The Mythology and Folklore Database
E6A - The path through water.
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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
People walk across a (frozen) body of water to reach their current place of residence, while some remain on the other side or drown.Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture
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
E6 has 1 other sub-motifsE6. When a woman of childbearing age (she is menstruating, miscarrying, pregnant, with a child, or simply fat) tries to pass from one world to another, the connection between the worlds is severed forever. E6a. People walk across a (frozen) body of water to reach their current place of residence, while some remain on the other side or drown. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of E6's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M48 | 99.70% | Trickster asks another zoomorphic character to turn him into a creature of his kind, but if he breaks the condition for transformation, he becomes himself again. Usually, a trickster asks a bison or elk to turn it into a bison or elk. The bison (elk) rushes to the trickster, which bounces off in fear. The next time the trickster stays in place, metamorphoses, but regains its former appearance after trying to turn another trickster into a bison, etc. |
| J59B | 99.59% | To revive the dead, the character shoots an arrow into the sky or throws an object. It is assumed that the dead, fearing the falling object, will come back to life and run away. |
| M67 | 99.59% | By stupidity or carelessness, the character causes a wind that blows him away. See the M66 motif (The Trickster emits a stream of intestinal gases). |
| C10A | 99.01% | During the flood, some birds save themselves by clinging to the sky with their beaks. Cf. A2211.7 ("During the flood, birds cling to the sky; their tails acquire their current colour"). |
| K25B | 99.00% | A woman climbs a tree trying to catch a porcupine and ends up in the sky. |
| M79 | 99.00% | A person joins the dancers; it turns out that the dancers are reeds or trees in the wind. |
| J20 | 98.78% | While the husband or brother is hunting, an evil spirit comes to his wife or sister; he kills or maims her or her brother after she breaks the taboo of opening the door to the guest, looking at him or talking to him. See motif J19. |
| J19A | 98.47% | When a woman is left alone, a demonic character comes to her. He says that in order to perform certain actions, she must give him a certain part of her body, even though this contradicts logic and custom. After that, the character kills her (cuts open her stomach; tears out her tongue). |
| K43C | 98.47% | The bound children (a young man and his sister) are left alone in an empty camp, and the animal frees them. |
| M37 | 98.06% | Although the character's head or entire body is cut in two with an ax or split with a stick, the character remains unharmed. Cf. motive J22. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Blackfoot, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Arikara, Gros Ventre, Alabama, Koasati