The Mythology and Folklore Database
I1 - Thunderbirds, A284.2.
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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
Creatures that cause or embody rain and/or thunderstorms are birds or winged anthropomorphic characters. {Traditions in which birds are associated with thunderstorms and rain, but Thunder itself is not a bird, are marked with an asterisk (*).Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M42 | 95.41% | The character takes his eyes out of his orbits and loses them. He usually regains his eyes later, makes new ones, takes away from another character, etc. See the M41 motif. |
| L61 | 94.54% | The character eats himself, guts himself, or kills himself in order to be eaten. |
| L15A | 93.56% | The character's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs. |
| F74 | 93.21% | Upon seeing a dangerous character, a man or woman undresses and pretends to be dead (or the character undresses the woman). Examining and sniffing the supposed corpse, the character finds what he takes to be a wound or signs of decay and leaves. |
| H18 | 92.94% | Hunted animals were concentrated in one place. A certain character creates them there or allows them to scatter. |
| F58 | 92.89% | The character spends the night with a group of women, concealing his nature and/or intentions. In the end, he is either identified and punished, or he slips away to continue his mischief. |
| B51 | 92.69% | Thanks to a deliberate lie, Thunder did not learn from the bloodsucking insect that it had drunk human blood. |
| J17 | 92.38% | Instead of lice in the character's hair, there are other creatures, or he pretends that such creatures live in his hair. |
| K19B | 92.16% | The star man takes an earthly woman as his wife. |
| J44 | 91.96% | The hero lures the enemy onto a rickety bridge. The enemy falls into the water, into the abyss (see motif J46). See motif J52. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 122 traditions: Sumer, Acoli (Acholi), Lur (Alur, Luri), Lango, Kalenjin; including Sabaot, Nandi (Nande), Arusha, Kipsigis, Pokot (Suk), Keiyo (Elgeiyo), Marakwet, Sebeei, Yao, Makua, Shone (Shona, =Mashona, =Karanga), Makoni (Shoni dialect), Remba (=Hungwe, Wahungwe); Zezuru, Rozwi, Ndau (Vandau), Tonga, Malawi (incl Nyanja, Banyanja, Manganja), Tumbuka (incl Henga), Nsenga, Matengo, (Ba)Wenda, Ganda, (Ba)Nyoro, Nyankole, Masaba (Gisu), Luia (=Luyia, Haya, Luhya, Bantu Kawirondo; incl. Vugusu, Maragoli), Congo (Koongo, Bacongo; incl Vili, Fioti, (Ma)Yombe, MuKunyi), Ndombo, Luango (Loango), Zombo (Sambo), Laadi (Laari), (Ba)Fioti, Woyo (Kiwoyo), Ronga, Zulu, Swazi, Tswana (Chwana), Suto (Soto; incl Pedi, Mbire), Bushmen (all groups), Queensland: Mungkan (Wikmunkan), Wiknatara, Bloomfield River, Cape Bedford, Cape Grafton, Kokowara (Koko-Warra), Koko-yalunyu (Kokokulunggur), Bunya Bunya, Waka-Waka (Wakawaka), Kabikabi, Chepara, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Batak (Toba, Dairi), Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Li , Bulgarians, Balkarians, Finns, 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), Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Ingush, Laks, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Kurds, Turkmen, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Forest Nenets, Nganasans, Kets, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Evens (Lamuts), Ainu, Udeghe, Nivkh, Chukchi, Aleuts, Chipewyan, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Tutchone, Tagish, Tsetsaut, Tanana, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Beaver, North Alaskan Inupiat, Copper, Eyak, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Nootka (Nu-chah-nulth), Makah, Lenape (Delaware), Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Micmac, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Naskapi, Menominee, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Winnebago, Blackfoot, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Shawnee, Arapaho, Teton (incl Oglala), Mandan, Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Arikara, Pawnee, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Kiowa, Comanche, Gros Ventre, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Assiniboine, Crow, Hidatsa, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Comox, Pentlatch, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Twana (Skokomish), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Quileute, Chemakum (Hoh), Quinault, Tillamook, Flathead, Lower Chinook (Chinook proper), Klamath, Modoc, Choctaw, Chicasaw, Yuki (Yuki proper, Coastal Yuki, Huchnob), Pomo, Sierra Miwok, Achomavi, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Navajo, Hopi, Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Tequistlatec, Sanema, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Wanana, Tucano proper, Pira-Tapuya, Arapaso, Aimara, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Bororo, Cariri, Sanapana, Lengua (incl Angaite), Ayoreo, Chamacoco (Ishir), Chorote, Caduveo, Mbaya, Chechens, Kayapa, Yellowknife