The Mythology and Folklore Database
M24 - The turtle is going to war




34 Myths, Legends and Folktales
33 Unique Narratives for Motif M24
17 Cultures & Traditions where M24 is told
104 Mythemes Indexed
1 Sub-Motifs of Motif M24


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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

turtle goes to war and/or is captured. See M23 motif. Cf. motif K77 “Verlioka”.

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


M24 has 1 other sub-motifs


M24.  turtle goes to war and/or is captured. See M23 motif. Cf. motif K77 “Verlioka”.
M24a.  turtle man goes to war, kills people (usually a woman). He gets caught or killed. In his animal form, he continues to live on. See M24 motif.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
K48A99.83%The hero's costume and/or headdress are decorated with live birds or animals. Usually, the antagonist steals the clothes and pretends to be the hero, but the birds and animals on his headdress remain silent or cry out differently. See motif K48.
L9199.81%Two or four young men go on a journey or return from one. Their path is blocked by a long creature that cannot be bypassed. They burn a passage through it. One eats roasted meat, turns into a snake himself, or dies. See motif L28.
F93A99.28%A man's penis begins to talk incessantly, falling silent only after his mother-in-law takes it in her hand.
G3099.18%A long penis is cut into pieces, which turn into many edible plants or different types of trees. Cf. motif B53.
M2699.18%The character dives under waterfowl and ties a rope to their legs to catch them. Birds soar into the air, lifting the catcher with them. It later falls.
M53C99.12%trickster, inviting birds to dance around him with their eyes closed, kills them one at a time and threatens to turn red at the one that opens their eyes; this is an empty threat, or for a bird that opens eyes and eyes have really turned red ever since.
J12J98.71%A girl or sisters end up with a false groom who plays the role of a jester in the chief's house. See motif J12.
K6898.55%A strong man takes food from a weak man and forces him to work for him (usually a son-in-law mistreats his father-in-law). A boy appears in the house of the wronged man from a clot of animal blood that has been collected. He kills the offender.
H37B98.53%One character gives another his power (usually a skunk gives his volley). The other wastes the resource unnecessarily to test its effect. Usually, when the need arises, the resource no longer works.
M29Q97.76%See the motives in square brackets.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 17 traditions: Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Menominee, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Miami, Illini, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Blackfoot, Teton (incl Oglala), Yankton/Yanktonai, Osage, Omaha, Ponca, Oto, Iowa, Pawnee, Plains Ojibwa, Navajo


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