The Mythology and Folklore Database
A19C - The Sun Horse.
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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 sun is associated with a horseman or rides in a carriage drawn by horses (equidae).Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 1, Sun and Moon
A19 has 6 other sub-motifsA19. Anthropomorphic or zoomorphic creatures help the luminary move across the sky (and the underworld). See motif A17: zoomorphic creatures are helmsmen or rowers in the sun boat. A19a. Moving daily across the sky, the sun changes its riding animals (usually in the morning it rides on an animal that moves slowly, and in the evening on another that runs faster). A19b. Moving across the sky, the sun changes its mounts depending on the season – in summer it rides on a slow animal, in winter – on a fast one. Or in winter the sun is carried by a young man, and in summer – by an old man. A19c. The sun is associated with a horseman or rides in a carriage drawn by horses (equidae). A19c1. The sun or moon travels across the sky in a chariot or sleigh. A19D. Two characters carry the luminaries across the sky – one carries the sun, the other the moon. A19E. The summer and winter suns are two different characters. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of A19's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| B106 | 99.22% | First, the heavenly rooster crows (or the underground roosters crow), and only then do the earthly roosters crow. |
| K35A6 | 99.22% | The character illuminates the room with a light-emitting object (usually a feather) that he has found. |
| J32B | 98.81% | In order to accomplish what he wants, the hero prolongs the night by changing the behaviour of the character on whom the alternation of day and night depends. |
| M39A2D | 98.81% | Fools plant meat, horns, or bones in the hope of raising animals. |
| M191B | 98.49% | A man does good (does no harm) to a snake (fish, lion) and benefits from it. His son (less often someone else or himself) wounds the snake (usually cuts off its tail) and, if it is his son, dies from the bite. The snake refuses to continue its relationship with the man, and neither of them will forget their loss. |
| M182A | 98.26% | A person smears resin on a bull, a horse (usually making a figure that comes to life), or some object; wild animals or demons stick to it. Cf. motif K133. |
| A19C1 | 98.18% | The sun or moon travels across the sky in a chariot or sleigh. |
| K56F | 97.97% | A man divides a roasted rooster (goose) according to the social ranks of those present (the head to the host, the wings to the daughters, etc.), usually taking the least prestigious but meatiest part for himself. |
| L72I | 97.95% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws soap behind him, which turns into an obstacle for his pursuer (a slippery mountain, river, etc.). |
| K134 | 97.72% | A guest is planted with treasure in order to accuse him of theft. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 24 traditions: Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Old and New Testament, Ugarit, Phoenicia, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Kafir, or Nuristani: Prasun; Kati (incl. Paruni), Ashkun (Ashunu), Waigali, Dards (Kalash, Kho, Kohistani, Shina, Pashai), Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, 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, Slovakians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Hittite, Hurrit, Lithuanians, Latvians, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Armenians, Kazakh, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Transylvanian Saksons, Russian Federation