The Mythology and Folklore Database
H35 - Decaying teeth.
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Motif Summary - Motifs with Simlar Dispersals - Map of Myth Distribution - List of Traditions - Myths |
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
Human teeth are made of fragile material. Usually, the motif explains the aetiology of toothache.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| E26 | 99.29% | People, or only women, go underwater and turn into fish. Men catch them with fishing gear. Those who are caught become human (women) again. (Narratives about the transformation of only one caught fish into the hero's wife are not included; see motif F7). |
| F29 | 99.10% | A girl (woman) sits on the ground and copulates with a snake, worm or eel that crawls out of the ground towards her. This usually happens when she is busy with housework (cooking, weaving, etc.). |
| B22A | 99.06% | Boys climb a tree to eat fruit and refuse to throw the fruit down to the tapir, who tries to kill the boys. |
| E9K | 99.06% | The husband or wife is the embodiment of honey or a human bee. |
| F84 | 99.06% | A guest or younger brother has sexual intercourse with the wife of the host or older brother. Wanting to demonstrate long abstinence, the character sprinkles ash on the head of his penis or smears it with fruit juice. |
| L5D | 99.05% | The rolling head suffers from thirst. See motif L5. |
| M29W | 98.98% | As a result of their stupidity or antisocial behavior, a jaguar (puma, ocelot) dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. The character is named if it is a puma or ocelot; otherwise, a jaguar. |
| J15B | 98.94% | While travelling, a woman finds herself in the house of a frog or toad. See motif J15. |
| F32 | 98.91% | Small children or a single infant, who temporarily transform into adult men and/or emerge from their mother's womb, or a snake living in a woman's womb, climb a tree and help her gather fruit, bark, tree mushrooms, etc.; or a father discovers his daughter's connection with a snake when he climbs a tree to gather fruit for her. |
| I83 | 98.86% | Birds (especially vultures and eagles) lived or live in the sky, usually on one of several tiers of the upper world. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 19 traditions: Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, Maria, Muria, and other South-Central Dravidians: Binjhwar, Bacop, Bhattra, Bom, Jhoria (=Jhodia), Gadaba (in Koraput, neighbors of Munda-speaking Gadaba), Duruwa (Parji), Mehtar; Pardhan, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Yana, Navajo, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Lacandon, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kofan, Yagua, Maue (Mawe), Pasco, Junin, Huancavelica departments: Central Peru, Sierra (Kechua-speaking communities in Spanish sources XVI-XVII centuries), Machiguenga, Cashibo, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Suruí, Gaviâo, Zoro, Arua, Cinta Larga, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Papua-New Guinea Southern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Gimi, Kiwai, Bina, Mawabula, Mawatta, Keraki, Gambadi (incl. Kwavaru), Purari River delta, Masingara, Wiram (=Suki), Ngain, Daga, Elema