The Mythology and Folklore Database
L17B - Mouth on the back of the head.
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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 character or creature has a second face or a second mouth on the back of its head.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects
L17 has 4 other sub-motifsL17. Mouth and eyes of an anthropomorphic creature on the chest, no head. L17a. A character or creature has an eye or a second pair of eyes on the back of the head or on the back. Cf. motif L17b, "mouth on the back of the head". L17a1. Characters with a sequentially increasing number of eyes follow the hero or heroine. He or she puts the eyes to sleep one by one, but forgets about the last one. L17a2. Instead of a beautiful woman, a man takes a devil with an odd number of eyes. L17b. A character or creature has a second face or a second mouth on the back of its head. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L17's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L32 | 92.11% | The stone swallows, bites, beats or transforms people. |
| K16 | 91.26% | Taking the form of a bird, bat, insect, small animal, or fish, the man enters the young woman's home (her father's house). |
| A3 | 90.68% | The Moon is female or hermaphroditic, the Sun is male or, possibly, male. |
| I28 | 89.14% | Wild or domestic animals live inside a mountain, in a cave or in the underground world, or once came out of there into our world; often animals take on human form underground and have an owner. See motif H18. |
| C5A | 88.07% | A bird, various birds, or people who then turn into birds are sent to explore the earth (whether it exists, whether it has dried up, whether there are any survivors, why smoke is rising from the earth, etc.) or with the task of bringing back a piece of solid substance to create dry land. |
| K15A | 87.98% | 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. |
| H24 | 87.90% | A vessel or other small container with valuables or living beings (creatures) is opened (prematurely). Its contents get out of control or disappear. |
| B40 | 87.78% | The hare/rabbit is a false deer, a former deer, a brother of the deer, a former or failed owner of antlers, its ears are false antlers. |
| I69 | 87.51% | Luminous celestial objects or atmospheric phenomena are bodily secretions of celestial beings. |
| A11B | 86.94% | The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 47 traditions: Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Masai, Chagga (Jagga; incl Wasu), Pare, Digo, Kikuyu, Chuka, Embu, Emberre, Mwimbe, Sakata, Congo (Koongo, Bacongo; incl Vili, Fioti, (Ma)Yombe, MuKunyi), Ndombo, Luango (Loango), Zombo (Sambo), Laadi (Laari), (Ba)Fioti, Woyo (Kiwoyo), Ronga, Mbundu (Umbundu, Kimbundu, Chimbundu, Ovimbundu), Kwanyama, Owambo (=Ambo), Tswana (Chwana), Suto (Soto; incl Pedi, Mbire), Hausa, Marshall Islands, incl Ailinglapalap, Arno, Jaluit, Kili, Lae, Maloelap, Majuro, Ratak, Wotho, Ujae, Jaluit (=Jalooj), Namdrik, Southern Taiwan: Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Saaroa, Ketangalan, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Ingush, Chuvash, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Forest Nenets, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Tagish, Tanana, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Teton (incl Oglala), Yankton/Yanktonai, Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Plains Cree, Assiniboine, Crow, Cahuilla, Cupeño, Navajo, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tzotzil, Paez, Guambia, Pijao; Ilama culture, Colorado (Tsachila), Cañari, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Cubeo, Rikbaktsa, Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet