The Mythology and Folklore Database
I85 - The Polar Star – a stake or a nail.
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
Polar Star – stake, nail, hitching post, etc.Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations
I85 has 5 other sub-motifsI85. Polar Star – stake, nail, hitching post, etc. I85a. Animals walk around the North Star, or the movement of the stars is compared to the movement of animals around a pole. See motif I85. I85a1. The North Star – a hole leading to the upper world. I85b. The North Star – one person. I85c. The character goes up to the sky and finds vessels containing various (two or more) types of precipitation, weather phenomena, seasons and/or celestial bodies. I85c1. In the sky there is a vessel, a box or an indescribable container for storing rain (rain clouds). Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I85's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M57D1 | 98.11% | bird consistently gives a person magical objects (or gives one, with which he receives the rest) or consistently fulfills his wishes. |
| I52 | 97.44% | The world rests on a fish or fish-like creature, or the earth itself is such a creature or originated from a fish. See motif I8B. |
| M78G | 97.30% | When the inhabitants of the house fall asleep, a joker (usually a tiny boy) ties them together in pairs so that when they wake up, they quarrel. |
| M98 | 96.75% | The character counts the number of members in two huge and alternative sets (dead and alive, men and women, etc.). Usually numbers are distributed equally, and one term (or some) is endowed with the properties of both. By referring it to one of the sets, the character proves a thesis. |
| I128 | 96.51% | The Big Dipper – a ladle, a scoop. |
| N4 | 96.26% | Fused ribs are a sign of heroic strength. {The motive was highlighted and the material was collected by Kostyantin Rahno}. |
| I94 | 96.23% | The Pleiades are something holey. |
| K38 | 96.12% | For doing good to chicks (rarely: young of non-ornithomorphic flying creatures), their mother or father does a favour for the person. |
| M99 | 95.92% | The character is going to abuse all birds or (less commonly) animals, but after hearing wise advice, he abandons his intention. |
| L93A | 95.87% | The fox, jackal or coyote, resorting to cunning, helps the hero, heroine or people in general, saving them. |
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 43 traditions: Algeria Arabs, Tuareg, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Estonians, Finns, Western Sami, Byelarusians, Belarusians, 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), Uzbek, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Nogai, Kalmyk, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Gagauz, Kara Kalpak, Uyghur, 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, Chuvash, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Forest Nenets, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Darkhad, Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Nganasans, Nanai, Manchu, Chukchi, Aleuts, Urums, Rumei, Khamnigans, Egypt, China