The Mythology and Folklore Database
H40 - The dog guards the man.




108 Myths, Legends and Folktales
107 Unique Narratives for Motif H40
36 Cultures & Traditions where H40 is told
202 Mythemes Indexed
1 Sub-Motifs of Motif H40


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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

The dog guards and protects (successfully or unsuccessfully) a human figure that has not been completely finished by the creator, or the entrance to paradise.

Berezkin category: Paradise Lost

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


H40 has 1 other sub-motifs


H40.  The dog guards and protects (successfully or unsuccessfully) a human figure that has not been completely finished by the creator, or the entrance to paradise.
H40A.  At the moment of attack by a dangerous creature, a randomly thrown substance or object turns into a dog, which drives away the attacker.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
I5098.71%Describes or depicts a hoofed animal with six or more legs.
H27A96.84%When creating the earth, a negative character asks a positive character for as much earth as is necessary to prop up a staff, stake.
K52C96.08%Demonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion and that those present also see animals (waterfowl, fish or marine mammals).
H27A195.62%Reptiles and insects crawl out of holes in the ground, bringing disease.
H4295.04%Having created human bodies or conceived creation, the creator or his representative leaves for a time. Another character, out of malice or incompetence, spoils or tries to spoil the results of the work, creating something that the creator would have done better. Most often, this leads to humans being mortal or susceptible to disease. See motif H40.
L9394.23%A demon, a man-eater, chops down a tree or a rock on top of which the hero is hiding. While he is resting, the animal throws his axe into the water, carries it away or damages it. See motif L92.
M39A93.76%fool lives with his brother (and mother), is sent on business, does ridiculous things (all or part of the above): releases animals from the trap, kills (trapped) mother ; cuts off the pet's legs or skins; takes the fontanel on the baby's skull for a boil and squeezes it out; tears a large piece of cloth and ties the pieces to swaying reeds; hearing the murmur of water, throws food into the water; puts the plague in the water; wants to salt the water and pours all the salt into the river. (There are other common episodes as well).
J26A93.59%Among children of a woman or two women living together, there is a boy and a puppy, or a puppy was placed with a woman, and her son was thrown out. The puppy lives with the woman and helps her.
C2893.48%A demonic character takes possession of a valuable item without which another character (and people) will perish. The demon is tricked into returning the valuable item.
I8593.45%Polar Star – stake, nail, hitching post, etc.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 36 traditions: Algeria Arabs, Shilluk, Anuak, Northern Halmahera Papuans: Galela, Loda, Pagu, Modole, Tabaru (Tobaru), Tobelo, Tidore, Ternate, Northern Munda of Kharwar branch: Birhor, Ho, Mundari, Kol, Asur (including Agaria, Kol, Birjhia), Bhumij, Khasi, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Svans, Armenians, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Chuvash, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Forest Nenets, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Khakas, Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Southern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Evens (Lamuts), Oroch, Negidal, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chulym Turks


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