The Mythology and Folklore Database
L94C - Son or daughter sacrificed.




5 Myths, Legends and Folktales
5 Unique Narratives for Motif L94C
4 Cultures & Traditions where L94C is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
6 Sub-Motifs of Motif L94C


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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

If a deity grants victory, a person promises to sacrifice to it the first person who comes out to meet them at home. A son or daughter comes out.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures


L94 has 6 other sub-motifs


L94.  A demon or animal helps a person or agrees to let them go, but in return takes a promise to give them a daughter or son.
L94a.  When a person leans over the water, a demon grabs him by the beard and releases him on the promise that he will fulfil his demand.
L94b.  A person promises to give to a supernatural character the first thing that comes their way (either something they have not yet seen in their own home, or something that is behind the door, etc.). The person thinks that they will have to give something of little value, but it turns out to be their own child.
L94b1.  A man receives a box (bag, horn, etc.) as a gift, which he must open only at home. Driven by curiosity, he opens it on the way, and everything that should make him wealthy (houses, livestock, etc.) spills out. The demon who appears agrees to return everything, but sets a condition, the severity of which the man does not immediately understand.
L94c.  If a deity grants victory, a person promises to sacrifice to it the first person who comes out to meet them at home. A son or daughter comes out.
L94d.  A demonic character accuses a man of stepping on (tearing off) the tail of a fairy tale. Cf. motif K100E, "Dangerous Fairy Tales".
L94e.  A supernatural character who helps the hero or heroine under certain conditions – the white wolf.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
F70C91.86%A young man loses his male organ, but restores it with magic (and marries happily). Cf. ATU 750K. In ATU 318, this episode is described as one of many possible ones related to the theme of the unfaithful wife.
I4D186.60%An enemy steals the tendons (heart and eyes) of a thunder god, who returns them and prevails over his enemy. Cf. motif L57A, "The hero's companion returns his organ."
K14386.60%The protagonist of the narrative is a bird catcher or bird hunter, or the son of a bird catcher (hunter).
M90A286.42%It should be guessed that the plant grew from a part of the body of a man or a snake or from dirt scraped off from the body
F9886.42%A heavenly anthropomorphic deity descends to earth and mates with a cow.
M114J83.90%A woman does not refuse those who harass her, but calmly explains that there is no point in trying to possess many, since they are all the same (they differ no more than eggs painted in different colours).
M90B81.99%The character was wrong when he claimed that the sun would never rise in the west or go down after midnight.
I14081.65%The staff thrown to the ground turns into a living snake.
N3981.65%The image of a three-ply rope is used to describe the invincibility of two close-knit friends
K27U179.73%Some people demand that the child be born the morning after conception or speak immediately after birth.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 4 traditions: Old and New Testament, Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, Ancient Greece


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