Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J5 — Brothers as victims.
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 role of the victim is played by two or more brothers (friends). See motif J4.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I105 | 97.68% | One of the constellations is associated with the hand (with five marked fingers). |
| J39 | 97.47% | The antagonist makes the woman his slave. Other characters secretly come to her and kill a small animal or bird for her. The antagonist suspects that the woman could not have caught the game herself, but she insists that she did. |
| L97 | 97.46% | Seeing a character who is unable to move (nailed to the ground, his lower body rooted to the ground, petrified, completely absent), the hero himself manages to avoid a similar fate. |
| F28C | 97.25% | A woman masturbates with the penis of a large animal that one of the men killed while hunting. |
| I93 | 97.15% | The Milky Way – the backbone, support, pillar of the sky or world. |
| B44D | 97.10% | Night and day alternate because the slain beast was black and white, spotted. |
| I37E | 97.10% | Tree mushrooms cry out like people. |
| K27V | 97.10% | The character must hit the bird with an arrow or a stone. (Cf. motif K27M, where it is not the accuracy of the archer that is important, but the unusual appearance of the creature that needs to be caught). |
| L1C | 97.10% | Those fleeing from the monstrous bear ascend to the sky and turn into stars. |
| M29D | 97.10% | See the motives in square brackets. |
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 J5, ‘Brothers as victims.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (31 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/J5 (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
31 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 31 traditions: Society Islands: Tahiti, Borabora, Raiatea, Tuamotu, incl Pukapuka (different from Pukapuka in Cook Islands), Vahitahi, Anaa, Hao, Fangatau, Santali, Turi, Mahli, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Svans, Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz, Kalmyk, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Nenets, Chukchi, Haida, Tsimshian, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Winnebago, Teton (incl Oglala), Iowa, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Shuswap, Quinault, Coos, Flathead, Yokuts, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Serrano, Western Apache (White Mountain, San Carlos), Diegueño: Ipai, Tipai, Kamia (Kumeai), Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Papago, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tariana
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jonathan Fielder-White.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.