The Mythology and Folklore Database
B12 - Snake rivers.
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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 riverbed follows the path of a snake, fish, dragon, or crab; the river arises from parts of the snake's body; the river is a snake.Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L3 | 94.63% | The demon takes on human form and comes to his wife (less often to another woman). Usually, the woman (alone or with a child) runs away and/or kills the monster, either by herself or with someone's help. |
| L18 | 94.50% | A bird with two or more heads in descriptions or images. |
| I14 | 93.73% | Creatures without an anal opening are described. |
| K6 | 93.31% | A vine or rope emerges from tears, snot, urine, saliva, and chewed substance. See motif K1A. |
| G24 | 93.31% | The first seeds (shoots, tubers) of cultivated or important wild food plants and/or agronomic knowledge were brought from the sky (received from the gods). |
| C13 | 93.13% | During or before the onset of a global catastrophe (flood, darkness) or (surui) at night, household items and/or stones, trees, domestic animals, and cultivated plants turn into wild birds and animals or come to life. |
| F18B | 93.08% | After intercourse with a forbidden partner (incest, intercourse with an animal or spirit), a man's penis becomes so long that he is forced to carry it in a basket, etc. |
| H28 | 92.75% | A creature that has been killed and destroyed (often burned) (usually a cannibal, a ferocious animal, or a powerful shaman) turns into stinging insects or other harmful, unpleasant, or dangerous creatures. |
| L55 | 92.26% | To neutralise a dangerous enemy, a caustic or boiling liquid is poured into one of the openings of its body. |
| E7 | 92.17% | The path from one part of the world to another passes through a narrow opening. The character gets stuck in the opening, permanently severing the connection between the worlds. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 44 traditions: Arnhem Land: Enindhilyagwa (Groote Eilandt), KuTiwi, Yulengor, Mara, Oenpelli, Murngin, Roper River, Maung, Murinbata, Murngin (Duwal), Millingimbi, Goulburn Island, Ngulugwongga, Yirrkalla, Voctoria River Downs, Alawa, Anu, Kunwinjku, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Andamanese, Rawang, Dulong; Anong, Drung, Early Chinese written sources, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Ingush, Georgians, Shor, Southern Selkups, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Manchu, Tanana, North Alaskan Inupiat, Arapaho, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Flathead, Tunica, Cocopa, Tzotzil, Chorti, Boruca (Brunka), Creols of Eastern and Central Cuba, Guajiro, Sicuani, Yaruro, Makiritare (Yecuana), Locono, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Chayahuita , Karijona, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Maue (Mawe), Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Cashibo, Kamayura, Bororo, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje), Suya, Txukarramae, Ayoreo, Chechens, Papua-New Guinea Southern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Gimi, Kiwai, Bina, Mawabula, Mawatta, Keraki, Gambadi (incl. Kwavaru), Purari River delta, Masingara, Wiram (=Suki), Ngain, Daga, Elema