The Mythology and Folklore Database
L85F - One-legged.




44 Myths, Legends and Folktales
44 Unique Narratives for Motif L85F
28 Cultures & Traditions where L85F is told
94 Mythemes Indexed
7 Sub-Motifs of Motif L85F


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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

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.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits


L85 has 7 other sub-motifs


L85.  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.

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No dispersal data found for motif 'l85f'.

Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
A10.00%Another sun — less powerful or less favourable to humans — existed before the appearance of the current one.
A100.00%The sun gets its sparkling eyes (eye) from an animal.
A11A0.00%The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter.
A11B0.00%The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A.
A11C0.00%The Sun and Moon kill a monster whose eyes shine differently. At first, the Moon takes the brighter eye, but then swaps with the Sun.
A120.00%A creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, winter and summer, night and day, phases of the moon) or occasionally (eclipses, eschatological catastrophes) attack the luminaries or block their light.
A12A0.00%During an eclipse or under other circumstances, predators attack the luminaries: wolves, bears, jaguars, pumas, dogs, foxes, raccoons. See motif A12.
A12B0.00%During an eclipse or at sunset (marked *), the luminaries are swallowed by a toad or frog.
A12C0.00%Eclipses of the sun, moon or their setting (marked*) are caused by a snake, lizard, dragon, fish or crocodile; these creatures attack the luminaries now or attacked them at the beginning of time. See motif A12.
A12D0.00%Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 28 traditions: Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Kalenjin; including Sabaot, Nandi (Nande), Arusha, Kipsigis, Pokot (Suk), Keiyo (Elgeiyo), Marakwet, Sebeei, Zulu, Swazi, Ulithi, Ngulu, Lithuanians, Karelians, Western Sami, Uyghur, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Kets, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Negidal, Nivkh, Tlingit, Menominee, Plains Cree, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Kalapuya, Klamath, Modoc, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Salinan, Tzeltal, Guajiro, Kpelle (incl Kono), Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights)


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