The Mythology and Folklore Database
L98 - The man-eating owl.




91 Myths, Legends and Folktales
90 Unique Narratives for Motif L98
41 Cultures & Traditions where L98 is told
139 Mythemes Indexed
0 Sub-Motifs of Motif L98


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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 demon that carries off children and threatens heroes, people, etc., is the eagle owl; there is a race of owls that is hostile to humans.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
K21A97.81%A celestial being marries an earthly woman. She longs to return to earth and secretly descends from her husband.
J1397.70%Not one woman or girl, but two sisters (or more than two, but only two play an important role in the narrative) wander and meet an unwanted deceiver instead of a desired husband or fiancé, or encounter dangerous creatures. See motif J12.
M84B97.60%An animal, bird or fish that is killed and eaten comes to life after its bones are thrown into the water. See M84 motif.
I11297.59%The boat is a living creature with a mouth, a fish.
L1B197.48%A woman comes into conflict with her brothers and turns into a dangerous demon.
F6497.40%The character is presented as another person in order to mate with a close relative in the descending or (less commonly) ascending line.
L74A97.38%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.
J3497.16%After killing a dangerous enemy, the heroes make a scarecrow out of him to frighten the household.
J40B97.15%After the hero comes back after a long absence and finds his parents enslaved, he tells them to demonstrate openly a lack of respect to their masters and punishes those who were cruel with them
L9797.15%Seeing a character who is unable to move (nailed to the ground, his lower body rooted to the ground, petrified, completely absent), the hero himself manages to avoid a similar fate.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 41 traditions: Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Southern Selkups, Chukchi, Tutchone, Tagish, Tahltan, Athna, Eyak, Menominee, Tuscarora, Arapaho, Osage, Kiowa Apache, Comanche, Plains Ojibwa, Hidatsa, Chilkotin, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Nez Perce, Takelma, Okanagon, Sanpoil, Shasta; Chimariko, Yurok, Tunica, Choctaw, Chicasaw, Pomo, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Luiseño, Juaneño, Jicarilla, Mescalero, Hopi, Zuni, Sicuani, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Chayahuita , Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)


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