The Mythology and Folklore Database
L15E - The life of a hero in a sword, ATU 302B.
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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 hero's life is in a certain object, usually his weapon. An enemy steals or discards this object, the hero weakens or dies, his friends or brothers return the object, and the hero comes back to life. {In ATU, this is motif 302B; at least some of the references cited by Uther do not contain the motif in our formulation (not found in Japan or Burma); original publications are required}.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
L15 has 21 other sub-motifsL15a. The character's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs. L15a1. The character's vulnerable spot is located at the bottom of the foot (heel, toe, sole, ankle). L15a2. The human body is tempered (in a furnace, etc.) to make it invulnerable, but one place remains unprotected. L15b. The character can only be killed with a specific plant, which is not usually used for making weapons. L15b1. In the battle between positive and negative creators, the positive one chooses the deer horn as a weapon – usually because this is the only weapon that the enemy fears. L15c. A dangerous character asks the hero how he can be killed, what he is afraid of. The hero lies, saying that the named object does not harm him. L15c1. A dangerous character naively reveals what he fears or what his life consists of, and the hero takes advantage of this. L15d. The object in which the character's life is concentrated is separate from him. The character dies when this external form is destroyed. L15d1. When a character is asked to reveal the location of his soul (death, power), he first gives an incorrect answer, and the questioner usually begins to show signs of attention to the corresponding locus or object. L15e. The hero's life is in a certain object, usually his weapon. An enemy steals or discards this object, the hero weakens or dies, his friends or brothers return the object, and the hero comes back to life. {In ATU, this is motif 302B; at least some of the references cited by Uther do not contain the motif in our formulation (not found in Japan or Burma); original publications are required}. L15e1. An ageing character and/or one who senses his death approaching instructs his son, a warrior, or his subjects to throw his cold weapon (sword, sabre or axe) into the sea, a lake or a river. Cf. motifs L15E and L15e2. L15e2. One character instructs another to throw a certain object (usually a sword or sabre) into the water. The messenger claims to have carried out the task, but cannot say what happened as a result, so it becomes clear that he has lied. L15f. A young woman or man dies as soon as her or his jewellery (rarely: organ) is stolen, and comes back to life when the jewellery is returned or when the antagonist removes it. L15g. A person's life is connected to an object that can be burned. As soon as the object is burned, the person dies. L15g1. A person knows a secret on which the life of a loved one (husband, son, wife) depends and, after a quarrel, commits an act that is insignificant to an outside observer but leads to the immediate death of the other. L15h. The object in which the character's life is concentrated is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third, and so on (like an egg in a duck, a duck in a hare, a hare in a chest). Or the animal in which the character's soul is enclosed transforms into other animals as it flees. There are three or more enclosures or transformations. L15h1. The object in which the character's life is contained is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third (and so on). The final container of the soul is an egg (to kill the character, the egg must be broken over his head). l15h2. The object in which the character's life is contained is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third (and so on). The final repository of the soul is a bird (a chick, several birds or chicks). l15h3. The object in which the character's life is concentrated is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third (and so on). The final vessel of the soul is an insect or worm. l15h4. The object in which the character's life is concentrated is enclosed in another, which is enclosed in a third (and so on). The final container of the soul is a needle, which the hero breaks. L15i. A man dies or loses his strength (or pretends to) if his hair is cut or pulled out. L15J. The character can only be killed by fire. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L15's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M39A6D | 98.94% | One of the relatives or spouses transfers a text or object to the other through third parties. Only the recipient understands the meaning of the words or the item handed over, saves the sender and/or destroys his enemies. |
| K136B | 98.78% | A character finds precious stones or unusual flowers (usually in a river) and learns where they come from. |
| E41A | 98.71% | The first ticks were made as a result of observing animals (a dog's crossed paws, two snakes, snake jaws, etc.). |
| B46A | 98.64% | One of the stars of the Pleiades was separated from the others (usually stolen by the stars of the Big Dipper and identified with Alcor). |
| K139 | 98.60% | A servant is so struck by the beauty of a girl (rarely: a boy) that he lets the meat or bread intended for his master burn. |
| M29Z1 | 98.45% | purely anthropomorphic character, or a character who bears the name of an animal or plant but does not act zoomorphic in the course of his adventures. See the motives in square brackets. {Data not fully entered} |
| I87A | 98.33% | A character of gigantic size turns out to be small in comparison with a character of even greater size, or the same character turns out to be small in some episodes and gigantic in others. |
| I50A | 98.29% | A demon sequentially tears off the legs of an animal that helps the hero (usually the horse on which the hero rides). |
| L72C | 98.23% | 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). |
| F9F1 | 98.06% | 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}. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 35 traditions: Aramaic (Syrians), Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabs; Berbers of Mauritania (Zenaga), Zaghawa, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Kashmiri, Nepali; Tharu, Sinhalese; Vedda, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Dutch, Flemish, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Albanians, Balkarians, Swedes, Uzbek, Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Ingush, Udin, Nogai, Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Bashkirs, Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Udeghe, Mustang, Egypt