The Mythology and Folklore Database
K8C - Jonah: swallowed by a land animal.
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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 character enters the belly of an ordinary land animal, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. Cf. motif M118.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K8 has 11 other sub-motifsK8a. The character enters the belly of an aquatic creature or a giant creature whose appearance and habitat are not precisely described. He kills the creature from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. Upon emerging from the belly, he often finds himself bald (K921). Cf. motifs I81B (Charybdis) and L110 (Devourer). K8aa. A huge bird swallows people. The hero kills it, freeing those who have been swallowed, or, if he himself has been swallowed, he manages to get out alive. K8b. A raven finds itself in the belly of a whale; the woman inside asks it not to touch a certain organ of the whale (usually the heart) or a burning lamp. The raven breaks the prohibition, the woman disappears, and the whale dies. K8c. The character enters the belly of an ordinary land animal, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. Cf. motif M118. K8c1. A tiny man is first accidentally swallowed by a large herbivore, then carried off by a wolf that began to eat the carcass of this animal. K8c2. The mouse is swallowed by a large land animal and comes out by cutting it open from the inside. K8c3. One (zoomorphic) character refuses to use any part of another's body except the one he uses to kill him. K8c4. A small animal (bird, mouse, porcupine, fox) or (rarely) a tiny human being allows itself to be swallowed by a large ungulate (elk, deer, bison, tapir) in order to rip open its belly (and eat it). K8c5. A zoomorphic character no larger than a fox allows itself to be swallowed by a bear and kills it by tearing it apart from the inside. K8d. The character enters the body of an anthropomorphic creature, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. K8e. The character penetrates inside the creature through the anus. K8f. The swallowed one discovers a living deer in the belly of the monster. See motif K8A. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K8's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M38 | 94.51% | Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food |
| J46 | 92.55% | Antagonists perish by falling into water or attempting to cross a water barrier. See motifs J42, J44. |
| L53 | 92.02% | The terrifying creature is killed or neutralised by throwing (red-hot) stones, pieces of iron, etc. into its mouth or anus, or the creature retreats when threatened with a stone being thrown into its mouth. |
| M28 | 91.98% | When able to take off, the character takes off but falls or stays in a remote place from where he can no longer take off. |
| M30B | 91.72% | Birds give a non-flying or ugly character feathers so that he can fly or become beautiful, but then take them away. |
| K18 | 90.42% | 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. |
| L56 | 90.04% | A large animal or monster perishes from a fire kindled in its belly. See motif K8A. |
| I36 | 89.99% | Thunder and lightning (two thunders, two lightnings) – characters related by kinship, marriage or property. |
| K27 | 89.94% | The character receives tasks that are deadly dangerous or can only be accomplished with supernatural abilities or helpers; the hero completes the tasks and/or miraculously survives. The confrontation between the characters unfolds as a game or competition in which the loser loses their life or status. |
| E1B | 89.84% | A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 120 traditions: Bilin (Blin, Bilen), Shilluk, Anuak, Somali, Mangbetu (Ngbetu), Mangbutu, Moru, Madi, Lugbara, Lendu (=Bale), Ngbakka, Mbum (incl Mbai), Mundang, Fali, Tupuri, Maya (=Bali), Nyong, Gogo, Kaguru, Luguru, Zigula, Taveta, Shambala (Sambala), Bondei, Taeta, Dabida; Zaramo, Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Hausa, Sara, incl. Ngambaye (Ngambaï), Mbaï, Igbo (Ibo); Isoko, Urhobo, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Tuareg, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Lobi, Dogon, Tenda (incl Bedik, Basari), Biafada, Nalu, Pajadinka, Badyara (Badiaranke), Bushmen (all groups), Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Batak (Toba, Dairi), Khmer, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Early Chinese written sources, Koreans, Spain, Spaniards, Basques, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Slovakians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Vepsians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Tajik, Persians, Anatolia Turks, 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), Turkmen, Bashkirs, Mordvins, Chuvash, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Forest Nenets, Mongols (Khalkha), Darkhad, Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Kets, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Ainu, Udeghe, Negidal, Nivkh, Kerek, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chukchi, Aleuts, Chipewyan, Tahltan, Koyukon, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), North Alaskan Inupiat, Netsilik, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Lenape (Delaware), Naskapi, Montagnais, Menominee, Osage, Pawnee, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Kiowa Apache, Comanche, Plains Ojibwa, Crow, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Quileute, Chemakum (Hoh), Quinault, Kalapuya, Takelma, Oregon Athabaskans: Lower Umpqua, Tututni (incl Joshua), Upper Coquille, Galice, Tolowa, Lower Chinook (Chinook proper), Shasta; Chimariko, Klamath, Modoc, Caddo, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Achomavi, Kawaiisu, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Chemehuevi, Navajo, Jicarilla, Chiricahua, Zuni, Lacandon, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Aguaruna, Huambiza, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Kayabi, Paresi, Bororo, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Chamacoco (Ishir), Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Wolof, Yughs, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Greenland