Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I55B — The Sun Deer.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewThe hero chases a deer or elk carrying the sun.
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
I55 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedI55. Stars – holes in the sky; or holes in the canopy, in the roof of a dwelling, appear to be stars.
I55a. Stars – lakes on one of the heavenly tiers.
I55b. The hero chases a deer or elk carrying the sun.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L42C | 99.55% | The character hides from someone stronger, sometimes inside the house, sometimes outside, and the stronger character cannot catch him. |
| N5 | 99.47% | Long trips, hikes, flights, or battles are described using a formula that indicates that characters learn about winter through snow or frost, and summer through warmth, rain, dew or other similar signs. |
| M171B | 99.00% | The character pretends to have brought meat on a shoulder blade and gives it to the hosts to cook. Taking a bare bone without meat out of the pot, he accuses the hosts of stealing the meat. |
| B74 | 98.45% | The eyes of the capercaillie or black grouse turned red from tears. |
| J27B | 97.37% | An infant is thrown into a lake or river and occasionally comes ashore. In addition to his earthly parents, he has a father (and mother) in the underwater world. He does not want to part with them, nor do they want to let him go. |
| M108A | 97.01% | A lonely elderly couple adopts a trickster. He steals from them (and runs away). |
| A32G | 96.95% | On the lunar disc, a character can be seen holding onto a tree or bush and ending up on the moon with them. See motif A32D. |
| M91D | 96.76% | The character deceives others by passing off the dead as alive, directing suspicions of murder to innocent people, etc. When a shaman (less often a shaman) is ready to discover the truth, he succeeds in it kill and avoid being charged with murder. |
| M38D1 | 96.55% | bubble-head, the straw leg, the hair-neck are successively dying, trying to act like ordinary people. |
| B81 | 96.45% | The creator and his opponent consider whether to give the dog the ability to shoot (with a bow or a gun). |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Cite this map
Distribution of the traditions attesting motif I55B, ‘The Sun Deer.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (2 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/I55B (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
2 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 2 traditions: Bashkirs, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks
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