The Mythology and Folklore Database
N27C - The bird does not have milk




32 Myths, Legends and Folktales
32 Unique Narratives for Motif N27C
17 Cultures & Traditions where N27C is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
3 Sub-Motifs of Motif N27C


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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

It is claimed that the bird has no milk and/or breasts

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

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
N27B99.87%It is said that someone is only lacking bird’s milk or that somewhere the only thing missing is bird’s milk
K27SS99.62%A strong man must overtake a woman, often an old woman. This is difficult or impossible to achieve.
B32A99.61%The enemies of a hero sailing the sea turn into seals or dolphins.
I13799.61%One of the constellations is associated with footwear, usually with (worn-out) bast shoes.
I95B99.61%Orion is a yoke.
K35A799.61%A character finds a feather, the touch of which brings health and beauty.
K38F399.61%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.
M39A2A99.61%fool buys spoons and/or a table, tells the table to go on its own feet, throws away spoons because they rattle. The two episodes are usually combined.
M39A3B99.61%fool decides that stumps need hats, puts pots on the stumps.
N28F99.61%It is said that water has no boughs or twigs

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 17 traditions: Lithuanians, Estonians, Karelians, Vepsians, Tats, Kalmyk, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Uyghur, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Early Russian written sources, Russian Federation


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