The Mythology and Folklore Database
K128B - The Hare Shepherd, ATU 570.
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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 ruler will give his daughter to the one who can herd (gather, train) hares (squirrels, sheep, poultry, partridges) without loss. A poor young man accomplishes the task with the help of a magic device. To have an excuse to refuse, the ruler's family members try to buy one hare (a magic pipe, etc.) so that the suitor cannot fulfil his promise, but as a result they find themselves in a humiliating position.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K12 has 2 other sub-motifsK12. The hero returns the woman whom his enemy or rival tried to take away from him. K12a. An unrecognised hero arrives at a place where his bride or wife is to be given to another man or turned into a servant. Contrary to expectations, he manages to draw a tight bow (raise a spear), with which he kills his rivals. K12b. The hero enters a world beyond the human world and marries there. His wife allows him to visit his former world, but on certain conditions. The hero breaks these conditions, which leads to (irreparable) misfortune. Cf. motif F94 (the hero betrays his fairy wife in her world); K25a6 (the hero visits his world together with his fairy wife). Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K12's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M203 | 99.97% | A supernatural being conveys a message to an unknown recipient through a passer-by. By fulfilling the request, the person provokes an unexpected reaction from another supernatural being (usually living in his house). Most of the material was collected by K.Yu. Rakhno. |
| M39G1 | 99.96% | fool does not pull pants or boots over his feet, but jumps in them from above. |
| N22 | 99.95% | fairy-tale text ends with a formula that says that if the characters are not dead, they are still alive. {Motive at work, more data}. |
| M109A1 | 99.95% | A zoomorphic character smears his head with dough (sour milk, butter, etc.) to make it look as if his brains are spilling out from the beatings. |
| K27F2 | 99.95% | A girl demands that her fiancé get her the same pair of shoes (or other items) as hers. These items either exist in a single copy, or it is not known what they look like. Having become invisible, the hero either steals the items (and the owner has to make new ones herself), or finds out what they look like. |
| N16 | 99.95% | fairy-tale text ends with a formula stating that the narrator had a horse and/or harness made of wax, ice, linen, vegetables, etc. In most cases, the narrator loses them (they melt, they are taken away, eaten, etc.). |
| N35 | 99.95% | Somewhere milk rivers flow with banks made of jelly (porridge) - a sign of abundance (impossible in reality). Cf. H16B motive. |
| K56A2B | 99.94% | A supernatural character asks a girl to redeem (feed) his (her) children. These are snakes, beetles or wild animals. The girl does everything she is asked and is rewarded. |
| K119D | 99.94% | A cat helps a poor young man marry a princess (a girl marry a prince). |
| H33A | 99.94% | God wanted to throw a newborn baby (over a fence, house, etc.) so that it would immediately stand up and start walking, but the woman was frightened and did not allow it. Therefore, children do not walk from birth. See motif H33. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 53 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Sicily, Sicilians, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Dutch, Flemish, 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, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Western Sami, Norwegians, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Persians, Ossetians, Georgians, Anatolia Turks, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Khakas, Galicians, Icelanders, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Frisians, Bosnians, Russian Federation