The Mythology and Folklore Database
K114 - Brothers leave after the birth of their sister (ATU 451).
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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
Several brothers leave home immediately after or shortly before their mother gives birth to a girl (usually they want a brother and wait for news about who their mother has given birth to, but accidentally or maliciously a signal is given that a boy has been born). The girl grows up and goes in search of her brothers.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K11 has 5 other sub-motifsK11. Brothers (brother and sister) kill a monstrous bird. Its eyes turn into heavenly bodies (among the Oaxacan Indians) or something else (among the present-day Condors of the Yokuts). K11a. Plucked feathers of a (huge) bird turn into actual birds (or their plumage) or humans emerge from them. K11a1. Pieces of flesh or feathers from a monstrous/unusual bird turn into present-day birds (or their plumage). K11b. The bones of a huge bird are turned into reeds or bamboo for making arrows or sarbacanes. K11C. The plucked feathers of a huge bird turn into plants. K11D. Pieces of flesh from a huge creature that has fallen apart or been cut into pieces turn into ordinary animals, birds or fish. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K11's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| F9G | 99.55% | A powerful woman defeats and kills her suitors. The hero or his assistant defeats her (usually on their wedding night, subduing her with rods or a whip). The hero marries the heroine. |
| M165 | 99.39% | One zoomorphic character promises another to sew a coat (boots), asks him to bring sheep, eats them, and does not sew anything. |
| K33A | 99.32% | Young siblings (most often a brother and sister) leave home. One of them (rarely: several brothers) accidentally breaks a taboo and is transformed into an animal (usually a hoofed animal) or (rarely) a bird; later, the spell is usually broken. |
| M39A6H | 99.27% | The king tells the commoner to pluck a goose (geese, shear a ram, etc.). He understands correctly: to rob the vizier. |
| K33A6 | 99.10% | A kid (lamb, gazelle, etc.) runs up to a pond into which its owner has pushed it and says that knives are being sharpened and water is being boiled to slaughter and cook it. |
| K168A | 99.02% | A person thinks that they are holding something intended for food (a calf's head, a melon, bread, etc.), but these objects turn into human heads or limbs. Cf. motif K80c1. |
| K157 | 98.88% | The character lures his opponents out one by one and cuts off each one's head as soon as they appear. Less commonly, a multi-headed opponent sticks out its heads one by one, and the hero cuts them off. |
| L85C | 98.86% | A character with half a body – a hen, a chick. Sometimes it is only a name, and the character's appearance is more anthropomorphic. |
| K88A | 98.81% | The stepmother (aunt, rival) blinds a young woman. The latter regains her eyesight (often by exchanging them for some valuable item). |
| M90A6 | 98.74% | Owning some apples ensures eternal youth. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 30 traditions: Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabs; Berbers of Mauritania (Zenaga), Songhai, Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Spain, Spaniards, Basques, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Latvians, Livonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Norwegians, 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), Tajik, Persians, Georgians, Armenians, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Turkmen, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Frisians, Tunisia