The Mythology and Folklore Database
L42H - Those gathered for the feast eat the host.
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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 cannibal catches the hero and invites other cannibals to a feast. The hero escapes, and the cannibals eat the one who invited them.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
L42 has 16 other sub-motifsL42. After capturing the character, the enemy brings the prey home or to the place where he intends to eat it. The character runs away and escapes. L42a. The cannibal steals fresh corpses from graves. L42b. After capturing the hero, the antagonist brings him home and leaves him in the care of a family member. The latter believes the hero's words and follows his instructions. See motif L42. L42b1. A character kidnapped by a demon advises him to stack pots, pans and other kitchen items on top of each other and climb up them. He does so, falls and breaks. L42c. The character hides from someone stronger, sometimes inside the house, sometimes outside, and the stronger character cannot catch him. L42d. A man runs away from a cannibal across the ice, the cannibal pursues him, licks the blood spilled on the ice, his tongue freezes, he dies, or falls to his death after slipping on the ice. L42e. A demon catches the hero, carries him home, but the hero escapes on the way. The demon returns, catches the hero again, and this time brings him to his home. Or the demon catches and carries several children, but they escape on the way, leaving only one, whom the demon brings to his home. L42f. The character intended for consumption slips away unnoticed. The master of the house thinks that his wife has eaten him alone and cuts open her stomach. L42g. The stepmother, and more often the father (usually at the insistence of his new wife), leaves the children in a deserted place or sends them into the forest. They end up in the house of a cannibal or cannibals, all (or at least one of them) survive and achieve success. L42g1. Father (stepfather) takes children into the forest and slips away unnoticed. To make the children think he is nearby chopping wood, father hangs a board, pumpkin, etc. on a tree, which bangs against the trunk in the wind. L42g2. A person leaves traces behind by dropping seeds, pebbles, etc., or leaving drops of blood. These traces are unintentionally destroyed by birds, animals, wind, etc. L42g3. In the forest or in the sky, the character sees a house that is made entirely or partially of edible materials. L42h. A cannibal catches the hero and invites other cannibals to a feast. The hero escapes, and the cannibals eat the one who invited them. L42i. Creatures from another world carry off a little boy. His sister takes him and safely escapes from their pursuers. Usually the boy has two or three sisters, and only the youngest succeeds. L42i1. A boy is rowing a boat. A witch lures him out and carries him away. The boy escapes. L42j. The ogre catches children (usually mice), puts them in a bag, orders a tree (pole, crossbar in the house) to bend over, hangs the bag, orders the tree to straighten up again, and leaves. Another character (usually a fox) orders the tree (pole, etc.) to bend over and frees the children. L42k. A demonic character regurgitates an axe (adze) to cut down a tree. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L42's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| H36H | 99.83% | Creatures, including a frog or toad, must cross an obstacle. This does not go as planned and results in humans becoming mortal. |
| H34D1 | 99.46% | The sky or celestial objects were edible, but then this source of food became inaccessible or is now only used by inhabitants of a country beyond the human world. |
| L106 | 98.85% | A person takes an object belonging to another and loses it; the owner demands that the object be returned; the hero goes after it (to another world), usually finds it and brings back what was lost. See motifs K56a3 and L105. |
| K61B | 98.59% | In order to learn the names of strangers, the character finds or creates a situation in which they call each other by name aloud. |
| M129 | 98.27% | A parent intends to transfer primogeniture (royalty, other privileges) to a chosen son. Another son or brother comes under the guise of the chosen one and receives primogeniture. |
| H25 | 97.94% | People are offered a choice between two objects, one of which represents death and the other life, or they are asked whether they want to be reborn or die forever. Death is chosen. |
| H36HH | 97.79% | The frog or toad is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal. |
| I82C1 | 97.37% | The Moon has two wives (usually the Morning Star and the Evening Star). With the caring one, he grows fat, with the other, he starves and grows thin. |
| M180A | 97.34% | A zoomorphic character invites another to visit, but demands that they wash their hands or feet before eating. This proves impossible, and the guest leaves hungry. |
| H34D | 97.31% | A zoomorphic character climbs or attempts to climb up to the sky or the moon to bite off a piece of them. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Kalenjin; including Sabaot, Nandi (Nande), Arusha, Kipsigis, Pokot (Suk), Keiyo (Elgeiyo), Marakwet, Sebeei, Masai, Tonga, Ganda, (Ba)Nyoro, Nyankole, Masaba (Gisu), Luia (=Luyia, Haya, Luhya, Bantu Kawirondo; incl. Vugusu, Maragoli), Kosa (Xosa, Xhosa), Duala (Douala), Basa (Basaá), Kwiri (Kweli), Isubu, Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands), Ulithi, Ngulu, Tonga (Tsonga; incl, Soli, Sala, Lenje)