The Mythology and Folklore Database
M42C - When it falls off a cliff, it eats its bone marrow
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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
Falling off a cliff and breaking his leg, the character eats his bone marrow.Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior
M42 has 3 other sub-motifsM42. The character takes his eyes out of his orbits and loses them. He usually regains his eyes later, makes new ones, takes away from another character, etc. See the M41 motif. M42a. The character (usually after losing his own eyes) inserts seeds or berries into his eye sockets and sees again. M42b. After losing his eyes, the character makes new ones out of resin or wax, sees again (often this is an episode on the way to finding good eyes, while tar eyes do not see well). M42c. Falling off a cliff and breaking his leg, the character eats his bone marrow. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M42's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M46A | 99.02% | The character turns into a baby, is picked up by the owners of valuables, and then steals valuables or converges with a woman. The baby is not a demonic creature and does not intend to kill those who pick it up (cf. Motive L60). |
| J53C | 98.80% | Two women live together, both have children. One of them leaves the house with the other, kills her and (later) eats her. The children of the murdered woman escape. See motif J52. |
| J52A | 98.47% | A she-bear or bear treacherously kills his companion, neighbour, etc., who is associated with a herbivorous animal or a weaker predator. The victim's children take revenge by killing the murderer's children or flee. See motifs J52, J54. |
| K8C4 | 97.94% | A small animal (bird, mouse, porcupine, fox) or (rarely) a tiny human being allows itself to be swallowed by a large ungulate (elk, deer, bison, tapir) in order to rip open its belly (and eat it). |
| K8C3 | 97.61% | One (zoomorphic) character refuses to use any part of another's body except the one he uses to kill him. |
| H22 | 97.54% | Large game animals did not have a sense of smell. They acquired it and began to flee from hunters after someone created olfactory organs for them or gave them a strong smell to smell. Cf. motif H22A. |
| J53A | 97.45% | A character invites another to play. The latter follows the rules, but the initiator of the game does not and kills the other. |
| K23A | 97.18% | Birds use their feathers as arrows, or falling feathers cover the mouths of their victims. |
| I93 | 97.03% | The Milky Way – the backbone, support, pillar of the sky or world. |
| A5A | 97.01% | The younger brother (usually the Sun) is made from the urine and swaddling clothes of his older brother (usually the Moon), who was kidnapped as a baby. See motif A5. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 2 traditions: Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Western Shoshone, Gosiute