Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L35 — Severed hand.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewA shaman or spirit comes at night and, reaching his hand into the hut, steals food or disturbs a woman. A man in the hut cuts off or tears off the hand.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| G31 | 99.42% | A character ties trees with rope and effortlessly knocks them all down at once or pretends to do so. |
| E6 | 95.87% | When a woman of childbearing age (she is menstruating, miscarrying, pregnant, with a child, or simply fat) tries to pass from one world to another, the connection between the worlds is severed forever. |
| M43 | 95.71% | To kill or catch a monster, he sees a figure made of wood or clay or a living person. Most often, a monster's claws or sharp leg get stuck when they pierce a tree. |
| M5 | 95.50% | Once in a situation where his life depends on the will of a demon or animal, the hero feels like insulting or hitting him. See M1 motif. |
| F27 | 95.29% | It is dangerous for girls or women to approach water (water creatures drag them away or swallow them; a girl who approaches water dies; she becomes pregnant by a snake; through her fault, a flood or other disaster occurs; water spirits themselves come to a girl who has her first period). |
| F51 | 95.28% | Someone under cover of night/incognito approaches a person of the opposite sex. The marriage partner deliberately (to determine who it is) or accidentally (thereby exposing the visitor) makes a mark on his/her body (clothing). See motif A31. |
| I24 | 95.15% | A snake (or fish) forms a bridge across a river. |
| C1 | 94.89% | In the past, a catastrophic shift in the layers of the universe occurred or will occur in the future. Among the variants (sometimes combined): the sky fell to the earth; the present earth or underground world swapped places with the sky; the earth turned upside down; it fell into the underworld; the layers of the universe successively collapsed onto the earth or will swap places in the future. |
| H24F | 94.46% | The character has the ability to put a large amount of meat or fish into a bag or container that is easy to carry. |
| F24 | 94.44% | Women lose blood when they are bitten by fish, snakes, etc. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Cite this map
Distribution of the traditions attesting motif L35, ‘Severed hand.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (11 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/L35 (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
11 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: Vepsians, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Tillamook, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Ticuna (Tucuna), Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Iranxe, Nambikwara, Paresi, Japan
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How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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