The Mythology and Folklore Database
G6 - The first tree.
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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
One of the trees is the main, original tree, which is very different from the others (it was the first to appear; the progenitor of trees; the progenitor of wild or cultivated plants; the sea and rivers within it; the world axis; higher than the others; obscuring the sky).Berezkin category: Fertility and Agriculture
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 6, Origin and interpretation of culture elements, in particular related to agriculture, inadequate forms of subsistence and economic activity before the establishment of the present norms
G6 has 1 other sub-motifsG6. One of the trees is the main, original tree, which is very different from the others (it was the first to appear; the progenitor of trees; the progenitor of wild or cultivated plants; the sea and rivers within it; the world axis; higher than the others; obscuring the sky). G6a. The year is described as a tree, the number of branches, twigs, and leaves of which corresponds to the number of seasons, months, days, etc. (or the year is a column with a certain number of objects on it; a building with a certain number of rooms). Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of G6's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I4A | 94.94% | Thunder falls to earth and cannot rise. Usually, a person helps it return to the sky. |
| A35 | 94.12% | Dark spots on the lunar disc – dirt, blood, paint, marks from blows, burns on the body or face of a character; they do not form a specific image. See motif A31. |
| H39 | 94.11% | Creatures that are now dangerous (snakes, insects) swallow an uncontrolled substance and as a result become poisonous or immortal; creatures acquire their nature (usually becoming poisonous) by drinking or licking a special potion. |
| I108 | 92.22% | The Pleiades are a single character, not a group of people. |
| G24 | 91.64% | The first seeds (shoots, tubers) of cultivated or important wild food plants and/or agronomic knowledge were brought from the sky (received from the gods). |
| L18 | 91.55% | A bird with two or more heads in descriptions or images. |
| F16 | 91.51% | Men possessed biological characteristics that are now characteristic of women, or vice versa (beards, menstruation, breasts, childbearing). |
| M21 | 91.42% | The character runs away from his pursuer. The person, animal or object that the character asks for help hides him (and kills the pursuer). |
| C2 | 91.22% | The inhabitants of the middle world (in part) are destroyed (or will be destroyed) once by fire or drought, another time by a flood, or the world is flooded with a stream of fire and boiling water. |
| H5 | 91.20% | Reptiles or invertebrates possess a life-giving agent; they are contrasted with humans as immortal mortals and/or responsible for the fact that humans die and are not reborn; the dead turn into snakes. See motif H4. (The first death comes from a snake bite (centipede), but snakes are not opposed to humans as immortals to mortals.) |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 116 traditions: Sumer, Dinka, Atuot, Nuer, Murle, Me'en (Bodi), Didinga, Chagga (Jagga; incl Wasu), Pare, Digo, Hehe, Pangwa (Upper Rufudji area), Bena, Matumbi, Ngoni, Pogolo, (Ma)konde, Mawiha, Lunda (Alunda), Herero (Herrero), Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Bushmen (all groups), Sandawe, Southern Solomons: southern part of Santa Ysabel (Bughotu), Guadalcanal, San Cristobal, Malaita, Ulawa, Tikopia, Bellona, Rennell, partly Aneytium, Futuna (=Erronan, not to be mixed with Futuna in Western Polynesia), Vaeaka-Taumato, incl Matema, Nifeloli, Nukapu, Nupani, Pileni, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Yap, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Minahasa (incl. Tondano, Tentemboan), Bantik, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Simeulue, Nias, Lampung (Lampong); South Sumatra Malays (incl. Bengkulu), Kayan, Bahau, Kenja, Aoheng, Punan (Bukat, Basap, Oloh Ot, etc); "Klemantan", Dusun, Murut, Kelabit, Tombonuwo, Bajau, Tidong, Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Thai of Vietnam, Tai Lue, Khao (Kho, Tai Don, White Tai), Tai Dam (Black Tai), Nung; Zhuang, Buyi; Shui, Viet, Muong, Nicobarese, Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Khasi, Eastern Arunachal Pradesh: Abor (incl Minyong, Shimong, Padam, Pasi, Panggi), Apa Tani (Apatani), Bori, Bugun, Dafla (=Nyishi, Nisi, Nishing, incl Tagin), Gallong (=Galo, Adi), Mishmi, SW Arunachal Pradesh: Sherdukpen, Tawang (Monpas), Aka (Hrusso), Miji, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Maria, Muria, and other South-Central Dravidians: Binjhwar, Bacop, Bhattra, Bom, Jhoria (=Jhodia), Gadaba (in Koraput, neighbors of Munda-speaking Gadaba), Duruwa (Parji), Mehtar; Pardhan, Kashmiri, Nepali; Tharu, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Early Chinese written sources, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Estonians, Finns, Karelians, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Persians, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Nogai, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Chuvash, Mansi, Forest Nenets, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Nganasans, Southern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Ainu, Udeghe, Nanai, Manchu, Aleuts, Lenape (Delaware), Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Tuscarora, Okanagon, Sanpoil, Flathead, Yana, Seri, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Tzotzil, Yucatec, Itza, Lacandon, Kekchi; Mopan, Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography, Sicuani, Cuiva, Guayabero, Yaruro, Makiritare (Yecuana), Piaroa, Saliva, Sanema, Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Trio, Hixkariyana, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Akawai, Locono, Siona, Secoya, Coreguaje, Chayahuita , Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Wanana, Tucano proper, Pira-Tapuya, Arapaso, Cubeo, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Witoto, Ocaina, Yagua, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Ese’ejja, Tupari, Makurap, Sakirap, Ajuru (Wayoro), Nambikwara, Paresi, Caraja, Botocudo, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Chamacoco (Ishir), Mataco, Chorote, Maldives, China