The Mythology and Folklore Database
I50A - Severed legs of an animal helper.
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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
A demon sequentially tears off the legs of an animal that helps the hero (usually the horse on which the hero rides).Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
I50 has 4 other sub-motifsI50. Describes or depicts a hoofed animal with six or more legs. I50a. A demon sequentially tears off the legs of an animal that helps the hero (usually the horse on which the hero rides). i50a1. The character sequentially tears off the dog's legs, but the dog continues to do what it considers necessary. I50b. Describes or depicts a predatory animal with six or more legs. I50c. Describes a hoofed animal with a second set of legs on its back that runs either normally or upside down. This makes it tireless. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I50's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I87A | 99.70% | A character of gigantic size turns out to be small in comparison with a character of even greater size, or the same character turns out to be small in some episodes and gigantic in others. |
| K139 | 99.70% | A servant is so struck by the beauty of a girl (rarely: a boy) that he lets the meat or bread intended for his master burn. |
| B46A | 99.07% | One of the stars of the Pleiades was separated from the others (usually stolen by the stars of the Big Dipper and identified with Alcor). |
| K91 | 98.71% | Dogs, the hero's horse, or the hero himself fight the enemy in the underworld. Those watching from a distance judge the course of the battle by the colour of the water or foam rising to the surface, the colour of the first animal to emerge, etc. |
| L125 | 98.52% | After meeting a beautiful woman, a man finds her in a situation where her inhuman nature is revealed. After that, the marriage falls apart. |
| N4 | 98.44% | Fused ribs are a sign of heroic strength. {The motive was highlighted and the material was collected by Kostyantin Rahno}. |
| K40 | 98.32% | Two (rarely more) characters consider themselves doomed to death, but the one whose death will come later rejoices, while the one whose death will come earlier grieves. Cf. motif N30. |
| L15E | 98.29% | The hero's life is in a certain object, usually his weapon. An enemy steals or discards this object, the hero weakens or dies, his friends or brothers return the object, and the hero comes back to life. {In ATU, this is motif 302B; at least some of the references cited by Uther do not contain the motif in our formulation (not found in Japan or Burma); original publications are required}. |
| K38C | 98.16% | After the hero helps the bird (usually by doing good to its chicks), it takes him to the place he desires, or instructs its chicks to do so. (This does not involve movement between levels of the universe; in the Sumerian version, the bird gives the hero the ability to move with lightning speed and directs him to his goal). |
| L81A2 | 98.04% | While the men are away, a demonic character comes to a girl or woman to drink her blood or otherwise torment her. The men notice that the girl is wasting away, but at first they do not know the reason. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 26 traditions: Tuareg, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, 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), Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Ingush, Nogai, Georgians, Anatolia Turks, 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), Turkmen, Bashkirs, Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir