The Mythology and Folklore Database
L19A - Creature with an even number of heads.
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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
Creatures (any except ornithomorphs) with an even number (but not more than ten) of heads at one end of the body are described or depicted, except when such creatures are mentioned among others and the series ends with an odd number or a number greater than ten.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
L19 has 4 other sub-motifsL19a. Creatures (any except ornithomorphs) with an even number (but not more than ten) of heads at one end of the body are described or depicted, except when such creatures are mentioned among others and the series ends with an odd number or a number greater than ten. L19b. Creatures (any, except ornithomorphic ones) with more than 10 heads or an odd (but more than one) number of heads are described or depicted (in the case of listing creatures in order of increasing number of heads, the series ends with an odd number). L19b1. Describes or depicts a monster (usually a reptile) with seven heads (except in cases where snakes with an increasing number of heads are described sequentially and "seven" is not the largest number). L19b2. A creature with nine heads is mentioned – either singly or at the end of a series of creatures with fewer heads. L19b3. A creature with 12 heads is mentioned – either singly or at the end of a series of creatures with fewer heads. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L19's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K8D | 90.70% | The character enters the body of an anthropomorphic creature, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. |
| E2 | 90.22% | When creating humans, the creator does not immediately achieve perfection. The first versions of the creation are rejected, then the appropriate form and material are found. See motif E1A. |
| A3 | 88.91% | The Moon is female or hermaphroditic, the Sun is male or, possibly, male. |
| B2E | 88.65% | The Earth or the world as a whole is a male character (alone or alongside a female character). |
| L14 | 88.58% | People bring a small creature (usually a worm or reptile) into their home and raise it, or it settles into a man-made dwelling on its own. The creature turns into something terrifying or magnificent. See motif L13 (raised monster attacks people). |
| G8 | 88.43% | People or animals cut or gnaw at a tree, mountain, or pillar of the sky. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their task (usually when they take a break) or periodically (at certain times). |
| K25E | 88.13% | Humans in general or a specific ethnic, tribal or social group are considered descendants of an earthly man and woman of supernatural origin. |
| I27 | 87.53% | The dog and/or (rarely) the domestic cat is the master, guardian of the land of the dead, guide on the way there; dogs live on the way to the land of the dead. (For indirect evidence and similar beliefs, see also Benson 1991). |
| I8G | 87.25% | A single giant holds up the earth or the sky. |
| K25 | 86.85% | A man consciously marries a woman who belongs to the non-human world. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 45 traditions: Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, Estonians, Western Sami, Norwegians, Swedes, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), 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), Bashkirs, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Nganasans, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Dolgans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Evens (Lamuts), Udeghe, North Alaskan Inupiat, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Menominee, Mandan, Quinault, Tillamook, Karok, Hupa, Chilula, Seri, Western Mexico Nahuatl, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Pame, Jonaz (Chichimeca-Jonaz), Mazahua, Otomi, Yucatec, Itza, Lacandon, Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography, Muisca, Muzo, Sicuani, Piaroa, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Machiguenga, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Paresi, Sanapana, Lengua (incl Angaite)