The Mythology and Folklore Database
L15A - Vulnerable spot on the body,
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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's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects
L15 has 21 other sub-motifsL15a. The character's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs. L15a1. The character's vulnerable spot is located at the bottom of the foot (heel, toe, sole, ankle). L15a2. The human body is tempered (in a furnace, etc.) to make it invulnerable, but one place remains unprotected. L15b. The character can only be killed with a specific plant, which is not usually used for making weapons. L15b1. In the battle between positive and negative creators, the positive one chooses the deer horn as a weapon – usually because this is the only weapon that the enemy fears. L15c. A dangerous character asks the hero how he can be killed, what he is afraid of. The hero lies, saying that the named object does not harm him. L15c1. A dangerous character naively reveals what he fears or what his life consists of, and the hero takes advantage of this. L15d. The object in which the character's life is concentrated is separate from him. The character dies when this external form is destroyed. L15d1. When a character is asked to reveal the location of his soul (death, power), he first gives an incorrect answer, and the questioner usually begins to show signs of attention to the corresponding locus or object. L15e. The hero's life is in a certain object, usually his weapon. An enemy steals or discards this object, the hero weakens or dies, his friends or brothers return the object, and the hero comes back to life. {In ATU, this is motif 302B; at least some of the references cited by Uther do not contain the motif in our formulation (not found in Japan or Burma); original publications are required}. L15e1. An ageing character and/or one who senses his death approaching instructs his son, a warrior, or his subjects to throw his cold weapon (sword, sabre or axe) into the sea, a lake or a river. Cf. motifs L15E and L15e2. L15e2. One character instructs another to throw a certain object (usually a sword or sabre) into the water. The messenger claims to have carried out the task, but cannot say what happened as a result, so it becomes clear that he has lied. L15f. A young woman or man dies as soon as her or his jewellery (rarely: organ) is stolen, and comes back to life when the jewellery is returned or when the antagonist removes it. L15g. A person's life is connected to an object that can be burned. As soon as the object is burned, the person dies. L15g1. A person knows a secret on which the life of a loved one (husband, son, wife) depends and, after a quarrel, commits an act that is insignificant to an outside observer but leads to the immediate death of the other. L15h. The object in which the character's life is concentrated is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third, and so on (like an egg in a duck, a duck in a hare, a hare in a chest). Or the animal in which the character's soul is enclosed transforms into other animals as it flees. There are three or more enclosures or transformations. L15h1. The object in which the character's life is contained is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third (and so on). The final container of the soul is an egg (to kill the character, the egg must be broken over his head). l15h2. The object in which the character's life is contained is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third (and so on). The final repository of the soul is a bird (a chick, several birds or chicks). l15h3. The object in which the character's life is concentrated is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third (and so on). The final vessel of the soul is an insect or worm. l15h4. The object in which the character's life is concentrated is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third (and so on). The final container of the soul is a needle, which the hero breaks. L15i. A man dies or loses his strength (or pretends to) if his hair is cut or pulled out. L15J. The character can only be killed by fire. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L15's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K22B | 96.33% | 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. |
| F58 | 95.77% | The character spends the night with a group of women, concealing his nature and/or intentions. In the end, he is either identified and punished, or he slips away to continue his mischief. |
| L15A1 | 95.49% | The character's vulnerable spot is located at the bottom of the foot (heel, toe, sole, ankle). |
| K23 | 95.45% | Birds attack inhabitants of another world or a person who has entered another world. See motif K22. |
| M22 | 95.24% | A long-necked bird living near water (crane, heron, bittern, swan) helps a fugitive escape from his pursuer (indicated in brackets). See motifs J44-J46 (a long-legged bird helps cross the river, drowns the pursuer; the pursuer is most often a bear). |
| K22 | 95.18% | The inhabitants of a distant land, who differ from (ordinary) people, occasionally fight off enemies of a non-human nature who attack them. |
| M29H | 94.97% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| H14 | 94.85% | A woman who has returned from the world of the dead flies back, becoming a bird or a fly. |
| J13 | 94.79% | 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. |
| M19 | 94.12% | The character ties another person (usually a child) to the end of a line, using them as bait or forcing them to catch fish with their hands. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 87 traditions: Mongo (Mongo-Nkundu), Nkundu, Ngelima, Ngombe, (Ba)Tetela), Pende, Wu(Kusu), (Ba)Mbala (incl Saie, Kwilu), Tswana (Chwana), Suto (Soto; incl Pedi, Mbire), Melanesians and Papuans of Central Solomons: Vella la Vella (Bilua language), Shortland islands (Mono language), San Cristobal, Saint Georgia, Eddystone, Vangunu, Bugi, Macassar, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Sinhalese; Vedda, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Swedes, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), 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), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Armenians, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Bashkirs, Mongols (Khalkha), Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Evens (Lamuts), Udeghe, Nanai, Chuvans, Russian-speaking Creols of Markovo, Chipewyan, Tagish, Inland Tlingit, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), Iglulik, Eyak, Micmac, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Naskapi, Montagnais, Menominee, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Blackfoot, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Arapaho, Teton (incl Oglala), Iowa, Arikara, Kiowa, Gros Ventre, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Assiniboine, Crow, Nez Perce, Tillamook, Takelma, Lower Chinook (Chinook proper), Shasta; Chimariko, Karok, Hupa, Chilula, Klamath, Modoc, Yurok, Caddo, Alabama, Koasati, Cherokee, Yuki (Yuki proper, Coastal Yuki, Huchnob), Pomo, Wintu, Patwin, Nomlaki, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Yana, Northern Foothills Yokuts (Chukchansi, Dumna, Kechayi), Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Serrano, Jicarilla, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Sicuani, Trio, Wayana, Aparai, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Rikbaktsa, Nambikwara, Sanapana, Lengua (incl Angaite), Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Chorote, Toba (incl Pilagá), Terena (Tereno) , Biloxi, Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Mustang