The Mythology and Folklore Database
L19B1 - Seven-headed monster.
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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
Describes or depicts a monster (usually a reptile) with seven heads (except in cases where snakes with an increasing number of heads are described sequentially and "seven" is not the largest number).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
L19 has 4 other sub-motifsL19a. 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. L19b. Creatures (any, except ornithomorphic ones) with more than 10 heads or an odd (but more than one) number of heads are described or depicted (in the case of listing creatures in order of increasing number of heads, the series ends with an odd number). L19b1. Describes or depicts a monster (usually a reptile) with seven heads (except in cases where snakes with an increasing number of heads are described sequentially and "seven" is not the largest number). L19b2. A creature with nine heads is mentioned – either singly or at the end of a series of creatures with fewer heads. L19b3. A creature with 12 heads is mentioned – either singly or at the end of a series of creatures with fewer heads. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L19's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M197 | 98.34% | Seriously or demonstrating the absurdity of such actions, the character tries to fry or cook something on a fire (source of light) located far from the object that needs to be heated. |
| H7 | 98.34% | Death (as well as illness and old age) is a special character, distinct from the lord of the underworld. It takes away a person's soul or otherwise causes their death. |
| K88B | 98.11% | The character suffers from thirst or hunger. His companion promises to share water or food with him (to make him rich) if he allows himself to be blinded. |
| M154A | 98.07% | One of the domestic animals (usually a donkey) persuades another to pretend to be sick. After that, the advisor has to work for both of them. Then he tells the pretend sick animal that the owner is going to slaughter him, and the animal rushes to work. |
| K119A | 97.68% | An animal saves a human, does him a favour, and he humiliates or kills it. See motifs K119, M161. |
| M171A | 97.65% | A character (often zoomorphic) gets a girl (boy) by successively exchanging smaller values for larger ones. |
| K83 | 97.54% | To heal, rejuvenate or save one's father, father-in-law or sister, one must bring medicine (bring a doctor) from a distant country. The medicine is brought and the sick person recovers. |
| M57D | 97.51% | A person consistently receives magical items that bring wealth. Others replace them or take them away. A person returns what has been taken - usually by receiving another wonderful object (baton, whip) that hits the kidnappers. |
| K38F | 97.47% | A reptilian monster demands human sacrifices (devours people; kidnaps a girl; blocks water sources). The hero kills it. The monster's victims do not play an active role in the action. |
| M169 | 97.40% | In the presence of an authoritative figure, one of the subordinates plots against another. The latter says that the problem can be solved by maiming the former (usually using a part of his body as medicine). The schemer is killed or maimed. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 49 traditions: Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Old and New Testament, Ugarit, Phoenicia, Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabs; Berbers of Mauritania (Zenaga), Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Oromo (Galla), Konso, Sidamo, Darasa, Bussa (Bassa), Kambata, Guji, Chagga (Jagga; incl Wasu), Pare, Digo, Congo (Koongo, Bacongo; incl Vili, Fioti, (Ma)Yombe, MuKunyi), Ndombo, Luango (Loango), Zombo (Sambo), Laadi (Laari), (Ba)Fioti, Woyo (Kiwoyo), Ronga, Zaghawa, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Fula (Fulbe, Fulani, Pular), Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Alor, Solor, Wetar, Atauru, Minangkabau; Kerinci, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Dards (Kalash, Kho, Kohistani, Shina, Pashai), England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Aragon, Maltese, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, 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, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Swedes, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Wakhi, Ishkashimi (including Sanglich), Munji, Ingush, Nogai, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Anatolia Turks, Kurds, Uyghur, 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, Mordvins, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Wallons, Picardie, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)