The Mythology and Folklore Database
M90A - Marry a guesser
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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
The girl will marry the person who guessed her name, or someone who will fit the ring, or someone who says what material a particular object is made of or originated, etc. The deceiver fulfills the condition.Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
M90 has 9 other sub-motifsM90. Someone asks a riddle about the material from which a particular item is made or originated. It is almost impossible to guess, but the character learns the secret, forcing the hero or heroine to fulfill the conditions set. (Usually requires a girl to marry him). M90a. The girl will marry the person who guessed her name, or someone who will fit the ring, or someone who says what material a particular object is made of or originated, etc. The deceiver fulfills the condition. M90a1. It is required to sew clothes from the skin of lice (fleas) or guess the origin of a large animal, a large skin, the contents of the box; the animal (skin) arose from lice (fleas), in the box - louse. M90a2. 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 M90a3. plant grows from a killed snake or part of a snake's body. M90a4. A tree is described on which jewelry or ornaments hang instead of fruits; individual parts of the tree are made of different metals or (semi) precious stones. M90a5. The story mentions the golden fruits (rarely leaves) of a tree, usually golden apples. M90a6. Owning some apples ensures eternal youth. M90b. The character was wrong when he claimed that the sun would never rise in the west or go down after midnight. M90c. man agreed with another that he could take the first thing he touched from his house. The visitor is going to take his wife, but when he takes up the stepladder to go up to the woman, he is told to pick up the stepladder and leave. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M90's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I38 | 97.82% | There are creatures that combine the characteristics of dogs and humans (usually people with dog faces or heads). |
| M106 | 97.64% | The character calls himself by a fictitious name, which others understand not as a proper name, but as a common noun with a specific meaning. |
| M140 | 96.81% | The character pretends to be dead, sick or infirm, is picked up, and eats the food that others are carrying – usually after first throwing it out of the cart, sleigh, sack, etc. |
| M57A1 | 96.38% | When a beautiful woman walks on the ground, jewels appear under her feet, flowers bloom, etc. |
| K47B | 96.34% | A woman marries a man who originally had the appearance of a dog. The birth of children from a dog is not essential to the plot. |
| M109 | 96.06% | A zoomorphic character sits down, lowering his tail (penis) so that something edible will stick to it, but as a result he is left without a tail (penis) or dies. Cf. motifs M109A, M109C. |
| K33D | 95.79% | A man discovers that a beautiful girl is hiding under the guise of an ugly hag or under the skin of an animal. |
| K89D | 95.75% | Left alone in the house or finding herself in a stranger's house, a girl (less often a male character) hides by turning into a needle (a pin) or another tool for sewing or spinning. |
| K60B | 95.68% | The character is invited to find out whether the box or pit is the right size for him, whether he can crawl through the opening, climb into the bag, etc., after which he is locked in a coffin, box, barrel, buried, etc. Cf. motif M56D. |
| M134 | 95.61% | Animals, demons or people stand on top of each other to reach something. The one at the bottom jumps off (leans, jerks), and everyone falls after him. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 38 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Algeria Arabs, Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Kposso, "Togo-Restvölker" (Adele, Akebu, Akposso, Bowiri/Bowili, Santrokofi, Lelemi, Borada Akrade, Teteman, Baakwa, Bowiri), Akan, Ashanti, Akwapim; Ga (Accra), Kra, Twi (Chwi, Chi), Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Western Sami, Danes, Danish, 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), Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Anatolia Turks, 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, Mari (Cheremis), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Shor, Dolgans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Plains Cree, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Mustang, Mukulu (Mokilko), Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Egypt