The Mythology and Folklore Database
B11A - The mammoth – creator of the landscape.
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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
The mammoth, represented as an underground fish-like creature, creates rugged terrain on wet ground and digs river beds.Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 1, Sun and Moon
B11 has 2 other sub-motifsB11. A river (rarely: a chain of lakes, a narrow strait) or its current course is created by humans or animals. See motifs B12, B13. This section covers other variants of the motif. B11a. The mammoth, represented as an underground fish-like creature, creates rugged terrain on wet ground and digs river beds. B11B. At the beginning of time or during the flood, the mammoth drowned or sank into the ground, and since then it has not been seen on earth. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of B11's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K52C1 | 100.00% | Demonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion. One episode: the magical specialist orders those present to catch the birds or fish that have appeared with the water, or they begin to catch them on their own initiative; when the water disappears, people see that they are holding not caught animals, but their penises or something else. |
| K89C | 99.90% | A girl parts with her brother or sister. He or she becomes the wife or husband of a bear and helps the girl. |
| M186 | 99.71% | An animal (fox, wolf, leopard) runs along the shore, while a fish (burbot, goby, catfish) swims in the water. The animal calls out to the fish, which is always ahead (usually keeping other fish at a distance, but in the Negidal variant, the motif of competition is omitted). |
| B81 | 99.61% | The creator and his opponent consider whether to give the dog the ability to shoot (with a bow or a gun). |
| M91D | 99.57% | The character deceives others by passing off the dead as alive, directing suspicions of murder to innocent people, etc. When a shaman (less often a shaman) is ready to discover the truth, he succeeds in it kill and avoid being charged with murder. |
| J27B | 99.52% | An infant is thrown into a lake or river and occasionally comes ashore. In addition to his earthly parents, he has a father (and mother) in the underwater world. He does not want to part with them, nor do they want to let him go. |
| I56A | 99.52% | When a person who has entered another world touches the local inhabitants, they become ill or die. |
| B74 | 98.85% | The eyes of the capercaillie or black grouse turned red from tears. |
| B38E | 98.65% | The character kicks a loon or other waterfowl. Since then, it has had a flattened tail and finds it difficult to walk on land. |
| K56A8A | 98.13% | A girl goes to another world, behaves correctly, returns with an animal or an object, inside which her groom is found. Usually, another girl behaves incorrectly and suffers damage. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Nenets, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Dolgans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Western Tungus (Evenki), Western Siberia Tungus (Evenki): Sym River, Ket River, Manchu, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area