The Mythology and Folklore Database
B16A - Sea of urine.




13 Myths, Legends and Folktales
12 Unique Narratives for Motif B16A
5 Cultures & Traditions where B16A is told
49 Mythemes Indexed
3 Sub-Motifs of Motif B16A


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

The sea is formed from urine or blood.

Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature


B16 has 3 other sub-motifs


B16.  The water of the sea, rivers, etc. comes from the fluid that flows from the body of a living being, or is contaminated by it; therefore, it is salty or opaque.
B16a.  The sea is formed from urine or blood.
B16b.  The sea is salty because a wolverine or a fox bathed in it or urinated in it.
B16c.  The magic mill is ordered to grind salt, but is not given the command to stop. The mill sinks into the sea, usually grinding salt to this day.

 Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of B16's motifs?



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
M81C92.34%A person goes to heaven or (rarely) to the lower world, where he meets blind people (one or two), usually makes them sighted, and returns to earth himself.
K27K88.74%Test: to dive underwater for a long time or deeply. See motif K27.
K3188.59%The character makes a marine mammal or fish out of wood. It kills his enemies or drags them out to the open sea.
F1588.45%The character sticks his plant-like penis out of the ground (provoking a woman to sit on it).
J23C88.39%People in general or older brothers (siblings, older sister) disappear one after another. A woman raises a boy from infancy or, left alone, miraculously conceives a son or finds a baby. He defeats the antagonists, usually reviving or freeing the missing ones.
M81D87.50%A person meets (most often in the sky) one or two blind people and restores their sight.
E30A86.86%A man without a wife or a woman without a husband uses a substitute spouse made of wood or other material until a real spouse appears.
L5686.40%A large animal or monster perishes from a fire kindled in its belly. See motif K8A.
K2686.17%Approaching an opening or making one, the character sees the world below (usually seeing the earth from the sky). See motif K25.
J5785.72%Conceived by the Sun, a woman gives birth to sons or a son; when they come of age, they visit their father. See motif J56.

 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 5 traditions: Central Vanuatu: Espiritu Santo, Araki, Aore, Maewo, Malekula, Vao, Efate (Vate), Nguna, Mae, Ambrim, Pentecost, Oba (=Aoba, East Ambae, Lepers'), Omba, Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Yurok, Luiseño, Juaneño, Kodiak


Please log on to view the narratives.