The Mythology and Folklore Database
A6 - The sun and moon – women.
Please log on to view the narratives.
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
The sun and moon are considered female characters (including cases – Tuscarora, Oneida, when the gender is not directly specified, but both arise from the body of a female character).Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 1, Sun and Moon
A6 has 2 other sub-motifsA6. The sun and moon are considered female characters (including cases – Tuscarora, Oneida, when the gender is not directly specified, but both arise from the body of a female character). A6A. In the same ethnic group, the gender of the moon/month varies in different texts; it changes depending on the phases; the moon is a married couple; the moon is a woman who used to be a man. See motifs A3 - A5. {The material is incomplete. For Western European traditions, data contained in fairy tales is not included}. A6B. In the same ethnic group, the sun is described as both male and female. See motifs A3 – A5. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of A6's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I38A | 97.73% | The husbands of human women are dogs or dog-headed creatures. |
| K29C | 94.07% | They hope to kill the hero by knocking a tree down on him or tying him to a tree. He comes back alive, dragging the tree behind him. |
| A32H | 93.87% | A tree, bush, branch, snag, etc. are visible on the lunar disc. See motif A32G. |
| B43 | 93.66% | Elements of the landscape or parts of the universe are created from the body of the original being. |
| K77A | 93.42% | Various objects and animals (rarely: only animals, but including those that are safe in reality) defeat a strong enemy (usually joining the hero who is going to take revenge on the strong enemy for an insult and hiding in the house where the enemy is supposed to appear), attacking him in turn; he dies or flees. Either someone or the attacked character himself places objects in his dwelling that then harm that character. |
| B72B | 93.29% | A girl or, less commonly, a boy turns into a bird after his mother (father, guardian) refuses to give him water or food or otherwise mistreats him. |
| F77A | 93.16% | A huge penis serves as a bridge. |
| I11 | 93.10% | The turtle (toad, frog) serves as a support (embodiment) of the earth (sky), or the supports of the sky are made from its body. |
| K56D1 | 93.09% | A pumpkin or watermelon (grown from gifted seeds) given to a person turns out to contain treasures. |
| B79 | 92.91% | In the world ocean or in the world abyss, from an egg (eggs) or egg-like sphere, shell, etc., the earth, sky, luminaries, and creator gods arise. |
See more...
Please log on to view the narratives.
Map of Motif Dispersal
Click here for a clustered map
Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom
This motif has been recorded in 44 traditions: Mehri; Harsusi, Jibbali (Shahri, Shauri), Minahasa (incl. Tondano, Tentemboan), Bantik, Mentawai, Burmese, Intha, Andamanese, Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Li , Early Chinese written sources, Koreans, Basques, France, Finns, Karelians, Sarikoli, Tajik, Georgians, Kalmyk, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Kara Kalpak, 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), Udmurt, Mansi, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Darkhad, Nganasans, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Ainu, Nanai, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Tuscarora, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Tunica, Chacobo, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Salars, Terek Cossacks, China