The Mythology and Folklore Database
L39A - Demon from the underworld.
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Motif Summary - Motifs with Simlar Dispersals - Map of Myth Distribution - List of Traditions - Myths |
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 supernatural character emerges from the underworld and attacks a man who has climbed a tree.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
L39 has 4 other sub-motifsL39. By force or deception, the character forces another to climb down from the tree in order to harm him. L39a. A supernatural character emerges from the underworld and attacks a man who has climbed a tree. L39b. The tree grows from a flatbread (pie, etc.) and usually bears flatbreads instead of fruit. L39c. A boy (less often a girl) climbs a fruit tree that has just grown (usually from a discarded seed). A cannibal tries to force the boy (girl) to come down to the ground. L39d. A boy climbs a tree to pick fruit. A demonic character asks him to share, but not to throw the fruit on the ground, but to pass it from hand to hand. He grabs the boy and carries him away. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L39's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L78 | 99.99% | In the images, the character has the features of a jaguar and a toad; the toad/frog turns into a jaguar; the toad/frog is the mother or wife of the jaguar. |
| A25 | 99.95% | When coming out onto the earth (for the first time or after a global catastrophe) or witnessing the first sunrise, people should not look directly at the light. |
| J68 | 99.95% | Characters who have been chasing an animal for a long time see increasingly fresh droppings on the trail and finally catch up with their prey (usually the droppings correspond to how long they have been lying there); or the pursuers see areas where less time has passed since sowing. |
| B42D | 99.62% | In the cosmic hunting plot, the object of pursuit is a bear. See motif B42. |
| E9G | 99.62% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture. |
| H38 | 99.62% | A supernatural character changes appearance and comes to the hero's children (less often to the hero himself). Unaware of the trick, they hand over the magical object they have obtained to its former owner, and the character disappears with it. |
| K11B | 99.62% | The bones of a huge bird are turned into reeds or bamboo for making arrows or sarbacanes. |
| M1A | 99.62% | The caiman transports one of the brothers or a group of brothers, who then turn into the Pleiades. It usually bites off the leg of the youngest. Cf. motif K13B. |
| A1A | 99.39% | Before the sun appeared, the world was lit by a large bird with bright colours (a parrot or toucan). |
| A26 | 99.39% | The bird embodies the sun, daylight; it can be caught, released, killed. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 4 traditions: Lacandon, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Tenetehara, Chacobo