The Mythology and Folklore Database
K22A - Dwarves are attacked.




22 Myths, Legends and Folktales
5 Unique Narratives for Motif K22A
17 Cultures & Traditions where K22A is told
16 Mythemes Indexed
4 Sub-Motifs of Motif K22A


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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

Birds or other creatures that are harmless to ordinary people attack dwarves living in another world. See motif K22.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures


K22 has 4 other sub-motifs


K22.  The inhabitants of a distant land, who differ from (ordinary) people, occasionally fight off enemies of a non-human nature who attack them.
K22a.  Birds or other creatures that are harmless to ordinary people attack dwarves living in another world. See motif K22.
K22aa.  There is a country whose inhabitants are migratory birds that live with us in the summer and turn into people when they fly away to their own country.
K22b.  The inhabitants of another world are attacked by certain enemies. A human helps them to defeat these enemies, because these creatures are not dangerous to humans. See motif K22.
K22c.  Inhabitants of another world who are birds (bird-people) are afraid of birds or animals that are not dangerous to ordinary people, but which regularly attack them.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
B87A97.44%A dim star next to the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper (Tibetans: Little Dipper) Ursa Major – dog.
K2397.41%Birds attack inhabitants of another world or a person who has entered another world. See motif K22.
K2296.89%The inhabitants of a distant land, who differ from (ordinary) people, occasionally fight off enemies of a non-human nature who attack them.
K3592.92%The deceiver pretends to be a hero in order to take his place (to possess his woman). (This motif includes all texts with motif K35a3).
B42P92.58%The Big Dipper is identified with a bear.
L8792.26%A character accidentally tastes blood or human flesh, after which he devours himself and/or others.
C6A90.85%A turtle or toad (frog) brings a desired object from the bottom or from the underworld.
I6590.75%The Milky Way is a path to another world, followed by the souls of the dead and/or shamans, or it is the path of a funeral procession.
L1C190.38%Fleeing from demonic characters, a group of men – relatives of a girl – ascend to the sky and remain there. See motif L1C.
K22B90.20%The inhabitants of another world are attacked by certain enemies. A human helps them to defeat these enemies, because these creatures are not dangerous to humans. See motif K22.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 17 traditions: Ancient Greece, Finns, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Georgians, Nanai, Tsimshian, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Comox, Pentlatch, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Natchez (incl Avoyel), Alabama, Koasati, Cherokee, Zuni, Warihio (Guarijío), Tarahumara, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights)


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