The Mythology and Folklore Database
I78 - Square Earth.
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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 earth is thought of as rectangular (usually square).Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| C5A | 93.15% | A bird, various birds, or people who then turn into birds are sent to explore the earth (whether it exists, whether it has dried up, whether there are any survivors, why smoke is rising from the earth, etc.) or with the task of bringing back a piece of solid substance to create dry land. |
| I3 | 92.84% | Lightning (and thunder) is produced by an object (sword, arrow, whip, mirror, etc.) in the hands of a character; lightning is an object. |
| E9D | 92.80% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dog or puppy (wolf cub). |
| I8E1 | 92.29% | The sky or earth is supported by four objects or beings located at the four cardinal points (either four groups of beings, or four at the corners and a fifth in the centre). Th A841. See motifs 8A, 8D. |
| L18 | 91.99% | A bird with two or more heads in descriptions or images. |
| D1B | 91.42% | The man is the master or embodiment of fire (alone or alongside the woman-fire). |
| H28 | 90.81% | A creature that has been killed and destroyed (often burned) (usually a cannibal, a ferocious animal, or a powerful shaman) turns into stinging insects or other harmful, unpleasant, or dangerous creatures. |
| B2E | 90.76% | The Earth or the world as a whole is a male character (alone or alongside a female character). |
| K16 | 90.46% | Taking the form of a bird, bat, insect, small animal, or fish, the man enters the young woman's home (her father's house). |
| J4 | 89.74% | The heroes avenge the death (enslavement) of their father, uncle, grandfather, or mother and father, or in general their descendants, with the loss of men being the most painful. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 35 traditions: Murle, Me'en (Bodi), Didinga, Yao, Makua, Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Nogai, 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), Mordvins, Chuvash, Mongols (Khalkha), Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Chukchi, Tlingit, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Yuki (Yuki proper, Coastal Yuki, Huchnob), Pomo, Navajo, Pame, Jonaz (Chichimeca-Jonaz), Mazahua, Otomi, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Akuriyo (incl Turaekare), Kandoshi (Murato, Maina); Iquito, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Cashibo, Chorote, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Kayapa, China