The Mythology and Folklore Database
G8F - Burnt wood chips.
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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
Characters cut down a tree, but the trunk grows back. They manage to finish the job after the splinters are carried away or burned.Berezkin category: Fertility and Agriculture
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
G8 has 7 other sub-motifsG8. People or animals cut or gnaw at a tree, mountain, or pillar of the sky. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their task (usually when they take a break) or periodically (at certain times). G8a. A man cuts down a tree to make a boat or something else from the trunk (Yap: a board for building a house; one of the texts from Ulithi: a wooden bird), goes away to rest, and upon returning finds the tree intact again. Usually, the character who restored the tree in the man's absence then cuts down the tree himself and makes what the hero needs. G8b. A person hides in a tree or (Kazakhs) hides behind walls. Another tries to cut down the tree (break down the walls) to get the person, but the cut tree grows back (or the already felled tree rises, the wall is restored). G8c. The first ancestors try to cut down a tree (less often a high rock) to get useful plants hanging on the branches (at the top) or water or fish in the trunk. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their work, or periodically. G8d. A tree (pillar, mountain) is cut down (gnawed, ground down) or prevented from being cut down in order to save the world (or the gods, the king, etc.) from danger. G8e. A character unsuccessfully cuts down a tree growing on the moon. G8f. Characters cut down a tree, but the trunk grows back. They manage to finish the job after the splinters are carried away or burned. G8g. There is a unique tree that must be bent or felled. Different creatures inhabit its separate parts and/or objects of special importance are made from its wood. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of G8's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| B30A | 95.67% | A fish emerges from the remains of a killed person or creature. At first, it is concentrated in one place, then spreads throughout the water. |
| E40 | 89.09% | The first humans had nostrils facing upwards, into which rain poured. |
| I37F | 89.06% | Mushrooms are called "ears". |
| J49 | 88.73% | The wife and/or sister of the Moon unsuccessfully tries to climb up to him in the sky or reaches him but returns to earth. |
| E27 | 88.68% | People arise from drops of blood from a wounded anthropomorphic creature. |
| D13E | 88.40% | Hunters perish because they laughed at the killed (and revived) animal. |
| M7 | 87.70% | The character goes to the lower world, to the sky, to the country on the horizon, etc. and waits for someone to give him a ride to his goal. Usually, some animals/birds or celestial bodies follow by, and the last (often the Sun or Month) delivers. |
| I133A | 87.48% | There is a constellation that represents a bird and corresponds to several large constellations in European traditions (mainly equatorial, rather than circumpolar). |
| I43A | 84.99% | A giant reptile, serpent, fish, or chain of fish stretches across the earth and/or supports the sky. Usually associated with the Milky Way, sometimes with a rainbow. |
| E34 | 82.95% | The cannibal is killed. From his ashes arise musical instruments taboo for women, used in male rituals. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Melanesians of the northern coast New Guinea, nearest off-shore islands and Huon Gulf (Morobe district): Watut, Bilbil (Bilibili), Jabim (incl Kai), Tami, Bukawac, Wogeo, Tumleo, Yakamul, Manam, Sissano, Sio, Melanesians of the islands of Massim District ( =Milke Bay Province) to the east of New Guinea: Dobu, Rossel, Fergusson, Goodenough, Murua (Woodlark), Trobrian Islands, d'Entrecasteau Islands, Melanesians and Papuans of Bismark Archipelago: New Britain (Paparatava, Lakalai, Kuni, Sulka, Gazelle peninsula), New Ireland, St Matthias Group, Mioko (Melanesians between New Britain and New Ireland), Guajiro, Sicuani, Guayabero, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Witoto, Ocaina, Vanuatu, Japan