The Mythology and Folklore Database
B45A - Winter versus summer.




86 Myths, Legends and Folktales
81 Unique Narratives for Motif B45A
46 Cultures & Traditions where B45A is told
189 Mythemes Indexed
2 Sub-Motifs of Motif B45A


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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 alternation of seasons and/or differences between the climates of different localities are explained by the struggle between characters associated with warmth and those associated with cold. See motif B45.

Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment


B45 has 2 other sub-motifs


B45.  The arrival of warm (bright, abundant) or cold (hungry, dark) times is associated with the marriage of a certain character who brings cold, warmth, abundance, etc.
B45A.  The alternation of seasons and/or differences between the climates of different localities are explained by the struggle between characters associated with warmth and those associated with cold. See motif B45.
B45b.  The bull or cow is the embodiment of cold, the reason why winter is cold.

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No dispersal data found for motif 'b45a'.

Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
A10.00%Another sun — less powerful or less favourable to humans — existed before the appearance of the current one.
A100.00%The sun gets its sparkling eyes (eye) from an animal.
A11A0.00%The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter.
A11B0.00%The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A.
A11C0.00%The Sun and Moon kill a monster whose eyes shine differently. At first, the Moon takes the brighter eye, but then swaps with the Sun.
A120.00%A creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, winter and summer, night and day, phases of the moon) or occasionally (eclipses, eschatological catastrophes) attack the luminaries or block their light.
A12A0.00%During an eclipse or under other circumstances, predators attack the luminaries: wolves, bears, jaguars, pumas, dogs, foxes, raccoons. See motif A12.
A12B0.00%During an eclipse or at sunset (marked *), the luminaries are swallowed by a toad or frog.
A12C0.00%Eclipses of the sun, moon or their setting (marked*) are caused by a snake, lizard, dragon, fish or crocodile; these creatures attack the luminaries now or attacked them at the beginning of time. See motif A12.
A12D0.00%Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 46 traditions: Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Forest Nenets, Mongols (Khalkha), Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Nenets, Nganasans, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Chipewyan, Tahltan, Koyukon, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), Tsimshian, Lenape (Delaware), Micmac, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Naskapi, Potawatomi, Winnebago, Arapaho, Teton (incl Oglala), Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Plains Ojibwa, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Nez Perce, Tillamook, Okanagon, Sanpoil, Coeur D'Alene, Kalispel (Pend d'Oreille; incl Spokane), Flathead, Klamath, Modoc, Cherokee, Hopi, Zuni, Tepecano, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Selknam, Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)


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