Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K21A — Woman returns from heaven.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewA celestial being marries an earthly woman. She longs to return to earth and secretly descends from her husband.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K21 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedK21. A girl ends up in the sky and gets married there.
K21a. A celestial being marries an earthly woman. She longs to return to earth and secretly descends from her husband.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| D4M | 99.01% | The thief comes to the owners of fire or light. They feast or dance. He joins them and steals their valuables when the moment is right. See motif D4A. |
| L1B1 | 98.95% | A woman comes into conflict with her brothers and turns into a dangerous demon. |
| F64 | 98.76% | The character is presented as another person in order to mate with a close relative in the descending or (less commonly) ascending line. |
| A32B1 | 98.63% | A woman sits (jumps) on the face (back) of the Moon Man and is now visible in the silhouette of the moon spots. |
| F18C | 98.58% | The character sees a girl on the other side of the river and copulates with her in an unusual way (sends his penis across the river; turns it into a bridge for the girl to cross the river; into a dam that blocks the river in front of her; dives, swimming up to the girl underwater; sends an object into the girl's vagina). See motif F18B. |
| M59 | 98.40% | A small animal asks a large one to transport it across the river; consistently rejects all the seats on the carrier's body that he offers; climbs to where the carrier is You can kill when the crossing is over. |
| L33F | 98.21% | A rock or boulder pursues a character. The character calls for help, and the nightjar splits the rock into pieces. |
| F28C | 98.17% | A woman masturbates with the penis of a large animal that one of the men killed while hunting. |
| I105 | 98.05% | One of the constellations is associated with the hand (with five marked fingers). |
| J34 | 97.83% | After killing a dangerous enemy, the heroes make a scarecrow out of him to frighten the household. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
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Cite this map
Distribution of the traditions attesting motif K21A, ‘Woman returns from heaven.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (18 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/K21A (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
18 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 18 traditions: Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Inland Tlingit, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Arapaho, Pawnee, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Plains Ojibwa, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Twana (Skokomish), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Kutenai, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Lacandon, Scythians, Scythe
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How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
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