The Mythology and Folklore Database
E1B - Man made of unsuitable material.
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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
A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions.Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms
E1 has 7 other sub-motifsE1. The first human being was created, made by a certain character, and did not exist initially (on earth, underground, in the sky, in a small container) and did not arise spontaneously. Only variants that specify the material from which humans were created, or that refer separately to the creation of the human figure and its ensoulment, rather than simply to the fact of "creation" itself, are taken into account. E1a. The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable. E1a1. A deity or ancestor moulds people from clay. Some of the figures got wet, which is why there are cripples among people. E1b. A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions. E1b1. A man who has married an unusual girl is warned that she must not perform certain tasks or eat certain foods. Other members of his household ensure that the young woman breaks the prohibition, and as a result she dies or disappears. E1c. Man made from human excrement or (Inupiat) from carrion. E1d. (The first) boat is made of obviously unsuitable material. E1e. The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of E1's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| J46 | 94.06% | Antagonists perish by falling into water or attempting to cross a water barrier. See motifs J42, J44. |
| I22 | 92.94% | There are objects that, while remaining in place, move constantly or periodically (collide and diverge, fall and rise, open and close, rotate). |
| H24 | 92.59% | A vessel or other small container with valuables or living beings (creatures) is opened (prematurely). Its contents get out of control or disappear. |
| M28 | 92.25% | When able to take off, the character takes off but falls or stays in a remote place from where he can no longer take off. |
| M30 | 92.00% | character who has no natural wings or can't fly long distances rises into the air, but falls or, having lost its wings, stays where he can't return from. (The motive includes several options, but even when taken together, they don't cover the whole world. Texts with M25 and M28 motifs are counted as including the M30 motif). |
| L56 | 90.46% | A large animal or monster perishes from a fire kindled in its belly. See motif K8A. |
| G2 | 90.24% | A character embodying fertility and life, who first disappears and then (periodically) returns. |
| A5 | 90.22% | The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (rarely) has no gender. |
| K8C | 89.84% | The character enters the belly of an ordinary land animal, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. Cf. motif M118. |
| K18 | 89.81% | 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. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 57 traditions: Shone (Shona, =Mashona, =Karanga), Makoni (Shoni dialect), Remba (=Hungwe, Wahungwe); Zezuru, Rozwi, Ndau (Vandau), Cross-River: Efik, Ibibio, Anaang (Anang), Ikom, Abua, Igbo (Ibo); Isoko, Urhobo, Papua-NewGuinea Highland Papuans:Trans New Guinea & unclassified:Chimbu,Gimi,KaugelHuli,Gadsup,Kuman,Kutubu,Foi (Foe),Kyaka,Kamano (Kafe),Mawatta,Kukukuku (=Anga,=Sambia;Manki,Nauti,Ejuti),Baruya,Kewa,Tembregak,Menya,Melpa,Wiru,Pondoma, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Gagauz, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Southern Selkups, Ainu, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Kerek, Chukchi, Inland Tlingit, Tsetsaut, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), North Alaskan Inupiat, Iglulik, Polar Inuit, Tsimshian, Naskapi, Menominee, Blackfoot, Plains Ojibwa, Assiniboine, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Comox, Pentlatch, Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Pomo, Yana, Hopi, Guajiro, Sicuani, Guayabero, Makiritare (Yecuana), Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Wayana, Aparai, Colorado (Tsachila), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kofan, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Kayabi, Tonga (Tsonga; incl, Soli, Sala, Lenje), Antarctica, Greenland