The Mythology and Folklore Database
L104 - The fugitive and the pursuer change their appearance (ATU 325).
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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 fleeing character successively takes on the appearance of various creatures or objects; the pursuer also changes his appearance, each time transforming into someone who is dangerous to the pursued in his current form.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
L10 has 1 other sub-motifsL10. The character has a sharp (biting) tail or a protrusion on its back. See motif L9, cf. motif L9C. L10a. A demonic character approaches a man's campfire. The man leaves a log in his place and hides. The character throws himself on the log, mistaking it for a sleeping man; usually, the hunter kills or wounds the demon. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L10's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K14A | 99.59% | The antagonist orders the killing of the first person to arrive at the agreed place in the morning. The hero is accidentally delayed, and the antagonist himself or his wife or son are killed. |
| K102 | 99.51% | A woman who is initially friendly to the hero (his sister, mother, less often his wife or lover) then tries to destroy him by acting in concert with his enemy. To this end, she persuades the hero to take actions that are fatal to him. |
| K72 | 99.24% | A character of high status meets or marries three (less often two or four) women. One (promises to bear and) bears him a son (children) with unusual qualities, the other two (promise to engage in and) engage in crafts or housekeeping, or intend to marry men of lower status. |
| K27F | 99.22% | An authoritative character demands that the hero obtain a woman. |
| H45 | 99.19% | A woman or child treats food disrespectfully by smearing it with excrement. For this, people (rarely: only the culprit) are punished. |
| K27NN | 99.18% | Someone from the entourage of a powerful figure seeks to destroy the hero and persuades others to give him difficult tasks. |
| M202 | 99.14% | A man pulls a thorn out of the paw (a bone out of the throat) of a strong and dangerous animal or demon, who is grateful. |
| K106 | 99.12% | The hero (a miraculous infant, a magical rooster) is thrown at the feet of animals, but they do not trample him. |
| K14 | 99.12% | A person receives or buys simple advice, the meaning of which is initially unclear (travel with a companion, do not skip breakfast, etc.) and either follows it, achieving success, or violates it, getting into trouble. |
| K131 | 99.11% | Certain characters argue over the possession of magical objects, but the objects go to the hero. Usually, he suggests that the disputants race each other or asks them to let him try out the objects, after which he hides, taking the objects with him. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 102 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Algeria Arabs, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Shilluk, Anuak, Swahili, Midjikenda (incl Giryama), Nyika, Duruma; Ngindo, Kiluguru and other Islamic groups of the Eastern Coast of Africa, Hausa, Songhai, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Sindhi, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Assamese, Dards (Kalash, Kho, Kohistani, Shina, Pashai), Meo (Hmong) of Thailand, Laos and Northern Vietnam, Lepcha, Koreans, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Sicily, Sicilians, France, Dutch, Flemish, 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, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Western Sami, Norwegians, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, 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), Uzbek, Yazgulami, Sarikoli, Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Ingush, Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Kara Kalpak, Uyghur, 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, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Chuvash, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Khakas, Shor, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Udeghe, Blackfoot, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Mustang, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Chechens, Arabs of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Emirates, Oman,, Icelanders, Frisians, Faroe Islands, Terek Cossacks, Morocco, Egypt