The Mythology and Folklore Database
L23 - Proteus.
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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
Trying to free himself, the captured character successively transforms into various substances, materials or animals, or (Urarina, Setebo) orders various dangerous animals to successively attack the person who captured him. (In some cases, only one variant of transformation is mentioned, but in the same context as in typical variants with a series of transformations).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
L23 has 5 other sub-motifsL23. Trying to free himself, the captured character successively transforms into various substances, materials or animals, or (Urarina, Setebo) orders various dangerous animals to successively attack the person who captured him. (In some cases, only one variant of transformation is mentioned, but in the same context as in typical variants with a series of transformations). L23a. In an attempt to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance, in particular turning into fire (and water). L23b. Trying to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance. The last transformation is into a spindle. L23c. Trying to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance. The last transformation is a small wooden object (usually a spindle). When this object is broken in half, the character permanently regains his human form. L23d. A man captures a desirable woman. Trying to free herself, she transforms into various substances, materials, animals or (urarina, setebo) orders various dangerous animals to attack the man who captured her. L23e. A man captures a male character. Trying to free himself, the latter transforms into various substances or animals. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L23's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L23D | 99.04% | A man captures a desirable woman. Trying to free herself, she transforms into various substances, materials, animals or (urarina, setebo) orders various dangerous animals to attack the man who captured her. |
| I41B | 98.46% | The rainbow drinks (draws into itself) water (and living creatures). |
| A23C | 97.92% | Birds argue about which of them will fly higher or arrive first. The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely (he hides in the feathers of a strong bird and flies away with it). |
| I92B | 97.90% | Where the ends of the rainbow reach the ground, there is treasure. |
| I95C | 97.80% | Orion's belt – staff, stick, three sticks, rod, crutch, etc. |
| H7B1 | 97.48% | Having received a magic bag, into which any creature can be forced against its will at the owner's discretion, a person gains power over Death or devils. |
| K127A | 97.47% | The heroine must remain silent for a long time and therefore cannot respond to the accusations. They want to execute her, but at that moment the restrictions expire and she is saved. |
| L37A2 | 97.44% | A man comes to ask God (fate, the sun, etc.) questions that he was asked to ask by those he met along the way. Someone asks when he will be freed from his duties. Answer: let him leave another person in his place. |
| M128 | 97.43% | Having agreed with his opponent that he would get animals with certain external characteristics or behaving in a certain way, the hero takes all or almost all of them when the livestock is divided. |
| K57B | 97.42% | To stop a beautiful woman from running away, a man in love with her smears resin or glue on the threshold (porch). The shoe sticks, and all the girls try it on to find its owner. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 24 traditions: Dinka, Atuot, Nuer, Mangbetu (Ngbetu), Mangbutu, Moru, Madi, Lugbara, Lendu (=Bale), Papua-NewGuinea Highland Papuans:Trans New Guinea & unclassified:Chimbu,Gimi,KaugelHuli,Gadsup,Kuman,Kutubu,Foi (Foe),Kyaka,Kamano (Kafe),Mawatta,Kukukuku (=Anga,=Sambia;Manki,Nauti,Ejuti),Baruya,Kewa,Tembregak,Menya,Melpa,Wiru,Pondoma, Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Poles, Slovakians, Slovaks, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Latvians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Western Sami, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, 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), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Urarina, Amahuaca, Cashinahua, Sharanahua, Yaminahua, Yawanahua, Capanahua)