock is divided. |
| K101B1 | 99.83% | The enchanted character (the castle where the action takes place) gradually changes its appearance over several days as the spell wears off: it acquires human features, turning from black to white, from ugly to beautiful. |
| M147B | 99.79% | To get rid of fleas, the fox (jackal) takes a bunch of moss (hay, grass) in its mouth and dives into the water. The fleas, in order not to drown, move closer and closer to its head and then fall onto the moss or hay. The fox leaves the bunch in the water and comes ashore. |
| M197F | 99.76% | The dialogue plays on the fact that in youth the beard is black, and in old age it is white. Usually a person explains why his head has turned grey but his beard has not: the beard is 20 years younger. |
| K57B | 99.73% | To stop a beautiful woman from running away, a man in love with her smears resin or glue on the threshold (porch). The shoe sticks, and all the girls try it on to find its owner. |
| F73B | 99.68% | The bear (wolf, lion, dragon) believes that the vulva is a wound inflicted on a human being. |
| A32D2 | 99.66% | A man with a pitchfork in his hands can be seen in the silhouette of the moon's spots. |
| H6C3 | 99.66% | Large birds that fly in wedge formations (storks, cranes, swans, geese – German: Zugvögel) are associated with the otherworld (they bring children from there, carry children away to the non-human world, control living and dead water, etc.). |
| K56A4E | 99.66% | After meeting a supernatural character, a kind person receives valuables, while a greedy person burns to death upon returning home. |
| K127A | 99.61% | The heroine must remain silent for a long time and therefore cannot respond to the accusations. They want to execute her, but at that moment the restrictions expire and she is saved. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Kosa (Xosa, Xhosa), Ireland, Portuguese, Portugal, Hungarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Norwegians, Danes, Danish, Mordvins