The Mythology and Folklore Database
K8D - Jonah: swallowed by an anthropomorphic creature.
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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 character enters the body of an anthropomorphic creature, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K8 has 11 other sub-motifsK8a. The character enters the belly of an aquatic creature or a giant creature whose appearance and habitat are not precisely described. He kills the creature from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. Upon emerging from the belly, he often finds himself bald (K921). Cf. motifs I81B (Charybdis) and L110 (Devourer). K8aa. A huge bird swallows people. The hero kills it, freeing those who have been swallowed, or, if he himself has been swallowed, he manages to get out alive. K8b. A raven finds itself in the belly of a whale; the woman inside asks it not to touch a certain organ of the whale (usually the heart) or a burning lamp. The raven breaks the prohibition, the woman disappears, and the whale dies. K8c. The character enters the belly of an ordinary land animal, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. Cf. motif M118. K8c1. A tiny man is first accidentally swallowed by a large herbivore, then carried off by a wolf that began to eat the carcass of this animal. K8c2. The mouse is swallowed by a large land animal and comes out by cutting it open from the inside. K8c3. One (zoomorphic) character refuses to use any part of another's body except the one he uses to kill him. K8c4. A small animal (bird, mouse, porcupine, fox) or (rarely) a tiny human being allows itself to be swallowed by a large ungulate (elk, deer, bison, tapir) in order to rip open its belly (and eat it). K8c5. A zoomorphic character no larger than a fox allows itself to be swallowed by a bear and kills it by tearing it apart from the inside. K8d. The character enters the body of an anthropomorphic creature, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. K8e. The character penetrates inside the creature through the anus. K8f. The swallowed one discovers a living deer in the belly of the monster. See motif K8A. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K8's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L19A | 90.70% | Creatures (any except ornithomorphs) with an even number (but not more than ten) of heads at one end of the body are described or depicted, except when such creatures are mentioned among others and the series ends with an odd number or a number greater than ten. |
| A4 | 89.06% | The Sun is a woman (the Moon is usually a man, sometimes also a woman, see motif A6; highlighted in bold italics in the list of ethnic groups below). |
| D1B | 87.54% | The man is the master or embodiment of fire (alone or alongside the woman-fire). |
| K25 | 86.83% | A man consciously marries a woman who belongs to the non-human world. |
| K27 | 86.56% | The character receives tasks that are deadly dangerous or can only be accomplished with supernatural abilities or helpers; the hero completes the tasks and/or miraculously survives. The confrontation between the characters unfolds as a game or competition in which the loser loses their life or status. |
| K27N | 86.45% | A young man must complete difficult tasks or win a competition in order to obtain permission to marry. The person giving the tasks is indicated in square brackets. See motif K27. |
| C19 | 86.14% | The missing, hidden, concealed or stolen sun (daylight) reappears. See motif C18 |
| L85 | 86.02% | The character has only half a body (vertically). See also L85C, "Half-chicken". |
| K28 | 85.91% | The uncle on the mother's side or the father of the young hero (or grandfather, if he replaces the father, who is not mentioned) is his enemy and rival, giving him difficult tasks with the aim of destroying him. |
| B2A | 85.81% | The earth is a female character (alone or alongside a male character) and is considered to be female or associated with women. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 47 traditions: Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Kalenjin; including Sabaot, Nandi (Nande), Arusha, Kipsigis, Pokot (Suk), Keiyo (Elgeiyo), Marakwet, Sebeei, Tonga, Herero (Herrero), Tswana (Chwana), Suto (Soto; incl Pedi, Mbire), Bushmen (all groups), Melanesians and Papuans of Bismark Archipelago: New Britain (Paparatava, Lakalai, Kuni, Sulka, Gazelle peninsula), New Ireland, St Matthias Group, Mioko (Melanesians between New Britain and New Ireland), Marshall Islands, incl Ailinglapalap, Arno, Jaluit, Kili, Lae, Maloelap, Majuro, Ratak, Wotho, Ujae, Jaluit (=Jalooj), Namdrik, Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Palaung (De Ang, Deang), Maria, Muria, and other South-Central Dravidians: Binjhwar, Bacop, Bhattra, Bom, Jhoria (=Jhodia), Gadaba (in Koraput, neighbors of Munda-speaking Gadaba), Duruwa (Parji), Mehtar; Pardhan, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Sicily, Sicilians, 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, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Karelians, Tajik, Karachays, Balkar, Georgians, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Forest Nenets, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Darkhad, Khakas, Nganasans, Southern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Evens (Lamuts), Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Koyukon, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Assiniboine, Quileute, Chemakum (Hoh), Sicuani, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Paresi, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Tunisia, Pakistan