The Mythology and Folklore Database
K18A - The boy takes a bow and arrows.
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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
The boy's father is recognised as the man whose bow or arrows he chooses. See motif K18.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K18 has 5 other sub-motifsK18. A boy is born whose father (rarely mother) is unknown. He chooses his true father (mother), who usually occupies the lowest social position. Usually, a group of men or women gather together, each of whom wants the boy to choose him or her. K18a. The boy's father is recognised as the man whose bow or arrows he chooses. See motif K18. k18aa. A girl becomes pregnant without her knowledge through contact with the bodily secretions of a male character or with objects that he has touched (i.e. not as a result of sexual intercourse, not as a result of the simple desire of the father of her future child, and not through mystical contact with a deity). The story ends with the happy union of the girl and the father of her child. K18b. Men or women approach the little boy one after another or take him in their arms. The person who makes the boy stop crying is recognised as his parent. See motif K18. K18c. The man in whose arms the boy urinates will be recognised as his father. See motif K18. K18d. A young man releases or saves a fish (frog, snake, supernatural creature), it grants his wishes, and he marries a princess. {References to ATU are not entirely reliable. In particular, Uther 2004 includes a Corsican variant (Massignon 1984, No. 66), in which the main part of the plot is missing. References to Balkan variants probably correspond to the definition of the plot, since it does exist among the Bulgarians}. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K18's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M73 | 98.16% | Two characters compare their excrement or vomit to learn about each other's diet and decide which of them is the more powerful beast. One of them manages to replace the selections. (Traditions in which vomiting is substituted are greasy). |
| L9A | 97.67% | The character's leg is crippled (intentionally or accidentally) or originally pointed. He uses the pointed bone for hunting, fishing or killing people. |
| J16 | 97.66% | The character perishes because, being forced to look for insects in the head of another, he refuses to chew insects, spits them out in disgust, or is suspected of doing so. |
| B27B | 97.26% | The characters ponder what they should transform into and decide to become a celestial object. |
| J3 | 96.48% | A woman conceives a son or twins in a way that is incomprehensible to her; the reason is that when she sits on the ground, a male character (animal) creeps under the ground and fertilises her from below. |
| F96 | 95.33% | A girl or wife rejects an unattractive man. He becomes handsome (usually after encountering a supernatural being), and those who treated him badly are punished. |
| J60 | 94.73% | A woman conceives twins from two different fathers. |
| D13C | 94.30% | Two companions or brothers live together. The older one has a wife, whom he hides. To discover her, the younger one, left alone in the house, makes her laugh. |
| I28A | 94.30% | Large animals that are hunted go underground and cause earthquakes. |
| E13A | 93.76% | Sacred knowledge, objects and rituals were first obtained by humans from the inhabitants of the underwater world. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Batak (Toba, Dairi), Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Alabama, Koasati, Tupinamba, Trumai, Bororo, Mataco, Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet