The Mythology and Folklore Database
L65A - The Cannibal Sister, ATU 315A.
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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 daughter is born, or people find a girl; she is a monster or turns into a monster and devours everyone. Her brother escapes (usually leaves, marries, returns), and she pursues him unsuccessfully.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
L65 has 12 other sub-motifsL65. An infant or small child turns out to be a demon and kills people. L65a. A daughter is born, or people find a girl; she is a monster or turns into a monster and devours everyone. Her brother escapes (usually leaves, marries, returns), and she pursues him unsuccessfully. L65a1. A demonic character successively devours parts of the horse on which the hero arrived, each time returning to the hero and then leaving to devour another part. (Often asks whether the hero arrived on a three-legged, two-legged or one-legged horse). L65a2. A man shoots off (damages) the finger of a demonic creature, and then sees that his sister, lying in her cradle, has lost her finger. L65b. A demonic woman, less often her lover or another monster, is ready to kill or kills the hero. Dogs (or animals and birds that replace them – lions, bears, eagles, etc.) come running (flying), rescue the hero and kill the demon. L65b1. A man exchanges sheep (goats) for dogs. The exchange seems unequal, but the dogs help him achieve success. L65b2. The hero's dogs have names that speak of their strength and agility (Wind, Ironbreaker, etc.). L65b3. A character who climbs a tree manages to escape from a demon (who usually tries to knock the tree down). L65b4. The character pulls out his tooth to use it as a weapon or tool (often an axe). L65b5. Despite obstacles, the young man's dogs or other animals serving him get to the princess just as she is about to be given away to a deceiver. L65c. The eldest of three or more sisters turns out to be a cannibal, devouring her younger sisters and other people. L65c1. Three or more sisters have the ability to fly and fly away from the cannibal – their older sister or mother. Only the youngest is saved. L65d. When the older sister becomes a cannibal, the younger sister (temporarily) escapes. Cf. motifs L1B, L65C. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L65's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M78G | 98.35% | When the inhabitants of the house fall asleep, a joker (usually a tiny boy) ties them together in pairs so that when they wake up, they quarrel. |
| L90 | 98.02% | One lip (one fang, horn, etc.) of the creature reaches the sky, while the other drags along the ground. |
| K38C | 97.92% | After the hero helps the bird (usually by doing good to its chicks), it takes him to the place he desires, or instructs its chicks to do so. (This does not involve movement between levels of the universe; in the Sumerian version, the bird gives the hero the ability to move with lightning speed and directs him to his goal). |
| I50A | 97.54% | A demon sequentially tears off the legs of an animal that helps the hero (usually the horse on which the hero rides). |
| L125 | 97.44% | After meeting a beautiful woman, a man finds her in a situation where her inhuman nature is revealed. After that, the marriage falls apart. |
| K139 | 97.30% | A servant is so struck by the beauty of a girl (rarely: a boy) that he lets the meat or bread intended for his master burn. |
| M39A6D | 97.09% | One of the relatives or spouses transfers a text or object to the other through third parties. Only the recipient understands the meaning of the words or the item handed over, saves the sender and/or destroys his enemies. |
| K82 | 97.09% | A man's wife or another woman tries to destroy his sister. |
| M99 | 96.98% | The character is going to abuse all birds or (less commonly) animals, but after hearing wise advice, he abandons his intention. |
| M98 | 96.84% | The character counts the number of members in two huge and alternative sets (dead and alive, men and women, etc.). Usually numbers are distributed equally, and one term (or some) is endowed with the properties of both. By referring it to one of the sets, the character proves a thesis. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 42 traditions: Ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Yemen, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Algeria Arabs, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Koreans, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Albanians, Balkarians, Western Ukrainians, Uzbek, Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Ingush, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Anatolia Turks, 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), Turkmen, Bashkirs, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Mongols (Khalkha), Khakas, Nganasans, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Aleuts, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Arabs of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Emirates, Oman,, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tunisia