The Mythology and Folklore Database
K22B - Man helps the inhabitants of another world.




51 Myths, Legends and Folktales
49 Unique Narratives for Motif K22B
34 Cultures & Traditions where K22B is told
103 Mythemes Indexed
4 Sub-Motifs of Motif K22B


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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

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.

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
J1396.61%Not one woman or girl, but two sisters (or more than two, but only two play an important role in the narrative) wander and meet an unwanted deceiver instead of a desired husband or fiancé, or encounter dangerous creatures. See motif J12.
L15A96.33%The character's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs.
K2295.97%The inhabitants of a distant land, who differ from (ordinary) people, occasionally fight off enemies of a non-human nature who attack them.
L9895.48%The demon that carries off children and threatens heroes, people, etc., is the eagle owl; there is a race of owls that is hostile to humans.
K2395.44%Birds attack inhabitants of another world or a person who has entered another world. See motif K22.
F1095.35%A woman has a second mouth (usually in her vagina) with sharp teeth. A man inserts or throws a stone, bone, stick, etc. into this mouth, knocking out the teeth or extracting toothy animals from it in this way.
K27O95.18%The confrontation between heroes and antagonists unfolds in the form of a ball game.
H1894.84%Hunted animals were concentrated in one place. A certain character creates them there or allows them to scatter.
I13A94.81%A huge aquatic or celestial serpent, dragon, or snake-like creature with horns on its head.
C6A94.41%A turtle or toad (frog) brings a desired object from the bottom or from the underworld.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 34 traditions: Algeria Arabs, Chin-Naga: Ao, Mao, Sema, Zeme, Kolren, Kom, Lhota, Rengma, Angami, Kabui, Tangkhul, Koirenf, Georgians, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Nivkh, Chukchi, Tutchone, Tanana, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), Tlingit, Tsimshian, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Blackfoot, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Kiowa Apache, Gros Ventre, Crow, Comox, Pentlatch, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Kalapuya, Natchez (incl Avoyel), Alabama, Koasati, Navajo, Jicarilla, Zuni, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Kodiak


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