Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J19B — Burnt belly.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewAn evil spirit kills a woman by burning through her body.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
J19 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedJ19. While her husband or brother is hunting, an evil spirit comes to his wife or sister; he kills her or takes her away. Her sons, who were torn from her womb or born at that time, are saved.
J19a. When a woman is left alone, a demonic character comes to her. He says that in order to perform certain actions, she must give him a certain part of her body, even though this contradicts logic and custom. After that, the character kills her (cuts open her stomach; tears out her tongue).
J19b. An evil spirit kills a woman by burning through her body.
J19c. A demonic character comes to a woman and tears out her tongue. She dies (and comes back to life when her tongue is found and returned).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M53 | 99.82% | The character invites others to gather around him, focusing on an activity (usually dancing with their eyes closed or lowered), and then kills the crowd (usually one at a time). |
| M69 | 99.66% | character is attracted by the inside of a large animal's skull (small animals or insects are dancing or feasting inside, or eating some meat); he sticks his head inside , it gets stuck. |
| A38D | 99.01% | Because the Sun has harmed the character (ruined or burned his cloak, the fur on his skin, etc.), he catches it in a trap or kills it. |
| C6B | 98.12% | The desired object is brought up from the bottom by a muskrat (rarely a beaver or otter). |
| M80 | 98.12% | The character insults a partridge bird, kills or offends its chickens; the partridge suddenly takes off in front of the offender, he falls (usually into a lake or river). |
| I22H | 98.02% | The character must jump over a gap (abyss) beneath his feet, which alternately widens and narrows, or a river whose banks converge and diverge. |
| A38C | 97.98% | The Sun exchanges a cape made of animal or bird skins with a boy or girl, or spoils it. As a result, the boy or girl raises their status or takes revenge on the Sun. |
| D4N | 97.98% | A boy or (among the Kutené) a woman cries, demanding the absent elements - summer, fire, rain. See motif D4A (demand for summer). |
| M66 | 97.63% | After eating certain foods frivolously or rubbing his body with his spine, the character suffers from itching, diarrhea, or an irrepressible eruption of intestinal gases. |
| L5E1 | 97.59% | A woman who has become a monster pursues her own children. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Cite this map
Distribution of the traditions attesting motif J19B, ‘Burnt belly.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (3 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/J19B (accessed 12 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
3 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 3 traditions: Micmac, Crow, Hidatsa
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How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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