The Mythology and Folklore Database
K182 - The deceived protector.




13 Myths, Legends and Folktales
13 Unique Narratives for Motif K182
5 Cultures & Traditions where K182 is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
5 Sub-Motifs of Motif K182


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 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

A supernatural defender comes to the rescue upon hearing the alarm, but stops doing so after the alarm has been raised in vain.

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-motifs


K18.  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}.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
C33B100.00%The demise of the first race is associated with the appearance of wind.
F100A100.00%In order to revive a man or remove an arrowhead (bullet) from his body, a chaste girl or woman must touch (step over) the dead or wounded man.
J59C100.00%A character strikes the remains of the deceased with a whip or a lash, and the deceased comes back to life.
K167B100.00%A boy is able to determine the sex and colour of a young animal in the womb.
K172100.00%A man describes his daughter to a potential groom as ugly and crippled. The groom agrees to the marriage, and the bride turns out to be beautiful.
K27U2100.00%An authoritative character orders to find out where the tumbleweed is rolling or what news it brings.
K73B2100.00%It is necessary to boil the pot by telling an incredible but nevertheless true story.
L103A100.00%A girl, a young woman, runs away from a demonic character; she manages to run home, but her relatives do not open the door. The pursuer finds and eats her. (A musical instrument is made from her hair or intestines). (Overview of variants in Rakhno 2016: 475-484).
L110B100.00%The stomach (spleen) removed from the body of a domestic animal or bird turns out to be a voracious monster.
L90C100.00%One horn of an animal (deer, ram, bull, goat, wolverine) touches the ground, while the other is raised to the sky or reaches the sky.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Burusho (Hunza), Rushani, Shughni, Khufi, Bartangi, Ossetians, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash


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