The Mythology and Folklore Database
H7C1 - The trickster enters paradise.




20 Myths, Legends and Folktales
20 Unique Narratives for Motif H7C1
16 Cultures & Traditions where H7C1 is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
16 Sub-Motifs of Motif H7C1


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 Motif Summary  -   Motifs with Simlar Dispersals  -    Map of Myth Distribution   -   List of Traditions  -   Myths



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

The trickster first deceives Death (the devil), and then, also by deception, enters paradise.

Berezkin category: Paradise Lost

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior


H7 has 16 other sub-motifs


H7.  Death (as well as illness and old age) is a special character, distinct from the lord of the underworld. It takes away a person's soul or otherwise causes their death.
H7a.  Having received knowledge from Death (rarely: Happiness or a certain spirit) about whether the sick person will be healed or not, whether she is going to take his soul, the person will know whether he will recover. U.nyak praises him for his impartiality; U.t himself; the poor man scolds the doctor, becomes rich. Usually he sees where exactly Death (spirit, etc.) is near the bed, whether it is going to take his soul, whether the person will recover. U. praises him for his impartiality; U. himself; the poor man scolds the sick man, and on this basis knows what will happen to him.
H7b.  A person asks Death (a spirit) to climb a tree or sit on a bench, to which they stick and can only be freed with his permission.
H7b1.  Having received a magic bag, into which any creature can be forced against its will at the owner's discretion, a person gains power over Death or devils.
H7b2.  A man named Poverty makes Death swear that it will never come to him. Therefore, poverty is inevitable in the world.
H7c.  Death promises to take a man after he finishes his prayer or song (formerly ATU 1199B). The man breaks off his prayer (song) in the middle, and Death cannot take him.
H7c1.  The trickster first deceives Death (the devil), and then, also by deception, enters paradise.
H7d.  A man calls Death, and when it comes, asks it to help him lift a bundle of firewood or pull a cart with firewood.
H7e.  In the past, people knew when they would die, so before their death they stopped doing their work or performed their duties half-heartedly.
H7f.  God gives instructions that certain categories of people must die and suffer. The character who receives the instructions, caring for the people, passes on other orders to the executors.
H7f1.  Death devours the dead and thus satisfies its hunger.
H7f2.  The character embodying death had a body visible to humans. Then death became invisible.
H7g.  A person sees many burning candles or lamps. When one of them burns out, someone dies.
H7g1.  A man (usually looking for a godfather for his newborn son) rejects God (the saints) and the devil, but praises Death: it treats everyone without prejudice (or is richer than everyone else).
h7g2.  Knowing that Death is approaching, a person hopes that it will seek him on land, so he settles on the surface of the water or under the water. But Death finds him.
H7h.  Despite the warning, man goes to where Death is at that moment. Death enters his body or follows him, and since then, people have been mortal.
H7i.  Old Age, Illness, or Hunger are special characters, but Death is not mentioned.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
B115A100.00%Angry at the carpenters, the character (St. Peter) asks another (Christ) to make the knots in the wood or branches iron. The latter only makes them very hard.
J51A299.98%A girl must penetrate an inaccessible place with the help of chicken bones. She loses one or there are not enough bones. By cutting off her finger and using it as she would use the bones, the girl achieves her goal.
K176A99.98%The hero searches for his magical wife who has left him. It turns out that one of the winds is flying to her to perform a certain task. The hero follows him.
B125A99.97%The nightingale (or, less commonly, someone else) takes the copper's eyes and does not return them, leaving her blind.
L9G99.86%A man's hair or beard of an unusual colour is a sign of his demonic nature.
M39G299.78%Numskulls try to shovel nuts with a pitchfork. F stranger shows them how to do this work more easily with a shovel (a basket)
B33B99.71%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.
L65B199.71%A man exchanges sheep (goats) for dogs. The exchange seems unequal, but the dogs help him achieve success.
M114I199.71%A man replies that his father (brother, etc.) hunts: he kills (discards) those he sees, and leaves (brings back) those he does not see (those not killed). This refers to lice or fleas.
H7B199.67%Having received a magic bag, into which any creature can be forced against its will at the owner's discretion, a person gains power over Death or devils.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Portuguese, Portugal, Sicily, Sicilians, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Slovakians, Slovaks, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Estonians, Finns, Norwegians, Swedes, Armenians, Wallons, Picardie, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Russian Federation


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