The Mythology and Folklore Database
A14 - Eclipses: the relationship between the sun and the moon, A737.7.
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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 meeting of the sun and the moon is the cause of eclipses or lunar phases.Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 1, Sun and Moon
A14 has 1 other sub-motifsA14. The meeting of the sun and the moon is the cause of eclipses or lunar phases. A14a. The sun and moon (month) are or have been in hostile relations either constantly or from time to time. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of A14's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| G8 | 96.80% | People or animals cut or gnaw at a tree, mountain, or pillar of the sky. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their task (usually when they take a break) or periodically (at certain times). |
| I41 | 95.48% | A rainbow is a reptile (usually a snake), less often a fish or snake-like, usually dangerous, object (snake tongue, scorpion tail). |
| A3 | 94.08% | The Moon is female or hermaphroditic, the Sun is male or, possibly, male. |
| L13 | 92.24% | 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. |
| H5 | 91.85% | Reptiles or invertebrates possess a life-giving agent; they are contrasted with humans as immortal mortals and/or responsible for the fact that humans die and are not reborn; the dead turn into snakes. See motif H4. (The first death comes from a snake bite (centipede), but snakes are not opposed to humans as immortals to mortals.) |
| I108 | 91.14% | The Pleiades are a single character, not a group of people. |
| A14A | 90.96% | The sun and moon (month) are or have been in hostile relations either constantly or from time to time. |
| F39 | 90.82% | In the past or in distant lands, women dominated men, were the active party in marital relations, and engaged in male activities. Men engaged in female activities. Later, the situation changed. Either women missed the opportunity to gain superiority. See motif F38. |
| M21 | 90.08% | The character runs away from his pursuer. The person, animal or object that the character asks for help hides him (and kills the pursuer). |
| L14 | 89.58% | 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). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 62 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Efe Pygmies, Kango (Mbuti) Pygmies, Mongo (Mongo-Nkundu), Nkundu, Ngelima, Ngombe, (Ba)Tetela), Pende, Wu(Kusu), (Ba)Mbala (incl Saie, Kwilu), Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Hausa, Teda (Tedaga), Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Tuareg, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Southern Gur (Oti-Volta): Grusi, Kabiye, Kasena, Lyela (Lyele), Wala, Dyan, Bia: Anyi, Agni, Baule, Nsema, Mandjak, Mankanya, Pepel, Balant, Felupe, Diola (Jola), Bushmen (all groups), Melanesians and Papuans of Bismark Archipelago: New Britain (Paparatava, Lakalai, Kuni, Sulka, Gazelle peninsula), New Ireland, St Matthias Group, Mioko (Melanesians between New Britain and New Ireland), Society Islands: Tahiti, Borabora, Raiatea, Sumbawa (incl Dongo), Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), To Loinang, To Wana, Balantak (Mian Balantak), Banggai Islands, Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), 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, Wa (incl Kawa), Bulang, Semang, Senoi, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Western Ukrainians, Abaza (Abazins), Ingush, Armenians, Shor, Southern Selkups, Southern and Central; Ryukyu Islands: Yaeyama, Miyako, Okinawa, Udeghe, Inland Tlingit, North Alaskan Inupiat, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Warihio (Guarijío), Tarahumara, Mayo, Yaqui, Sinaloa, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Pame, Jonaz (Chichimeca-Jonaz), Mazahua, Otomi, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tzutujil, Pipil, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Yupa (Yukpa), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Witoto, Ocaina, Yabuti, Amniapä, Kumana, Wari (Aikana), More (Itene), Paresi, Botocudo, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Wallons, Picardie, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)