The Mythology and Folklore Database
M53A - Crows and seals
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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
raven gathers seals or other marine mammals around and deceives them into killing them.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
M53 has 6 other sub-motifsM53. The character invites others to gather around him, focusing on an activity (usually dancing with their eyes closed or lowered), and then kills the crowd (usually one at a time). M53a. raven gathers seals or other marine mammals around and deceives them into killing them. M53b. Trickster claims he's carrying songs in his bag. See M53 motif. M53c. 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. M53d. The character pretends to be enemies coming; when people run away in fear, the character takes what the deceived people owned. M53e. A character (always a raven) kills a whale and points others to imaginary signs that whale meat is not suitable for food. People believe and all the meat goes to the deceiver. M53f. The character is involved in preparing food supplies. After leaving under some pretext, he returns in the form of a monster or predator. Everyone runs away, the deceiver eats supplies, and then returns as usual. As a result, it was exposed. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M53's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| J65 | 100.00% | After the attack by enemies, a woman and her daughter remain. She rejects the marriage proposals of animal suitors and agrees to give her daughter to the heavenly deity (the Sun). The children from this marriage take revenge on their enemies. |
| L66 | 99.28% | To help the hero, a small animal digs an underground passage beneath the lying monster, and the hero strikes it from below. |
| M61A | 99.23% | To get valuables, the character provokes a quarrel between their owners. When they start fighting each other, valuables fall out of their bodies and end up at the character's disposal. |
| K43A | 98.95% | People leave a boy, a girl, a sister and brother, a young woman or young spouses alone and depart. Someone sympathises with those who have been abandoned and secretly hides fire for them. |
| L67 | 98.82% | Having dug an underground passage to a lying monstrous hoofed animal, a small animal gnaws the wool from the place on the skin where the heart beats; the hero thrusts a spear or arrow into this place. See motif L66. |
| L57 | 98.34% | The character loses an internal organ or part of the body, which is taken away by others; he approaches unnoticed and takes back what was lost. |
| K52B | 98.33% | The hero comes to capture the daughter of a supernatural creature. He sees a slave breaking an axe (adze, wedge). The hero repairs the axe, and the slave helps him in return. See motif K52. |
| M46 | 98.21% | Some creatures steal or own valuables. To return (get) them, the character turns into a small object, from contact with which a woman becomes pregnant, or into a baby. A picked up or born baby takes on its true appearance and steals valuables (including making the girl who picked it up pregnant, if that was his goal). |
| K87B | 98.06% | A woman is picking berries, steps in bear droppings, and scolds the bears. The offended bear takes her away and marries her. |
| M53D | 98.01% | The character pretends to be enemies coming; when people run away in fear, the character takes what the deceived people owned. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Chugach, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Comox, Pentlatch, Sechelt (incl Sisiatl), Squamish, Halcomelem, Tillamook