The Mythology and Folklore Database
A20 - Childhood and youth of the Sun and Moon.




72 Myths, Legends and Folktales
63 Unique Narratives for Motif A20
26 Cultures & Traditions where A20 is told
133 Mythemes Indexed
0 Sub-Motifs of Motif A20


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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

The Sun and the Moon (less often the Sun and a star, the Moon and a star) are brothers (sisters, brother and sister) who initially live on earth, but at the end of the story, as teenagers or young adults, ascend to the sky and become celestial bodies.

Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 1, Sun and Moon



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
B5494.98%Wood chips, branches or pieces of bark that have fallen or been thrown into the water turn into fish and aquatic animals.
I1893.74%Visiting the world of people without an anus or mouth (the underworld, if not otherwise), the hero or heroine enters or attempts to enter into sexual relations with the local inhabitants. See motif I14.
L5992.85%A woman eats the best food or eats fruit before it is ripe; as punishment, she undergoes metamorphosis.
F3592.63%A character offers another person the meat of his sexual partner, and the other person, unaware, eats or cooks it.
M75D92.35%A man bereaves vultures of their hunting weapons or amulets
F2890.85%There is a separate penis character with whom the first women, Amazons, or simply some woman copulate.
I3490.79%It is necessary to approach a tree that is surrounded by fire, spews fire, throws sharp splinters, etc.
F3390.50%A woman or group of women take a water animal or water monster as their lover. The husband(s), brother(s) or (adopted) children of the woman(s) kill or maim the lover and (in some cases) the woman(s).
G190.31%In order to acquire or regain values (land, soil, cultivated plants, sun, fire, shamanic knowledge, luck), people lure or steal the son or daughter of a certain character.
G2689.90%After swallowing or hiding food in their mouth, the character brings it to earth (passes it on to people).

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 26 traditions: Akan, Ashanti, Akwapim; Ga (Accra), Kra, Twi (Chwi, Chi), Burmese, Intha, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Koreans, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Iglulik, Comox, Pentlatch, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Twana (Skokomish), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Okanagon, Sanpoil, Western Mexico Nahuatl, Zapotec, Chatino, Tequistlatec, Kogi (Cagaba), Sanha, Creols of Aritama Valley, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Amuesha, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Bakairi, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Trumai, Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal)


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