The Mythology and Folklore Database
B53 - Creatures and objects made from severed genitals.
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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 character's enormous genitals are cut off (usually cut into pieces), thrown away, and transformed into snakes or other creatures or objects.Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| E5D | 90.79% | The first people to arrive on earth and settle within a limited space are threatened by a predator or monster. |
| F9C | 89.56% | Snake (in Oceania – moray eel) in the vagina; vagina – snake's mouth; snake crawls out of a woman's mouth and bites off a man's penis during intercourse; woman with a toothy womb is associated with a snake. |
| M44C | 89.08% | A young hero steals the older character's food. He is usually caught, but not punished, but invited into the house. |
| E7 | 89.05% | 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. |
| G23 | 87.78% | The origin of various (more than two) creatures or objects is explained by the metamorphosis of a living creature or part of its body. {Only texts of an aetiological nature are taken into account. For statistical purposes, all texts with motifs G23A and G23B are also included in motif G23}. |
| G20 | 87.45% | Edible (cultivated or wild) plants emerge from the body of an old woman, a young woman or a girl. |
| F30 | 87.17% | A girl or woman takes a snake, eel, moray eel, lizard or worm as a lover or spouse. People kill or maim the lover, the woman and/or their offspring, or she herself turns into a snake. Cf. motif K76B (the snake-husband becomes and remains a handsome man). See motif F29. |
| G13B | 86.79% | Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate mushrooms. Creatures of a non-human nature feed on mushrooms. Mushrooms are imaginary, inferior food. |
| D13D | 86.73% | One character tries to make another character, who is hiding somewhere in the house, laugh in order to find them. |
| L84 | 86.33% | The character attempts to chop down a tree with an axe made of obviously unsuitable material. Cf. motif K27g5. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Papua-NewGuinea Highland Papuans:Trans New Guinea & unclassified:Chimbu,Gimi,KaugelHuli,Gadsup,Kuman,Kutubu,Foi (Foe),Kyaka,Kamano (Kafe),Mawatta,Kukukuku (=Anga,=Sambia;Manki,Nauti,Ejuti),Baruya,Kewa,Tembregak,Menya,Melpa,Wiru,Pondoma, Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Juang, Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Konds (Khonds; language is Kui, incl Kuttia, Konda-Dora), Koya; Pengo, Tanana, Winnebago, Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Pawnee, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Amahuaca, Cashinahua, Sharanahua, Yaminahua, Yawanahua, Capanahua)