The Mythology and Folklore Database
H7F - Death asks who is there, ATU 332C*(1).
Please log on to view the narratives.
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
God gives instructions that certain categories of people must die and suffer. The character who receives the instructions, caring for the people, passes on other orders to the executors.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
H7 has 16 other sub-motifsH7. Death (as well as illness and old age) is a special character, distinct from the lord of the underworld. It takes away a person's soul or otherwise causes their death. H7a. Having received knowledge from Death (rarely: Happiness or a certain spirit) about whether the sick person will be healed or not, whether she is going to take his soul, the person will know whether he will recover. U.nyak praises him for his impartiality; U.t himself; the poor man scolds the doctor, becomes rich. Usually he sees where exactly Death (spirit, etc.) is near the bed, whether it is going to take his soul, whether the person will recover. U. praises him for his impartiality; U. himself; the poor man scolds the sick man, and on this basis knows what will happen to him. H7b. A person asks Death (a spirit) to climb a tree or sit on a bench, to which they stick and can only be freed with his permission. H7b1. Having received a magic bag, into which any creature can be forced against its will at the owner's discretion, a person gains power over Death or devils. H7b2. A man named Poverty makes Death swear that it will never come to him. Therefore, poverty is inevitable in the world. H7c. Death promises to take a man after he finishes his prayer or song (formerly ATU 1199B). The man breaks off his prayer (song) in the middle, and Death cannot take him. H7c1. The trickster first deceives Death (the devil), and then, also by deception, enters paradise. H7d. A man calls Death, and when it comes, asks it to help him lift a bundle of firewood or pull a cart with firewood. H7e. In the past, people knew when they would die, so before their death they stopped doing their work or performed their duties half-heartedly. H7f. God gives instructions that certain categories of people must die and suffer. The character who receives the instructions, caring for the people, passes on other orders to the executors. H7f1. Death devours the dead and thus satisfies its hunger. H7f2. The character embodying death had a body visible to humans. Then death became invisible. H7g. A person sees many burning candles or lamps. When one of them burns out, someone dies. H7g1. A man (usually looking for a godfather for his newborn son) rejects God (the saints) and the devil, but praises Death: it treats everyone without prejudice (or is richer than everyone else). h7g2. Knowing that Death is approaching, a person hopes that it will seek him on land, so he settles on the surface of the water or under the water. But Death finds him. H7h. Despite the warning, man goes to where Death is at that moment. Death enters his body or follows him, and since then, people have been mortal. H7i. Old Age, Illness, or Hunger are special characters, but Death is not mentioned. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H7's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I98B | 99.26% | The Pleiades – ducks, nest or wild duck egg. |
| B110 | 99.24% | A character who is dragged along the ground or who runs, falls apart or hits the ground with different parts of his body. This determines the characteristics of the landscape and flora. |
| K73B6 | 99.24% | The wife of a powerful character gives birth to wonderful children. Her jealous sisters conspire to make her husband order her to be disposed of (usually by locking her and the child in a barrel and throwing it into the water). The boy immediately grows up and rescues his mother and himself. He himself (in the form of a bird, animal, insect, or flying in on a miraculous object) or his puppy brother enters his father's lair and, eavesdropping on the conversation, learns of the existence of miraculous objects. Upon returning, he obtains them or already possesses them and demonstrates them to his father when they meet (the objects may include the young man's brothers). |
| C31A | 99.15% | The master (mistress) of the underworld receives (should receive) heavenly lights or fire. Due to a trick or accident, they are not given to him or are returned. |
| K62A | 98.64% | A mouse (rat, mole, etc.) and a bird quarrel after failing to divide their winter supplies. (This episode usually serves as the beginning of a story about a war between birds and animals). |
| E36 | 98.13% | The human body was or could have been covered with a protective layer (bone, rarely wool), but it has only been preserved on the nails (head). |
| K25A2 | 97.96% | An anthropomorphic character flies away or tries to fly away, attaching feathers shed by birds flying in the sky to his body. |
| B68B | 97.65% | A character who, by his appearance, behaviour or unexpected appearance, tried to frighten God (people) and was turned into an animal (with a different appearance than before) for this. |
| B3C | 97.46% | When the creator, having created the land, lies down to rest, the antagonist tries to drown him, dragging him to the edge of the earth. As a result, the earth expands, and the antagonist is unable to reach its edge. |
| B52B | 97.14% | The character regurgitates the earth hidden (usually in his mouth), thereby creating mountains, swamps, and other inconveniences. See motif B52. |
See more...
Please log on to view the narratives.
Map of Motif Dispersal
Click here for a clustered map
Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom
This motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Latvians, Chuvash, Khakas, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Lutsi (Ludza), Russian Federation