The Mythology and Folklore Database
E9G - The magical wife - the vulture.




16 Myths, Legends and Folktales
16 Unique Narratives for Motif E9G
14 Cultures & Traditions where E9G is told
16 Mythemes Indexed
21 Sub-Motifs of Motif E9G


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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

Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture.

Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms


E9 has 21 other sub-motifs


E9.  The character notices that someone is running the house in his absence and catches the person doing so by surprise.
E9a.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a fox.
E9aa.  A man searches for a missing woman, who is a fox by nature, and comes to the burrow where she has hidden. Various bird or animal women come out of the burrow and offer themselves in place of the fox. Then they let him inside.
E9b.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of an elephant (elephant tusk).
E9c.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a large hoofed mammal (buffalo, antelope, moose, etc.).
E9d.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dog or puppy (wolf cub).
E9e.  An animal or object received by a young man from supernatural beings as a reward for his kindness, upon the young man's return home (to earth), turns into a girl.
E9f.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a parrot.
E9g.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture.
E9h.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dove.
E9i1.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a swan.
E9i2.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper, adopted daughter) takes the form of a duck.
E9i3.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a goose.
E9i4.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a crane.
e9i5.  Before meeting the hero, his wife takes the form of a snail.
E9j.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a monkey, or the man hides the woman and pretends that the mistress is a monkey.
e9j1.  Humans are considered descendants of monkeys.
E9k.  The husband or wife is the embodiment of honey or a human bee.
E9l.  Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a mouse (rarely: a rat).
E9m.  A man marries a bear (white or grizzly) that takes the form of a woman, or a woman who takes the form of a bear.
E9n.  A man marries a female seal, seal or dolphin that has taken the form of a woman and lives with her among people.
E9o.  A man marries a woman who has the appearance of a frog or toad.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
B42D100.00%In the cosmic hunting plot, the object of pursuit is a bear. See motif B42.
H38100.00%A supernatural character changes appearance and comes to the hero's children (less often to the hero himself). Unaware of the trick, they hand over the magical object they have obtained to its former owner, and the character disappears with it.
K11B100.00%The bones of a huge bird are turned into reeds or bamboo for making arrows or sarbacanes.
M1A100.00%The caiman transports one of the brothers or a group of brothers, who then turn into the Pleiades. It usually bites off the leg of the youngest. Cf. motif K13B.
F9B99.89%A biting piranha in a woman's genitals.
A2599.85%When coming out onto the earth (for the first time or after a global catastrophe) or witnessing the first sunrise, people should not look directly at the light.
J6899.85%Characters who have been chasing an animal for a long time see increasingly fresh droppings on the trail and finally catch up with their prey (usually the droppings correspond to how long they have been lying there); or the pursuers see areas where less time has passed since sowing.
L39A99.62%A supernatural character emerges from the underworld and attacks a man who has climbed a tree.
L7899.52%In the images, the character has the features of a jaguar and a toad; the toad/frog turns into a jaguar; the toad/frog is the mother or wife of the jaguar.
J4399.28%To destroy his antagonists, the hero creates edible bait for them, usually a fruit tree on the other side of the river.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 14 traditions: Yana, Lacandon, Yupa (Yukpa), Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Trio, Hixkariyana, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Locono, Wayana, Aparai, Siona, Secoya, Coreguaje, Kandoshi (Murato, Maina); Iquito, Kofan, Karijona, Tenetehara


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