The Mythology and Folklore Database
I59B2 - The Milky Way – St. James' Way.




20 Myths, Legends and Folktales
19 Unique Narratives for Motif I59B2
12 Cultures & Traditions where I59B2 is told
12 Mythemes Indexed
5 Sub-Motifs of Motif I59B2


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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

The Milky Way – St. James' Way.

Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations


I59 has 5 other sub-motifs


I59.  The Milky Way is associated with agriculture and scattered objects – straw, chaff, less commonly flour, hay, peas.
I59a.  Astral objects or lunar spots are associated with stories about the theft of various items, the value of which is insignificant (straw, firewood, cabbage, etc.).
I59b1.  The Milky Way – the road to a distant city, usually with religious significance (Rome, Jerusalem, etc.).
I59b2.  The Milky Way – St. James' Way.
I59b3.  The Milky Way – the road of salt traders, "Chumak Way".
I59b4.  The Milky Way is associated with snow, hoarfrost, and cold.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
I37D1100.00%St. Peter secretly eats bread, and when Christ asks him what he is doing, he chokes, spits out the crumbs, and they turn into mushrooms.
I80B99.99%Man is allowed to control the weather in his own interests. He sends rain at the right time, but cannot take all factors into account (he usually forgets about the wind). The bread will not grow or will be unpalatable.
B104A99.99%The son was about to eat some meat (chicken). At that moment, his father came in, and the son hid the meat so as not to share it with him. When his father left and the son took out what he had hidden, the meat turned into a toad (snake) and jumped on his face.
K25A4A99.99%A young woman finds herself in the power of a water creature, and when she comes ashore, she is chained. To free the woman, the chain must be broken.
K33A299.99%A brother takes his sister to her fiancé. She cannot hear her brother's words, and the witch distorts them (as if the brother is telling his sister to throw herself into the water, to blind her, etc.). Having got rid of the heroine, the witch replaces her with her own daughter.
M38C399.99%A conceited smith attempts to rejuvenate an old woman (man). His magic helper tries to save the victim but all that he do is to transform the woman into an animal, usually a monkey
H7B299.98%A man named Poverty makes Death swear that it will never come to him. Therefore, poverty is inevitable in the world.
K37B99.98%A man must identify his chosen one blindfolded. He does this by touch, knowing that one of her fingers is damaged or missing.
H24D99.96%An animal character who released the contents (darkness, insects, reptiles) from a vessel is still trying to gather everything back (etiology of the behaviour of a certain species of animal).
M38C299.96%To shove a horse or donkey, Jesus (the saint) cuts off his leg, nails a horseshoe to his hoof, and attaches his leg back. The other character tries to imitate in vain.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 12 traditions: England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Sicily, Sicilians, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, 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, Wallons, Picardie, Galicians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)


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