Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
A9 — The Moon as protector of humans.
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
OverviewThe moon-woman does not allow her son or husband, the Sun, to destroy people.
Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A13B | 100.00% | During an eclipse or at the first appearance of night, ants eclipse the sun. |
| L3A | 100.00% | Left alone, a woman carelessly calls for someone to help her with the housework; a demon comes and kills the woman or her child. |
| B7D | 99.71% | Water pours from a broken bone, flooding the earth. |
| I129 | 99.71% | The rainy season is associated with the appearance of the Heron constellation in the sky. |
| L7B | 99.71% | While chasing a person, spirit, monster or beast, he mistakenly throws himself after a calabash floating down the river. |
| I27B | 99.67% | A dog carries a person across a river to another world. See motif I27. |
| M47 | 99.67% | When punishing a person or animal or restoring a dismembered body, a character intentionally or accidentally puts his head to his ass. |
| A22B | 99.47% | The sun and its companion burn up. The companion burns in a less intense fire (is thrown into the ashes, etc.); therefore, the moon (or star) is cold. See motif A22. |
| A22A | 99.39% | Two characters burn; one turns into the present sun, and the other into a less significant celestial object. See motif A22. |
| G4 | 99.29% | Cultivated plants found on or inside a mountain. |
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 A9, ‘The Moon as protector of humans.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (5 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/A9 (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
5 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Tojolabal, Chuj, Jacalteca, Kanjobal, Mocho (incl Tuzantec), Acatec, Tzeltal, Lacandon, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Kamakan; Kutasho
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How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
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