The Mythology and Folklore Database
K181 - The horse from the dungeon.
Please log on to view the narratives.
Motif Summary - Motifs with Simlar Dispersals - Map of Myth Distribution - List of Traditions - Myths |
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 hero finds a suitable horse in the dungeon (in the basement, in an empty castle, in deep mud, etc.), where it has stood for many years.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K18 has 5 other sub-motifsK18. A boy is born whose father (rarely mother) is unknown. He chooses his true father (mother), who usually occupies the lowest social position. Usually, a group of men or women gather together, each of whom wants the boy to choose him or her. K18a. The boy's father is recognised as the man whose bow or arrows he chooses. See motif K18. k18aa. A girl becomes pregnant without her knowledge through contact with the bodily secretions of a male character or with objects that he has touched (i.e. not as a result of sexual intercourse, not as a result of the simple desire of the father of her future child, and not through mystical contact with a deity). The story ends with the happy union of the girl and the father of her child. K18b. Men or women approach the little boy one after another or take him in their arms. The person who makes the boy stop crying is recognised as his parent. See motif K18. K18c. The man in whose arms the boy urinates will be recognised as his father. See motif K18. K18d. A young man releases or saves a fish (frog, snake, supernatural creature), it grants his wishes, and he marries a princess. {References to ATU are not entirely reliable. In particular, Uther 2004 includes a Corsican variant (Massignon 1984, No. 66), in which the main part of the plot is missing. References to Balkan variants probably correspond to the definition of the plot, since it does exist among the Bulgarians}. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K18's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K67H | 99.79% | When a worker is sent to a place where he is to be torn apart by a predator, he tames it and lets it into the barn (stable) at home. As a result, the predator destroys the owner's livestock. |
| N15 | 99.74% | fairy-tale text ends with a formula that says that the narrator ate food and/or drinks, but they did not get into his mouth. |
| K27X3A | 99.67% | When a husband sets off on a difficult mission, his magical wife gives him her towel or scarf, instructing him to use only those items (usually so that her relatives will recognise him as their son-in-law). |
| M142 | 99.65% | A zoomorphic character accuses his tail of hindering his escape from pursuit (usually punishes it and dies as a result). (ATU data not entered; plot 154 includes several independent motifs; which of them are present in the traditions referred to by ATU cannot be determined without referring to the original sources). |
| L120 | 99.54% | After overhearing a conversation between demonic characters who are planning to turn themselves into something edible, attractive, and safe, and to destroy anyone who touches them, the hero neutralises the demons. |
| M199F | 99.52% | The character pretends to want to deprive the devils (water dwellers) of their habitat (pull the shores of the lake together, two mountains, muddy the lake, dry up the sea, build a church on the land of the devils, etc.). To avoid this, the devils (fish) comply with the character's demands. |
| K161 | 99.51% | A character who has deprived a dragon (demon, thunder) of its freedom orders others not to unlock the dungeon (not to enter a certain room, not to give the chained creature anything to drink, etc.). The prohibition is violated, the chained creature is freed, which leads to disaster. Cf. motif K100f1. |
| M199D | 99.40% | A man and his opponent agree to compete in wrestling and running. The man sends his "relatives" – a bear and a hare – to compete in his place. (ATU numbers 1071 and 1072 are combined, as they are almost always paired.) |
| I139 | 99.38% | Two (rarely three) men or women are at a distance from each other, but regularly throw or pass something to each other. This is a sign of their unusual size, strength, and agility. |
| I120B | 99.38% | The character takes food, clothing, and other valuables from the ear of an animal (most often a horse or cow). |
See more...
Please log on to view the narratives.
Map of Motif Dispersal
Click here for a clustered map
Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom
This motif has been recorded in 19 traditions: 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, Poles, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Estonians, Setu, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Ingush, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Armenians, Bashkirs, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Russian Federation