The Mythology and Folklore Database
E9I1 - The magical wife – the swan.
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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
Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a swan.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
E9 has 21 other sub-motifsE9. The character notices that someone is running the house in his absence and catches the person doing so by surprise. E9a. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a fox. E9aa. A man searches for a missing woman, who is a fox by nature, and comes to the burrow where she has hidden. Various bird or animal women come out of the burrow and offer themselves in place of the fox. Then they let him inside. E9b. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of an elephant (elephant tusk). E9c. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a large hoofed mammal (buffalo, antelope, moose, etc.). E9d. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dog or puppy (wolf cub). E9e. An animal or object received by a young man from supernatural beings as a reward for his kindness, upon the young man's return home (to earth), turns into a girl. E9f. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a parrot. E9g. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture. E9h. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dove. E9i1. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a swan. E9i2. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper, adopted daughter) takes the form of a duck. E9i3. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a goose. E9i4. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a crane. e9i5. Before meeting the hero, his wife takes the form of a snail. E9j. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a monkey, or the man hides the woman and pretends that the mistress is a monkey. e9j1. Humans are considered descendants of monkeys. E9k. The husband or wife is the embodiment of honey or a human bee. E9l. Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a mouse (rarely: a rat). E9m. A man marries a bear (white or grizzly) that takes the form of a woman, or a woman who takes the form of a bear. E9n. A man marries a female seal, seal or dolphin that has taken the form of a woman and lives with her among people. E9o. A man marries a woman who has the appearance of a frog or toad. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of E9's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| A23B | 99.28% | Two characters argue about who will be the first to see the rising sun. The winner is the one who first notices not the sun itself, but its reflection or the trees and mountains illuminated by its first rays. |
| A23A | 99.11% | Arguing about superiority or seniority, the characters agree to decide in favour of the one who first sees the rising sun (the beginning of the year). The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely. (In Uther 2004(1), No. 120: 87, the definition of the motif includes the detail that the winner looks not to the east but to the west and sees the tops of trees illuminated by rays of light. In Europe, in most cases (except for the Scots) that have been verified, this detail is indeed present. However, it is absent in American and some Asian traditions). |
| M38D | 99.06% | Two or more characters, which are small objects or small animals, live or travel together and die one by one while committing protozoa actions. |
| K47B | 98.87% | A woman marries a man who originally had the appearance of a dog. The birth of children from a dog is not essential to the plot. |
| K65 | 98.33% | Having been cast out, discarded, or born of the first ancestors, creatures of a certain category acquire individuality, transforming into spirits who are the masters of various loci. |
| N36 | 98.13% | is said about the horse that it jumps above trees (grass, the surface of the earth) and below the sky (clouds, clouds). |
| K66D | 98.03% | A boy who grew up (was conceived) in a bear's den (lion's cave) becomes a bogatyr. |
| H6C | 97.66% | The raven (crow, vulture) is associated with death or contrasted with humans as immortal among mortals (sent to bring the elixir of immortality or water that revives the dead; drinks this water himself; teaches people funeral rites; etc.). |
| H46 | 97.65% | A character (usually God) is about to deprive people of their food (most often grain), but does not do so for the sake of the dog (and/or cat; rarely for the sake of birds). Either God gave the ear of corn to the dog, and the man took it for himself. |
| L72A | 97.64% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws behind him a comb (brush), which turns into an obstacle (almost always thickets) in the path of his pursuer. (In South America, this motif is most likely of European origin). See Andreev 1929, No. 313.I. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 58 traditions: Minahasa (incl. Tondano, Tentemboan), Bantik, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Portuguese, Portugal, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Czech, Czechs, Hungarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Karachays, Balkar, Kumyk, Terekemen, Nogai, Tats, Armenians, Kalmyk, Anatolia Turks, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Uyghur, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Nenets, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Ainu, Oroch, Nanai, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Transylvanian Saksons, Japan, Russian Federation