The Mythology and Folklore Database
M182B - Animals in a sleigh, ATU 158.




33 Myths, Legends and Folktales
26 Unique Narratives for Motif M182B
21 Cultures & Traditions where M182B is told
76 Mythemes Indexed
2 Sub-Motifs of Motif M182B


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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

Animals ask to be taken for a ride in a sleigh. The sleigh breaks down, and the animals bring unsuitable materials from the forest to repair it. While the owner of the sleigh goes into the forest to look for a replacement for the broken shaft (or leaves to chop wood), the animals eat the horse (bull) and leave a stuffed animal in its place.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior


M18 has 2 other sub-motifs


M18.  The character turns into an object of fishing or hunting and presents himself as a target. The fisherman or hunter does not harm them, but they take away what they use: arrows, darts, harpoons, hooks, bait; or they catch fish, having turned themselves into hooks; or they are caught but escape death by taking on human form again.
M18a.  The character becomes the object of fishing or hunting, presenting himself as a target for enemies. Numerous arrows, darts, and harpoons stick into his body without causing harm, and he carries them away. See motif M18.
M18b.  The character turns into a fishing object in order to carry away the hook with which he is caught or the spear with which they try to harpoon him, or he turns into a hook to catch fish. See motif M18.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
K18D99.96%A young man releases or saves a fish (frog, snake, supernatural creature), it grants his wishes, and he marries a princess. {References to ATU are not entirely reliable. In particular, Uther 2004 includes a Corsican variant (Massignon 1984, No. 66), in which the main part of the plot is missing. References to Balkan variants probably correspond to the definition of the plot, since it does exist among the Bulgarians}.
M106G99.95%A man lifts a cow (donkey, ox, wife) onto the roof so that the animal can eat the grass growing there (the wife has gathered turnips, etc.) – usually by throwing a noose around the neck of the wife or animal.
M39A2C99.95%A fool (or a character pretending to be crazy) sows salt (small objects) like a grain.
L100B99.94%Having escaped from his pursuers, the young man parts with the girl, intending to return for her soon, but forgets her. When he is about to take another wife, the girl manages to restore his memory with the help of magic, and she marries him. Alternatively, the girl, who has briefly parted from her magical spouse, herself forgets him after an embrace or a kiss in her parents' house.
M13699.93%Some people do not know what to do with cutting tools; they try to use tools that are not suitable for these purposes instead.
M13599.91%Two ungulates – usually after the wolf agrees to share the meadow between them – gore the predator from both sides, killing or maiming it.
K12899.91%A character orders the hero to graze animals (or birds) and promises to execute him (deprive him of his reward) if even one animal is lost. Cf. K128B (ATU 570).
M199C99.89%A person pretends to throw or is about to throw an object somewhere from which it cannot be retrieved (often into the sky, the clouds, or the sea). The opponent asks them not to do so and to stop the contest.
K38E199.88%Characters pass through a forest with metal trees of two or more types (copper, silver, etc.).
K27X799.87%On the way to their destination, people meet characters who have power over animals (birds, fish) or demons. They summon the animals (demons) and ask if anyone knows the way to a certain place. Only one person knows, usually the last to appear.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 21 traditions: Poles, Slovakians, Slovaks, Macedonians, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Western Ukrainians, 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), Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Anatolia Turks, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks)


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