The Mythology and Folklore Database
A32E - Character with an object in their hands.
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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
On the lunar (rarely: solar) disc, a character holding an object or animal is visible. See motif A32D.Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations
A32 has 19 other sub-motifsA32. A figure or imprint of some creature or object is visible on the lunar disc. Statistical calculations also include motifs A32A – A32J (a rabbit, frog, predatory animal, human, tree, etc. are visible on the moon). A32a. The figure or imprint of a rabbit or hare is visible on the lunar disc. A32b. The figure or imprint of a toad or frog is visible on the lunar disc; the moon is associated with this animal. A32b1. A woman sits (jumps) on the face (back) of the Moon Man and is now visible in the silhouette of the moon spots. A32c. The figures of a man and a dog are visible (or should have been visible) on the lunar disc. A32c1. The figure or imprint of a predatory mammal (fox, wolf, dog, coyote, jaguar, lion) is visible on the lunar disc. Either this animal is associated with the moon, belongs to it. See motif A34. A32d. The figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic creature is visible on the lunar disc. A32d1. Cain and Abel are associated with the moon, usually distinguishable (both or only Cain) in the silhouette of lunar spots. A32d2. A man with a pitchfork in his hands can be seen in the silhouette of the moon's spots. A32dd. The lunar disc shows the figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic character carrying a bundle of wood or brushwood. A32de. A headless man is visible on the lunar disc. A32e. On the lunar (rarely: solar) disc, a character holding an object or animal is visible. See motif A32D. A32f. On the lunar disc, a character is visible who has gone to fetch water and/or is holding a vessel for liquid in his hands. See motif A32D. A32g. On the lunar disc, a character can be seen holding onto a tree or bush and ending up on the moon with them. See motif A32D. A32h. A tree, bush, branch, snag, etc. are visible on the lunar disc. See motif A32G. A32i. A shepherd (shepherd and girl, shepherd and his flock, dogs) can be seen on the lunar disc. A32j. A shaman with a tambourine ascends to the moon and remains there, visible in the silhouette of the lunar spots. A32k. A character, discernible in the silhouette of the moon's spots, first headed for the sun and only then reached the moon, or the Sun and the Moon argued over who he should belong to. A32l. The silhouette of a certain character is visible on the solar disc. Or it is said that the character fell into the sun and remained there. A32m. The moon is called the "Gypsy sun". Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of A32's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L72A | 97.69% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws behind him a comb (brush), which turns into an obstacle (almost always thickets) in the path of his pursuer. (In South America, this motif is most likely of European origin). See Andreev 1929, No. 313.I. |
| K66C | 97.54% | A bear (lion) takes a woman away, or a she-bear takes a man away. They have children who are either human or bear-like in appearance. Less commonly, a woman gives birth to a son in a den because she was pregnant at the time of her abduction by the bear. |
| B87 | 95.98% | Alcor (a faint star next to the second star of the Big Dipper's handle) stands out as a separate celestial object. |
| A32D | 95.53% | The figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic creature is visible on the lunar disc. |
| B1 | 95.40% | Two anthropomorphic creators compete in the creation of the earth and/or humans. One is or becomes the master of the underworld or is associated with the spirit world, in contrast to the first, who is associated with the human world. |
| L42 | 95.24% | After capturing the character, the enemy brings the prey home or to the place where he intends to eat it. The character runs away and escapes. |
| L72 | 95.16% | While fleeing, the character throws small objects behind him, which turn into powerful obstacles in the path of the pursuer, or (rarely) the pursuer creates such obstacles in the path of the fugitives. (Cf. SUS 1979, No. 313H = AA 313I, p. 114: escape by throwing magical objects, an episode in various types of fairy tales). |
| I45A | 94.85% | Pointing at or staring at the moon or stars will cause illness (death) or the pointing finger to rot or wither. |
| M109 | 94.73% | A zoomorphic character sits down, lowering his tail (penis) so that something edible will stick to it, but as a result he is left without a tail (penis) or dies. Cf. motifs M109A, M109C. |
| A32F | 94.19% | On the lunar disc, a character is visible who has gone to fetch water and/or is holding a vessel for liquid in his hands. See motif A32D. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 103 traditions: Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Tswana (Chwana), Suto (Soto; incl Pedi, Mbire), Duala (Douala), Basa (Basaá), Kwiri (Kweli), Isubu, Samoa, Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands), Society Islands: Tahiti, Borabora, Raiatea, Southern Cook Islands: Mangaia, Rarotonga, Atiu, Iatutakim Pukapuka, Tubuai (=Austral Islands, incl Rapa), Hawaii, Northern Halmahera Papuans: Galela, Loda, Pagu, Modole, Tabaru (Tobaru), Tobelo, Tidore, Ternate, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Minahasa (incl. Tondano, Tentemboan), Bantik, Bengali, Gujarati, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Early Chinese written sources, Ireland, Wales, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Basques, Catalan, Aragon, Sicily, Sicilians, France, 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, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Karelians, Western Sami, Swedes, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), 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), Sarikoli, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Nogai, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Forest Nenets, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Darkhad, Khakas, Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Nenets, Nganasans, Southern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Evens (Lamuts), Southern and Central; Ryukyu Islands: Yaeyama, Miyako, Okinawa, Udeghe, Nanai, Negidal, Nivkh, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chuvans, Russian-speaking Creols of Markovo, Chukchi, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Tutchone, Tahltan, Tanana, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), North Alaskan Inupiat, Copper, Micmac, Arapaho, Iowa, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Twana (Skokomish), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Quileute, Chemakum (Hoh), Quinault, Flathead, Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Chontal, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Bhutan, Lutsi (Ludza), Terek Cossacks