The Mythology and Folklore Database
I17A - Dwarfs without bodily orifices.




15 Myths, Legends and Folktales
15 Unique Narratives for Motif I17A
8 Cultures & Traditions where I17A is told
52 Mythemes Indexed
1 Sub-Motifs of Motif I17A


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

Creatures without an anal opening or mouth - dwarves.

Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects


I17 has 1 other sub-motifs


I17.  Creatures without mouths, anuses, or genitals, unable to give birth, live underground, in the sky, across the sea, or in certain areas. (Traditions describing women unable to give birth are marked with an asterisk*).
I17a.  Creatures without an anal opening or mouth - dwarves.

 Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I17's motifs?



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
F3693.68%(Adopted) children of a woman or man kill the lover (or spouse of non-human nature) of their father or (adoptive) mother.
D4D93.30%The opossum obtains fire for humans. See motif D4A.
A2492.68%The first ancestors live in twilight. When they first find themselves in the rays of the sun, they (spontaneously or by someone's will) perish, turning into animals, spirits, or stones.
L5892.03%A man refuses to give food to his closest relatives or spouse; as punishment, he or his food changes its nature.
A2391.81%The first ancestors come together to choose who will become the sun, to raise the sun to the sky, to see the sun rise for the first time, and to name the sun correctly. See motif A22.
D4G91.76%Hummingbird steals, finds or spreads fire. See motif D4A.
L2691.41%During the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food.
M12191.41%A louse or other similar creature (flea, tick, firefly) is sent to follow a certain character.
C1491.06%During or on the eve of a global catastrophe (flood, darkness), animals or monsters attack people. (See motif C13A (rebellion of things: animated objects and/or domestic animals threaten people, attack them).)
J3390.88%A boy, a young man, or two children live in the house of an older character. In order to elicit a certain reaction from him, they kill a person or a large animal, stuff the scarecrow with insects, worms, ashes, grass, or inflate it.

 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 8 traditions: Tanana, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Zuni, Paez, Guambia, Pijao; Ilama culture, Yupa (Yukpa), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kayapa


Please log on to view the narratives.