The Mythology and Folklore Database
L74 - The Returned Hand.

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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 bear or other powerful character tears off and carries away another character's hand. A third character steals the hand and returns it to the one from whom it was torn off.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures

L74 has 1 other sub-motifs L74.  A bear or other powerful character tears off and carries away another character's hand. A third character steals the hand and returns it to the one from whom it was torn off. L74a.  The enemy carries the hero away or tears off and carries away part of his body, after which he hangs his victim or part of his body (usually over a fire) in order to cause the victim torment. Another character rescues the hero himself or returns the stolen part of his body to him.  Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L74's motifs?

Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Motif	Similarity	Motif Summary
I15A	97.02%	Due to ignorance or haste, the mouth of anthropomorphic creatures is first cut vertically.
G1	96.33%	In order to acquire or regain values (land, soil, cultivated plants, sun, fire, shamanic knowledge, luck), people lure or steal the son or daughter of a certain character.
L59	94.25%	A woman eats the best food or eats fruit before it is ripe; as punishment, she undergoes metamorphosis.
B26	88.42%	A person who follows wild animals (temporarily) turns into one of them or their master, or lives with animals that look like humans to him.
M4	86.07%	When crossing a pond or descending from a tree, the character (usually despite a warning) steps at a specific animal or part of the animal's body . As a result, it falls into the water and often sinks.
I18	86.00%	Visiting the world of people without an anus or mouth (the underworld, if not otherwise), the hero or heroine enters or attempts to enter into sexual relations with the local inhabitants. See motif I14.
C5B	85.85%	After a global catastrophe or during the creation of the earth, animals run around, making the earth large, reporting on its condition, or are sent to find out how large the earth is.
M75D	85.81%	A man bereaves vultures of their hunting weapons or amulets
K27O2	84.36%	To destroy the hero, his opponents play ball with him, throwing a heavy dangerous object (a ball made of ice, bone, stone, iron, a walrus head, a biting skull, etc.).
K10F	83.84%	The character turns the children of a flying monster into ordinary eagles or owls.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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Terrain Minimal Countries

This motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Chugach, Chipewyan, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Teton (incl Oglala), Comox, Pentlatch, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam

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