The Mythology and Folklore Database
L108B - The Thin Voice, (ATU 327F).




78 Myths, Legends and Folktales
78 Unique Narratives for Motif L108B
40 Cultures & Traditions where L108B is told
132 Mythemes Indexed
1 Sub-Motifs of Motif L108B


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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

To prevent his victim from recognising him, the predator, the cannibal, makes his voice thinner by mechanical means - he smears his throat (tongue) with fat, cauterises it with a hot stone or iron, exposes it to ant bites, consults a blacksmith, etc.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior


L10 has 1 other sub-motifs


L10.  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.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
K32D98.00%As a result of the antagonist's intrigues, a noble girl (young woman) or boy (young man) is turned into a servant or servant, sent to graze cattle or chase birds in the field. Everything is revealed – usually after people hear a song in which the hero or heroine tells about the substitution. Most often, the hero or heroine goes to relatives or (less often) to the groom. The deceiver accompanies her or him and is accepted as a relative or bride. The deceiver is executed. Comoros: the deceiver becomes the mistress, turning the girl's parents into peacocks.
L106B97.98%A girl, a young girl or (rarely) a boy loses an everyday object, usually carried away by water or wind. In search of the lost object, she (he) encounters powerful characters, returns the object and/or receives valuables. Traditions recorded only in Roberts 1994: 103-110 are highlighted in italics.
M11296.63%A zoomorphic character refuses to dig, clean or fill a source of drinking water and is forbidden to use the water. {List of African variants in Paulme 1977. In cases where the protagonist is a kite, hawk, buzzard, saker (and possibly also an eagle), it is most likely the same bird - Buteo buteo from the hawk family}.
M17696.10%The characters agree to jump over a ditch, stream, fire, etc., or walk across a log, rope, etc. One or all of them {specified in brackets} fall.
M2595.93%To take part in a festival in heaven or visit a deity, a flightless character manages to climb high into the sky. He usually cannot go down the same way, falls and as a result dies, maims or metamorphoses.
L11495.54%A group of young men or women arrives at the demon's lair. The younger brother or sister, or a character who is considered sick, unpleasant, unfit, and often goes with others against their will, saves them all. See motif L113.
M157A295.24%The character claims that the calf (kid, etc.) was not born (brought) by a cow (goat, etc.) belonging to another owner, but by his own animal of a different species or male sex, or by an inanimate object (usually a cart).
L11695.17%A cannibal (old man, gypsy) grabs a girl, carries her away, and forces her to sing (beg). People recognise the girl's voice and free her.
L11095.06%A character swallows many people and/or animals. In the end, his stomach is cut open, and those who were swallowed unharmed come out or are extracted and revived. Cf. motif K8a.
M29W395.01%As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the lion dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 40 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabs; Berbers of Mauritania (Zenaga), Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Shilluk, Anuak, Ngbakka, Mbum (incl Mbai), Mundang, Fali, Tupuri, Maya (=Bali), Nyong, Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Masai, Nyatutu, Kiniramba, Isanzu, Safwa, Mkulwe, Ngonde, Kinga, Nyakusa, Nyamwanga, Ganda, (Ba)Nyoro, Nyankole, Masaba (Gisu), Luia (=Luyia, Haya, Luhya, Bantu Kawirondo; incl. Vugusu, Maragoli), Rwanda (incl Hutu, Tutsi, Kiga), Rundi, (Ma)Shi, Banyabungu; Rega, Zulu, Swazi, Hausa, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Kru: Kru proper, Sapo (Sapã), Grebo, Kran (Krahn, Guere-Krahn; incl. Putu, Tchien), Bete, Neyo, Wobe, Devoin (Dey), Belle (Kuwaa), Bassa, Sikon, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Central Vanuatu: Espiritu Santo, Araki, Aore, Maewo, Malekula, Vao, Efate (Vate), Nguna, Mae, Ambrim, Pentecost, Oba (=Aoba, East Ambae, Lepers'), Omba, Poles, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, 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), Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Anatolia Turks, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Chuvash, Bari, Senufo, Galicians, Arabs of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Emirates, Oman,, Egypt


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