The Mythology and Folklore Database
F9F2 - The cobra's hood in the wife's handbag.
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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
A woman places a piece of flesh from her slain snake lover in her handbag and poses a corresponding riddle. If her husband fails to guess the answer, she has the right to kill him. The husband accidentally learns the secret and kills his wife.Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
F9 has 12 other sub-motifsF9. For various reasons, sexual intercourse with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man, or so it seems to him: Teeth, blades or sharp stones in the vagina or on the inside of the thighs; the vagina is a toothy mouth. See motif F9A. F9a. There are teeth, blades or sharp stones in a woman's vagina or on the inside of her thighs; the vagina is a toothy mouth. (Only texts with a focus on authenticity are taken into account, not anecdotes). F9a1. A girl or young woman says (pretends) that she has a predatory mouth in her vagina. {Unlike variants characteristic of the circum-Pacific region, the corresponding texts do not suggest that the female womb is actually dangerous}. F9b. A biting piranha in a woman's genitals. F9c. 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. F9d. Small stinging creatures dangerous to the partner are found in the genitals of women or men. F9e. Small mammals with sharp teeth are found in a woman's vagina. F9e1. A woman's womb is dangerous because it contains a toothy or stinging animal (not just its mouth) or many such creatures. F9f. Without the woman's knowledge, the demon regularly kills her suitors on their wedding night. F9f1. Inside the woman there is a snake (snakes, scorpions, just poison) that comes out of her mouth. {Motifs F9f1 and K100C are almost identical, but the first can be included in the cosmological-etiological category and is associated with the idea of a dangerous woman, while the second belongs to the adventure category}. F9f2. A woman places a piece of flesh from her slain snake lover in her handbag and poses a corresponding riddle. If her husband fails to guess the answer, she has the right to kill him. The husband accidentally learns the secret and kills his wife. F9g. A powerful woman defeats and kills her suitors. The hero or his assistant defeats her (usually on their wedding night, subduing her with rods or a whip). The hero marries the heroine. F9g1. On her wedding night, the bride-heroine throws herself on her groom to crush him. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of F9's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| A8 | 100.00% | The sun, moon and stars – three brothers or three sisters. |
| B119 | 100.00% | A woman of non-human nature agrees to live with a man, but leaves him upon learning of his real or imagined infidelity. |
| B121 | 100.00% | A small bird carries pebbles and sticks, trying to fill the sea. |
| B49A | 100.00% | Powerful animals could have many cubs, but now they give birth to only one every few years. |
| B6A | 100.00% | The first woman gives birth to several eggs. One or two of them remain unchanged for a long time and are thrown into the river, believing them to be spoiled. However, it is precisely from these eggs that characters of high status emerge (or should have emerged). |
| B77B2 | 100.00% | The sky moved away and/or the connection between people and the deity ceased after the sky or the heavenly deity was touched or struck with a broom. |
| B93A | 100.00% | Once a year, birds form a bridge across the heavenly river with their bodies. Usually, the feathers on their heads are worn away as a result. |
| C39 | 100.00% | When the sky split or partially collapsed, it was repaired. |
| C39A | 100.00% | A hole in the sky or a crack in the ground was plugged with a piece of ice, which is why it is cold in the north (north-west, north-east). |
| C40 | 100.00% | At first, stones fell from the sky and crushed people. |
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This motif has been recorded in 3 traditions: Burmese, Intha, Nepali; Tharu, Sinhalese; Vedda