The Mythology and Folklore Database
B33E1 - Freezing in the womb.
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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
It is said that the cold, which is stronger than anything else, can freeze boiling water, a foetus in the womb, etc.Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 13, Formulae
B33 has 14 other sub-motifsB33. There is a female character who embodies the wind or is considered the mother or mistress of the winds. B33a. Deciding that it has become (or will soon become) warm, the character believes that winter is over (most often an old woman goes to graze cattle), but dies from the cold or the cattle driven out to pasture perish. Cf. motif I84A ("The frozen son of God"). B33a1. A person (animal, bird) teases or insults March or another calendar month and is punished as a result. B33b. At the border between winter and spring, a bird (usually a thrush) flies away prematurely into the cold and dies, or raises chicks and they die or suffer from the cold. B33c. The month on the border between winter and spring (usually March) takes (rarely: buys, steals) a few days from its neighbour. B33d. An elderly woman embodies winter, is associated with snow, and/or at the border between winter and spring (autumn) there are several very cold days associated with a certain old woman. B33d1. In narrative folklore, the days of the week (most often Friday and Wednesday) are special (female) characters with a more or less pronounced demonic nature. B33e. The last cold month regrets that it did not come earlier or that it is too short. In that case, it would have frozen everyone. B33e1. It is said that the cold, which is stronger than anything else, can freeze boiling water, a foetus in the womb, etc. b33e2. The severity of the cold in early spring is said to break the horns of large hoofed animals. B33f. A certain character performs actions that determine the change from dark to light times of day. It always involves yarn, thread, rope, or fabric, which the character unravels or winds up, or with which the hero binds the entity responsible for the daily cycle. B33f1. By performing certain actions, the (old) woman determines the daily cycle. B33f2. At night, the fire goes out. The young man goes to look for fire and on the way ties up an old woman or an old man (usually a character responsible for the length of night and day). B33g. Horsemen or horses represent celestial bodies or different periods of the day. B33h. The sun has a mother who lives with him (less often with her) in the same house. Cf. motif K27x6b ("The character goes to the mother of the sun") Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of B33's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I114 | 100.00% | Describes a ram or sheep with golden wool or the skin of such a ram. |
| L73A | 100.00% | The fugitives make sure that darkness spreads behind them, hindering their pursuers (while light pours in front of them). |
| M29Z2 | 99.99% | Being smart and witty, the Gipsy overcomes strong adversaries |
| A32D1 | 99.99% | Cain and Abel are associated with the moon, usually distinguishable (both or only Cain) in the silhouette of lunar spots. |
| B122 | 99.98% | Birds (cranes/storks, geese or crows) carry children away to another world or bring them back from there. See motif H6c3, "The Immortal Stork". |
| K61A1 | 99.98% | A dangerous character mistakes two people sleeping (hiding) in a sack or two people lying with their feet towards each other for a single creature. |
| M39A5A3 | 99.97% | Realizing that a wife telling the truth will cause trouble for the family, the husband says that the sounds she hears are the screams of her master (official, etc.) who is beaten, dragged to hell, etc. She repeats this to the master (official), who declares her insane. |
| B87B | 99.95% | The Great Bear – a cart harnessed by a wolf or bear. Usually, the shape of the handle of the dipper is explained by the fact that a wolf or bear attacked an ox harnessed to the cart and took its place. In this case, it is associated with Alcor or the last star of the handle of the dipper – η. |
| M38E | 99.95% | mushroom (pumpkin) thinks that it is as durable as a tree. |
| K38B3B | 99.93% | A mighty bird (rarely – another creature) helps a person for sheltering (warming) its chicks (offspring, children). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: France, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Swedes, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Armenians, Mari (Cheremis), Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks)