The Mythology and Folklore Database
I121 - Paired constellations.
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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
Constellations (usually Ursa Major and Ursa Minor) are considered as two similar, paired objects. (For Africa, Eurasia and Alaska – paired names; for most of America – semantic association, but the names are not paired).Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M90 | 98.49% | Someone asks a riddle about the material from which a particular item is made or originated. It is almost impossible to guess, but the character learns the secret, forcing the hero or heroine to fulfill the conditions set. (Usually requires a girl to marry him). |
| M109 | 98.45% | A zoomorphic character sits down, lowering his tail (penis) so that something edible will stick to it, but as a result he is left without a tail (penis) or dies. Cf. motifs M109A, M109C. |
| M57A1 | 98.15% | When a beautiful woman walks on the ground, jewels appear under her feet, flowers bloom, etc. |
| I90 | 98.06% | The character goes towards their goal, following a rolling ball of thread (less often an apple or a ball). |
| H54 | 98.00% | In order for a character's eyes to be (wide) open, their eyelids (eyelashes, eyebrows) must be raised, propped up, spread apart (rarely: cut off). |
| K81 | 97.98% | For a minor offence or on false charges, a young woman is maimed and expelled from her home (rarely: she is killed or maims herself). The cripple miraculously recovers (the dead woman is resurrected). |
| K38F6 | 97.93% | A creature consisting of fire is mentioned. |
| M173A | 97.86% | A character throws one of a pair of objects onto the path of another. The traveller passes by, but when the deceiver throws the second object, he leaves his belongings and returns for the first. At this time, the deceiver steals the belongings. |
| M81E1 | 97.84% | A young man lives with an old man whose eyes or eyes were carried away by a giant. The young man goes to the giant, kills him, brings his eyes, the old man sees the light. |
| M90A1 | 97.83% | It is required to sew clothes from the skin of lice (fleas) or guess the origin of a large animal, a large skin, the contents of the box; the animal (skin) arose from lice (fleas), in the box - louse. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 70 traditions: Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Murle, Me'en (Bodi), Didinga, Geez, Tigrai, Tigre, Duala (Douala), Basa (Basaá), Kwiri (Kweli), Isubu, Tuareg, Viet, Muong, Wales, England, British, Bretons, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, France, Dutch, Flemish, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Estonians, Finns, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Tajik, Persians, Lezgians, Archin, Kürin; Khinalug, Armenians, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Chuvash, Udmurt, Khakas, Nenets, Kets, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Oroch, Uilta (Orok), Nanai, Olcha (Ulch), Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Micmac, Western Woods Cree, Winnebago, Pawnee, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Urums, Rumei, Icelanders, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Russian Federation