The Mythology and Folklore Database
K21A - Woman returns from heaven.




29 Myths, Legends and Folktales
29 Unique Narratives for Motif K21A
14 Cultures & Traditions where K21A is told
82 Mythemes Indexed
1 Sub-Motifs of Motif K21A


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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

A celestial being marries an earthly woman. She longs to return to earth and secretly descends from her husband.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures


K21 has 1 other sub-motifs


K21.  A girl ends up in the sky and gets married there.
K21a.  A celestial being marries an earthly woman. She longs to return to earth and secretly descends from her husband.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
D4M99.01%The thief comes to the owners of fire or light. They feast or dance. He joins them and steals their valuables when the moment is right. See motif D4A.
L1B198.95%A woman comes into conflict with her brothers and turns into a dangerous demon.
F6498.76%The character is presented as another person in order to mate with a close relative in the descending or (less commonly) ascending line.
A32B198.63%A woman sits (jumps) on the face (back) of the Moon Man and is now visible in the silhouette of the moon spots.
F18C98.58%The character sees a girl on the other side of the river and copulates with her in an unusual way (sends his penis across the river; turns it into a bridge for the girl to cross the river; into a dam that blocks the river in front of her; dives, swimming up to the girl underwater; sends an object into the girl's vagina). See motif F18B.
M5998.40%A small animal asks a large one to transport it across the river; consistently rejects all the seats on the carrier's body that he offers; climbs to where the carrier is You can kill when the crossing is over.
L33F98.21%A rock or boulder pursues a character. The character calls for help, and the nightjar splits the rock into pieces.
F28C98.17%A woman masturbates with the penis of a large animal that one of the men killed while hunting.
I10598.05%One of the constellations is associated with the hand (with five marked fingers).
J3497.83%After killing a dangerous enemy, the heroes make a scarecrow out of him to frighten the household.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 14 traditions: Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Arapaho, Pawnee, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Twana (Skokomish), Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Washo, Lacandon


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