The Mythology and Folklore Database
N27A - There is even bird milk




16 Myths, Legends and Folktales
16 Unique Narratives for Motif N27A
15 Cultures & Traditions where N27A is told
34 Mythemes Indexed
3 Sub-Motifs of Motif N27A


Please log on to view the narratives.




 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

It is said that somewhere there is (or was) even bird’s milk

Berezkin category: Fabulous and epic formulas

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 13, Formulae


N27 has 3 other sub-motifs


N27.  Bird milk (variant: chicken, pigeon, hawkish, etc.) milk is mentioned in fairy tales, riddles, paroemias and conspiracies as something very rare and difficult to obtain or non-existent actually.
N27a.  It is said that somewhere there is (or was) even bird’s milk
N27b.  It is said that someone is only lacking bird’s milk or that somewhere the only thing missing is bird’s milk
N27c.  It is claimed that the bird has no milk and/or breasts

 Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of N27's motifs?



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
B33D99.59%An elderly woman embodies winter, is associated with snow, and/or at the border between winter and spring (autumn) there are several very cold days associated with a certain old woman.
K27X899.41%Only the frog (toad) knows the way to the object that is unattainable for ordinary people, which the hero is looking for (and helps him get there).
C399.25%The snake (eel, frog) saved the ship (or the whole world) by plugging the hole from which water was pouring with its body.
I9599.19%The Pleiades are a sieve or riddle for sifting agricultural products. See motif I95.
N27B99.15%It is said that someone is only lacking bird’s milk or that somewhere the only thing missing is bird’s milk
B32A99.12%The enemies of a hero sailing the sea turn into seals or dolphins.
I13799.12%One of the constellations is associated with footwear, usually with (worn-out) bast shoes.
I95B99.12%Orion is a yoke.
K35A799.12%A character finds a feather, the touch of which brings health and beauty.
K38F399.12%To kill the dragon, the hero digs a pit and hides in it. When the dragon crawls nearby or over the pit, the hero strikes it with a fatal blow of his sword.

 See more...

Please log on to view the narratives.



Map of Motif Dispersal

Click here for a clustered map

Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom



This motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, 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), Persians, Svans, Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz, Georgians, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis)


Please log on to view the narratives.