The Mythology and Folklore Database
K154 - Inscription on a skull.
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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
A person finds a skull on which a mysterious and gloomy prophecy is written or which utters it. Then it becomes clear what it means.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K15 has 3 other sub-motifsK15. A woman swears that she has not been with anyone except (her husband and) a dirty beggar. Others do not know that her lover has taken on the appearance of a beggar. K15a. The hero secretly replaces the weapon or magical tool of a powerful character with a worthless fake. Traditions in which the replaced weapon belongs to Grom are highlighted in bold. K15b. By secretly switching the vessels containing living and dead (giving and taking away strength) water (rarely: oil, etc.), from which the combatants drink during a duel, the hero defeats his opponent. K15c. The owner of stone (ice) clothing kills people. By hiding or replacing his clothing, the hero kills him. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K15's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K73B5 | 99.32% | A woman is accused of actions that she could not have committed by her very nature. To refute the accusation, an example of something equally absurd and impossible is given, or it is pointed out that the interlocutor accepts the impossible but does not believe in the possible. |
| L72C | 99.17% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws a mirror behind him, which turns into an obstacle for his pursuer (ice, lake, etc.) or attracts his attention and causes him to lose time. (In the Udmurt version, objects destroy obstacles in the character's path). |
| K154A | 99.03% | By solving a riddle, a boy or young man (rarely a girl) exposes the daughter, wife or assistants of an authoritative character: the daughter or wife has a lover; the assistant is plotting a conspiracy. |
| E9H | 98.67% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dove. |
| M198 | 98.57% | In the house of the khan (judge, king, etc.), three brothers (rarely one person) determine that the food and drink served to them smell of dead flesh, dog, goat, etc., and (or that) the host who receives them is illegitimate or of low birth. After questioning the servants and his mother, the host is convinced that the brothers are right. |
| F9F1 | 98.51% | Inside the woman there is a snake (snakes, scorpions, just poison) that comes out of her mouth. {Motifs F9f1 and K100C are almost identical, but the first can be included in the cosmological-etiological category and is associated with the idea of a dangerous woman, while the second belongs to the adventure category}. |
| K100C | 98.43% | A woman (rarely a young man) does not know that inside her (him) there is something dangerous for her (his) marriage partner (usually a snake), or that on her wedding night she will turn into a snake, or that a snake will crawl in on her wedding night. The hero or his companion eliminates the danger. {Motif K100C is similar to F9f1, but the latter belongs to the cosmological-etiological category and is associated with the idea of a dangerous woman, while K100C is adventurous}. |
| M198A | 98.26% | Brothers (rarely: one person) determine the characteristics of a domestic animal they have not seen, or of the person who stole the animal, based on subtle clues. {In ATU, plots 655 and 655A are combined; in Aarne, Thompson 1961 and in regional indexes, our motif M198A corresponds to plot 655A} (Type 655A only in Aarne, Thompson 1984. In ATU mixed with 655). |
| K96 | 98.18% | Several (more than three) brothers marry or must marry in such a way that their wives are sisters. |
| A35A | 98.16% | Moon spots - mud (manure, clay, ash, dough, dirty rag) thrown in the face of the Moon/Moon as a result of a family or love conflict - often by a brother/sister or mother. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Persians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Karachays, Balkar, Nogai, Tats, Armenians, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Kordofan, Bosnians