The Mythology and Folklore Database
M1 - Dangerous crossing.




124 Myths, Legends and Folktales
121 Unique Narratives for Motif M1
41 Cultures & Traditions where M1 is told
186 Mythemes Indexed
2 Sub-Motifs of Motif M1


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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 crosses a body of water on the back of a monster or animal that agrees to be a carrier but may or intends to drown or eat its passenger.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes


M1 has 2 other sub-motifs


M1.  The character crosses a body of water on the back of a monster or animal that agrees to be a carrier but may or intends to drown or eat its passenger.
M1a.  The caiman transports one of the brothers or a group of brothers, who then turn into the Pleiades. It usually bites off the leg of the youngest. Cf. motif K13B.
M1b.  A caiman/crocodile carries a monkey across a river. She manages to jump ashore and runs away from the caiman.

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No dispersal data found for motif 'm1'.

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 41 traditions: Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Lingala, (Ba)Ngala, Ntomba, Kioque, (Ki)Bangi, Bolia, Balolo, Boloki, (Ba)Akwa, (U)Poto, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Ami, Khmer, Nicobarese, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Tanana, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Caddo, Natchez (incl Avoyel), Tunica, Alabama, Koasati, Western Mexico Nahuatl, Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Guayabero, Waiwai, Colorado (Tsachila), Siona, Secoya, Coreguaje, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Tariana, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Tenetehara, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Chacobo, Ese’ejja, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Trumai, Rikbaktsa, Kayabi, Paresi, Craho, Sherente, Botocudo, Mataco, Biloxi


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