The Mythology and Folklore Database
E5E - The two-headed creature does not come out onto the ground.
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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
People or animals come out from under the ground or descend from the sky. The two-headed creature following them gets stuck in the opening or is not allowed to come out.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
E5 has 6 other sub-motifsE5. God makes man out of clay. He must wait until it dries, but tries to stand up earlier. E5a. The first humans (or only the first men or first women) were not created by a demiurge, but emerged from under the ground (from a cave) or from a small object on its surface (a tree, stone, pumpkin, etc.). There are many emerging humans (or humans and animals). Cf. motif E5B: first ancestors from the underworld. E5aa. The first people grew out of the ground like trees, grass, and mushrooms. E5b. The first human (a group of brothers) or the first human couple emerge from underground (from a cave) or from a small object on the surface (a mound, a reed, a tree, a stone, a pumpkin). Cf. motif E5A: people from the underworld. E5c. The first humans or deities-ancestors descend to earth from the sky. E5d. The first people to arrive on earth and settle within a limited space are threatened by a predator or monster. E5e. People or animals come out from under the ground or descend from the sky. The two-headed creature following them gets stuck in the opening or is not allowed to come out. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of E5's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I81A | 92.16% | The giant crab causes earthquakes or floods, closes or can close the water outlet. |
| B3E | 91.56% | At first, below the sky there is only air and water or (rarely) swamp, an indefinite abyss. A character descends from the sky, creates or has a support created for him, and the earth grows out of it; the earth is lowered, dropped from the sky; the earth is thrown, placed on the surface of the sea, and grows into land; the earth is brought from somewhere else (not from the underworld) and placed on the waters. (This is a more general motif compared to motif b79a1, "The bird dropped the firmament onto the waters"). |
| B1D | 89.44% | Two characters are building the world, one works poorly, the other well, so different parts of the universe (or a specific island) have different appearances. |
| F54D | 89.44% | A woman gives birth to a boy after accidentally drinking animal urine, or a female animal gives birth to a boy after drinking a man's urine. |
| M144 | 89.44% | One character manages to convince another that dangerous and inedible objects are attractive and delicious (a wasp's nest is a drum, a snake is a flute, dung is a delicacy, etc.). |
| G20 | 89.04% | Edible (cultivated or wild) plants emerge from the body of an old woman, a young woman or a girl. |
| L85B | 88.89% | A pregnant woman curses the Sun, Rain or another powerful character. Because of this, the child is born physically disabled. He possesses magical powers and usually acquires a normal body. |
| C8C | 88.35% | After a global catastrophe, at the beginning of time or when settling a new land, a woman and her son give birth to humans. |
| F54A | 87.83% | In her husband's appearance, the woman discovers signs that are not immediately noticeable, indicating that he has hidden his true nature from her and is not the right marriage partner (he is an animal, or her son, brother or father); or the husband discovers in the same way that his wife is his sister. |
| I81B | 86.87% | During high tide, a certain creature spews seawater or displaces it with its body, and during low tide, it swallows the water or makes room for it (or it is simply reported that the water is either spewed or recedes). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 7 traditions: Somali, Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Stieng, Chrau, Sre (Koho), Maa, Mnong, Menominee, Mandan, Sanapana, Lengua (incl Angaite)