The Mythology and Folklore Database
K104 - The red swan.
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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 youngest of the brothers stays at home, wounds a red swan or duck, and follows its trail.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 |
|---|---|---|
| F45A1 | 100.00% | A woman, against her will, conceives from the wind. |
| M75A | 99.50% | The character lures a veteran to avenge his fall from the sky. Either the (potauatomi) shovel drops the character or leaves him on top to avenge being lured and caught. |
| M66A | 98.99% | After eating a certain food, the trickster leaves a mountain of excrement that is larger than himself. |
| M13A | 98.47% | A deity and a human meet so that the former can fulfil the latter's request. As a result, the human is turned to stone. Usually (except for the Squamish), one of the supplicants wants eternal life and is turned to stone. See motif M13. |
| B42A | 98.06% | Hunters chase a bear across the sky and kill it in August-October. The bear's blood or fat falls to the ground in the form of dew or colours the foliage red. See motif B42. |
| H37B | 98.06% | One character gives another his power (usually a skunk gives his volley). The other wastes the resource unnecessarily to test its effect. Usually, when the need arises, the resource no longer works. |
| L75 | 97.62% | One of two brothers is the embodiment of evil; at birth, he cuts open his mother's body, killing her. |
| M53C | 97.17% | trickster, inviting birds to dance around him with their eyes closed, kills them one at a time and threatens to turn red at the one that opens their eyes; this is an empty threat, or for a bird that opens eyes and eyes have really turned red ever since. |
| G30 | 97.01% | A long penis is cut into pieces, which turn into many edible plants or different types of trees. Cf. motif B53. |
| M26 | 97.01% | The character dives under waterfowl and ties a rope to their legs to catch them. Birds soar into the air, lifting the catcher with them. It later falls. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Menominee, Osage, Omaha, Ponca, Oto, Plains Ojibwa