The Mythology and Folklore Database
H1E - The first to die opens the way for the rest.
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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 certain character is the first to enter the world of the dead, after which all people follow the same path; he paves the way to the world of the dead; the first to die becomes the master or guardian of the afterlife.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
H1 has 6 other sub-motifsH1a. The character decides that people should die. His or her child, mother, or some other being whose life is dear to him or her dies. Now the decision-maker agrees to make people immortal, but it is impossible to change the decision that has been made. H1b. The character performs actions that lead to death, because he is indifferent to or desires the death of the child or woman loved by another character. See motif H1A. H1bb. One character refuses to resurrect another's beloved dog, and this conflict is linked to the loss of the ability to resurrect people. H1c. People cease to be reborn (or no longer come to the living) after the deceased is buried in the ground for the first time or someone tramples the earth on a fresh grave, preventing the deceased from rising from the grave. H1d. The deceased returns, but people send him back, dissatisfied with his appearance, refusing to accept him or burying him again. From then on, death is final. H1e. A certain character is the first to enter the world of the dead, after which all people follow the same path; he paves the way to the world of the dead; the first to die becomes the master or guardian of the afterlife. H1f. People learn how to treat the dead by observing the behaviour of crows. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H1's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I62 | 95.67% | The Milky Way is a heavenly river, a body of water, a chain of creatures floating in the water. |
| F18D | 92.89% | Female genitals were enormous in size. |
| I7 | 92.22% | The reptile produces rain and thunderstorms. |
| H24G | 91.92% | A woman returned from the other world or obtained there disappears when a man opens the vessel in which she is kept prematurely. |
| F47 | 90.45% | Pieces of a creature cut into many parts or a lump of living flesh are scattered or dispersed. After that, people emerge from them. Cf. motifs E38A and K98. |
| D1B | 90.27% | The man is the master or embodiment of fire (alone or alongside the woman-fire). |
| F20A | 89.37% | At first, people mated as dogs do now, but then it became as it is now. |
| K27N3B | 89.19% | The character who gives the hero or heroine difficult tasks or subjects them to trials lives in the sky, but is not associated with the sun, moon, thunder or wind. See motif K27. |
| D13D | 89.05% | One character tries to make another character, who is hiding somewhere in the house, laugh in order to find them. |
| D2A | 88.31% | A woman gives birth to a son who is the embodiment of fire or the sun and dies from burns. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Aleuts, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Omaha, Ponca, Plains Ojibwa, Yana, Paipai, Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Cubeo, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Moseten, Chimane, Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa