The Mythology and Folklore Database
K76B - Son-snake and husband-snake.
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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 son or foster son of snake spouses. He turns into a human. The snake is the princess's magical spouse, lost and returned.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 9, Identification of protagonists of the stories with particular animals or persons with particular qualities
K76 has 9 other sub-motifsK76. A boy who is born or found has a strange or ugly appearance (ball, nut, sack, half-human, dwarf, animal), but then demonstrates magical powers and turns out to be handsome (usually getting a bride of high status). The princess's magical spouse initially has a non-human or ugly appearance. K76a. A frog or toad marries a beautiful woman, or a handsome young man marries a frog. K76b. The son or foster son of snake spouses. He turns into a human. The snake is the princess's magical spouse, lost and returned. K76c. The son (rarely – daughter) or foster child of a married couple emerges from a pumpkin (rarely: watermelon, nut) or is found inside it. k76c1. A woman gives birth to a pumpkin, inside which there is a person (many people) or which turns into a person. K76d. The son or foster child of a married couple is a hedgehog. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man. K76e. The son (daughter) or foster child of a married couple is a pig. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man (she marries a handsome man). K76f. A young man with the appearance of a calf marries and then turns into a handsome man. K76g. The son or foster son of a married couple – a crab. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man. K76h. A young man, temporarily having a strange or monstrous appearance (freak, animal, etc.), woos a princess, but is rejected. Then he causes natural disasters or creates personal troubles for the king, who is forced to give up his daughter. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K76's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K27HH | 98.88% | The character is tasked with quickly separating small particles of different types (usually seeds of different plant species) mixed together in a single vessel, or counting the number of grains, or gathering scattered or already sown grain. |
| M57C | 98.81% | An animal (donkey, bull, horse, goat, bear, leopard) or inanimate object makes gold or food stand out, or a character makes others believe that this is the case. |
| L37B | 98.54% | By accidentally overhearing a conversation between animals or spirits, a person learns how to help themselves and others. |
| K76 | 98.21% | A boy who is born or found has a strange or ugly appearance (ball, nut, sack, half-human, dwarf, animal), but then demonstrates magical powers and turns out to be handsome (usually getting a bride of high status). The princess's magical spouse initially has a non-human or ugly appearance. |
| K33H | 98.16% | A person finds a magical object that grants any wish. This object is stolen. It is returned by animals (which the hero had previously saved). |
| K73 | 97.83% | A young wife (promises to give birth and) gives birth to wonderful children (or one son). In the absence of her husband, attempts are made to kill the wife or her child (usually by slandering them to the husband), but they remain alive. (For medieval European variants, see Newell 1906). |
| M170 | 97.22% | Pretending to be concerned only with performing religious rituals or following rules (confessing sins, going on pilgrimages, giving up meat, etc.), a zoomorphic character kills those who trust him. |
| K73A | 97.16% | Malicious women replace the newborn with an animal or an inanimate object (they tell the baby's father that his wife gave birth to an animal or an object). See motif K73. |
| K66 | 97.02% | Each of several companions or brothers excels others in some way (sees, hears, runs, etc. better than anyone else). Cf. motif K2B, "Gorynya and Dubyna". |
| K27Q | 96.91% | Task: to obtain the milk of a wild animal or milk possessed by a dangerous creature. See motif K27. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 37 traditions: Zulu, Swazi, Sandawe, Melanesians and Papuans of Central Solomons: Vella la Vella (Bilua language), Shortland islands (Mono language), San Cristobal, Saint Georgia, Eddystone, Vangunu, Samoa, Tikopia, Bellona, Rennell, partly Aneytium, Futuna (=Erronan, not to be mixed with Futuna in Western Polynesia), Vaeaka-Taumato, incl Matema, Nifeloli, Nukapu, Nupani, Pileni, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Bengali, Kashmiri, Assamese, Sinhalese; Vedda, Early Chinese written sources, Kirati (Kiranti): Rai (incl Thulung), Limbu, Newar, Koreans, Maltese, Sicily, Sicilians, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, Poles, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Karelians, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Persians, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Kurds, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Udeghe, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)