The Mythology and Folklore Database
I8G - Atlas, A842.
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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
A single giant holds up the earth or the sky.Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
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
I8 has 10 other sub-motifsI8A. The world, earth or sky are supported by anthropomorphic beings. I8B. The earth or sky is supported by zoomorphic creatures. I8c. The earth is prevented from falling or swaying because it is tied with ropes. I8D. The earth or sky is supported by mountains, pillars, nails, trees. I8e. The sky or the earth is supported by four anthropomorphic male characters located at the four cardinal points. I8e1. The sky or earth is supported by four objects or beings located at the four cardinal points (either four groups of beings, or four at the corners and a fifth in the centre). Th A841. See motifs 8A, 8D. I8f. The sky, the world rests on a single object (a pillar or tree). I8g. A single giant holds up the earth or the sky. I8G1. At the foot of the world pillar is an anthropomorphic character, or a character identified with a tree or pillar on which the world rests, or a character holding ropes on which the world is suspended. I8h. The earth is supported by a man and a woman in the underworld. I8i. Initially, the earth rocks, unstable, and must be specially secured. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I8's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| J21 | 95.01% | Gods, ancestors of humans, and founders of dynasties are born from eggs. |
| B2E | 93.69% | The Earth or the world as a whole is a male character (alone or alongside a female character). |
| C7 | 93.66% | Initially or after the flood, an earthen or stone barrier, the body of a character or creature prevents the flow of water. Later, this barrier is removed or destroyed. |
| I8E1 | 93.45% | The sky or earth is supported by four objects or beings located at the four cardinal points (either four groups of beings, or four at the corners and a fifth in the centre). Th A841. See motifs 8A, 8D. |
| L13 | 93.25% | People feed a dangerous creature, or it grows on its own in a man-made enclosure. Once it becomes big and strong, it starts to destroy people. |
| L14 | 93.04% | People bring a small creature (usually a worm or reptile) into their home and raise it, or it settles into a man-made dwelling on its own. The creature turns into something terrifying or magnificent. See motif L13 (raised monster attacks people). |
| F16 | 91.22% | Men possessed biological characteristics that are now characteristic of women, or vice versa (beards, menstruation, breasts, childbearing). |
| K25E | 90.34% | Humans in general or a specific ethnic, tribal or social group are considered descendants of an earthly man and woman of supernatural origin. |
| I7 | 90.18% | The reptile produces rain and thunderstorms. |
| I85C1 | 90.08% | In the sky there is a vessel, a box or an indescribable container for storing rain (rain clouds). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 47 traditions: Ugarit, Phoenicia, Tonga, Temne (Timne), Society Islands: Tahiti, Borabora, Raiatea, Alor, Solor, Wetar, Atauru, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), Simeulue, Nias, 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, Central islands and Bikol: Vizaya, Mansaká, Bikol, Mangyan, Panayan, Sulod, Cebuano (Cebu), Capiz, Romblomanon, Manuyu, Southern Taiwan: Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Saaroa, Ketangalan, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Chin-Naga: Ao, Mao, Sema, Zeme, Kolren, Kom, Lhota, Rengma, Angami, Kabui, Tangkhul, Koirenf, Toda, Kota, Kuruba (Kurumba), Badaga, Maravar, Pulaya, Kadar, Tribal groups and castes of Central-Eastern India that speak Aryan languages: Dhoba (Dhobi), Halba (Halbi), Bhunjia, Lohar (Luhar, Luhara), Kahar, Sinhalese; Vedda, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Li , Koreans, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Western Ukrainians, Ossetians, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Forest Nenets, Tahltan, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw), Nahuan groups of Puebla and Huasteca after AD1900, Huave, Tzotzil, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Kogi (Cagaba), Sanha, Creols of Aritama Valley, Muisca, Muzo, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Northern Peru: Costa (Spanish speaking communities from Ecuadorian border till Ancash and Huanuco departments included; Moche pre-Columbian iconography; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Harákmbet (=Mashco), Tacana, Tupari, Makurap, Sakirap, Ajuru (Wayoro), Mundurucu, Curuaia, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Kayapa