The Mythology and Folklore Database
L85A - The half-child.
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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
The character is born as half a person or becomes one as a result of an accident. He or she does not belong to a special category of mythical half-beings and usually regains physical completeness. See motif L85, cf. motif L112.Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
L85 has 7 other sub-motifsL85. The character has only half a body (vertically). See also L85C, "Half-chicken". L85a. The character is born as half a person or becomes one as a result of an accident. He or she does not belong to a special category of mythical half-beings and usually regains physical completeness. See motif L85, cf. motif L112. L85b. A pregnant woman curses the Sun, Rain or another powerful character. Because of this, the child is born physically disabled. He possesses magical powers and usually acquires a normal body. L85b1. After ascending to the sky (meeting God, returning from the sky to earth), a physically disabled young man (usually with only half a body) becomes whole. L85c. A character with half a body – a hen, a chick. Sometimes it is only a name, and the character's appearance is more anthropomorphic. L85d. The hero encounters a giant and a strongman (usually a ploughman) with one arm, one leg, or one eye. He was crippled by a character who turned out to be much bigger and stronger than him. L85e. The character is temporarily split vertically into two halves and then rejoined. L85F. The character has only one leg (and one arm), which does not prevent him from moving. Unlike motif L85 (half-creatures), the character has a complete body, not divided in half vertically. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of L85's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| E9N | 93.33% | A man marries a female seal, seal or dolphin that has taken the form of a woman and lives with her among people. |
| C25B | 92.26% | In the sky, on the moon (rarely – on the sun), somewhere outside our world, a certain character spins, weaves, knits, embroiders or makes bast fabric. |
| L112 | 89.52% | A physically defective boy is born (tiny, with one head, half a body, etc.). After a series of adventures, he gains physical completeness. |
| H12B | 87.81% | In the afterlife, the dead or demons feed on excrement. |
| E12 | 86.78% | A character draws an object or creature on sand, ash, a wall or the surface of water, and it comes to life. |
| G8A | 86.77% | A man cuts down a tree to make a boat or something else from the trunk (Yap: a board for building a house; one of the texts from Ulithi: a wooden bird), goes away to rest, and upon returning finds the tree intact again. Usually, the character who restored the tree in the man's absence then cuts down the tree himself and makes what the hero needs. |
| I96 | 85.92% | A rainbow consisting of blood either heralds war and death. |
| D12A | 85.79% | People living in the east or west prepare food using the heat of the passing sun. |
| M111 | 85.38% | Two animals (usually a monkey and a turtle) agree to gather fruit. The one who can climb trees eats the good fruit and throws one peel or rotten fruit to its companion. The companion takes revenge. |
| L85B1 | 85.21% | After ascending to the sky (meeting God, returning from the sky to earth), a physically disabled young man (usually with only half a body) becomes whole. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 22 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Kerewe, Sukuma, Kwaya, Kumbi, Busiba, Gusii, Suba, Safwa, Mkulwe, Ngonde, Kinga, Nyakusa, Nyamwanga, Congo (Koongo, Bacongo; incl Vili, Fioti, (Ma)Yombe, MuKunyi), Ndombo, Luango (Loango), Zombo (Sambo), Laadi (Laari), (Ba)Fioti, Woyo (Kiwoyo), Ronga, Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Ulithi, Ngulu, Marshall Islands, incl Ailinglapalap, Arno, Jaluit, Kili, Lae, Maloelap, Majuro, Ratak, Wotho, Ujae, Jaluit (=Jalooj), Namdrik, Roti, Numfoor, Warope, Wamesa (Wandamen, Windesi), Simeulue, Nias, Dusun, Murut, Kelabit, Tombonuwo, Bajau, Tidong, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Koreans, France, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Persians, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Nanai, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)