The Mythology and Folklore Database
L23C - Breaking an object in half.
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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
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.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
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 |
|---|---|---|
| M199C1 | 99.99% | A man and his opponent agree to test their strength by throwing a heavy object as far as possible. The man pretends that he is going to throw the object so far that those who are across the sea, behind the mountain, in a distant city, etc. (including the opponent's relatives) may be harmed. The opponent refuses to take part in the test. |
| K27X6 | 99.95% | Setting out in search of a marriage partner, the hero or heroine successively encounters the embodiments (masters) of celestial bodies and atmospheric phenomena (the sun, moon, stars, wind). |
| K38E3 | 99.92% | Among three (less often two or four) loci or objects associated with materials of high but varying degrees of value, the highest belongs to precious stones (usually diamonds, but also glass and crystal). |
| N22 | 99.92% | fairy-tale text ends with a formula that says that if the characters are not dead, they are still alive. {Motive at work, more data}. |
| K101B | 99.91% | A girl or young man is freed from a spell after the hero endures three nights of torment or fear inflicted by demons. The girl or young man themselves are not dangerous to the hero; they help him. |
| I138 | 99.89% | The glass mountain (tower, bridge) is mentioned as an unusual (inaccessible) locus. |
| M39G1 | 99.88% | fool does not pull pants or boots over his feet, but jumps in them from above. |
| B117 | 99.87% | A document issued to animals (usually dogs) is lost through the fault of a cat (swallowed by a cat, burned, gnawed by mice). Since then, dogs and cats (usually also cats and mice) have been at enmity. |
| K57B | 99.87% | To stop a beautiful woman from running away, a man in love with her smears resin or glue on the threshold (porch). The shoe sticks, and all the girls try it on to find its owner. |
| K117C | 99.87% | When a character plays a pipe (violin, horn, etc.), people and animals begin to dance against their will. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: 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, Latvians, Setu, Karelians, Vepsians, Western Sami, Western Ukrainians, 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), Mordvins