The Mythology and Folklore Database
L23A - Transformation into flame.
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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
In an attempt to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance, in particular turning into fire (and water).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
L23 has 5 other sub-motifsL23. Trying to free himself, the captured character successively transforms into various substances, materials or animals, or (Urarina, Setebo) orders various dangerous animals to successively attack the person who captured him. (In some cases, only one variant of transformation is mentioned, but in the same context as in typical variants with a series of transformations). L23a. In an attempt to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance, in particular turning into fire (and water). L23b. Trying to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance. The last transformation is into a spindle. L23c. Trying to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance. The last transformation is a small wooden object (usually a spindle). When this object is broken in half, the character permanently regains his human form. L23d. A man captures a desirable woman. Trying to free herself, she transforms into various substances, materials, animals or (urarina, setebo) orders various dangerous animals to attack the man who captured her. L23e. A man captures a male character. Trying to free himself, the latter transforms into various substances or animals. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L23's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K119C | 100.00% | The antagonist believes that he has been attacked by the lord of thunder (the father of the bride, whom a zoomorphic assistant has tricked into marrying a poor young man, motif K119). |
| L42B1 | 100.00% | A character kidnapped by a demon advises him to stack pots, pans and other kitchen items on top of each other and climb up them. He does so, falls and breaks. |
| L37C | 99.92% | A person encounters the incarnations of Fortune (and Misfortune) – his own or someone else's. He manages to influence their behaviour and change (for himself) the course of events for the better. |
| K38F5 | 99.79% | Flames burst from the horse's mouth and/or nostrils, or the entire horse is engulfed in fire. |
| M179 | 99.78% | Two zoomorphic characters live nearby, one's house is destroyed, he asks the other to shelter him. Usually he breaks in and drives out the owner, strong animals fear the invader, while weak or small ones drive him away. |
| K151 | 99.69% | A magical helper grants a poor man's simple wish. The poor man or his wife ask for more and more. In the end, the helper punishes the beggar (usually by taking away everything that was given). {Many references to texts outside Europe in Uther 2004 are not related to the plot of ATU 555 and do not contain the K151 motif. This applies in particular to the Arabic and Ossetian variants}. |
| K35A3 | 99.68% | In order to obtain the privileges enjoyed by the hero, the deceiver manages to swap status with him. |
| K142 | 99.64% | After killing several people, a man asks a gravedigger to bury the dead and each time says that the dead man has returned. The gravedigger buries everyone, but believes that there is only one dead man. |
| M106A | 99.61% | The character who caused the damage calls himself by a fictitious name such as "Nobody," "I Myself," etc. Usually, others decide that the victim himself is to blame for what happened. |
| M120B | 99.60% | The character is looking for a nanny (nurse, wet nurse, shepherd, husband) and consistently rejects those whose voice he does not like. He settles on the one with the most beautiful voice, but the choice turns out to be unsuccessful (usually the nurse eats the child, the sick person, the sheep, etc.). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 4 traditions: Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Western Ukrainians, Abkhaz, Abkhazians