The Mythology and Folklore Database
H9 - Strong and fragile.
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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 are mortal (they get sick and grow old) because they are compared to something weak, fragile, easily subject to destruction or decay (upper Tanana: people have not died out because they are made of durable material rather than ephemeral material).Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
H9 has 2 other sub-motifsH9. People are mortal (they get sick and grow old) because they are compared to something weak, fragile, easily subject to destruction or decay (upper Tanana: people have not died out because they are made of durable material rather than ephemeral material). H9a. Of two women, one of whom is associated with a stone and the other with a plant, only the plant woman leaves offspring, which is why people are what they are (mortal, capable of speech, etc.). Alternatively, children born to two women have opposite characteristics (skilled and unskilled, etc.). H9b. People have become like plants, which, although mortal, live on in their descendants (shoots). Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H9's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| F80A | 92.88% | Genitals exist independently of people; they can be left behind, attached to the body, etc. |
| M1B | 89.30% | A caiman/crocodile carries a monkey across a river. She manages to jump ashore and runs away from the caiman. |
| F80 | 88.87% | The first men and/or women have no genitals, then they acquire them. |
| H4A | 87.46% | People no longer rejuvenate (usually, they do not change their skin), because they were disturbed at the moment of renewal or were not recognised as the same person after renewal. See motif H4. |
| M44B | 87.20% | The character discovers that someone is stealing game or fish from his trap, mountain, etc. or ravages his garden, vegetable garden, field; he or his messengers wait and catch the thief. The kidnappers are women, or the aquatic animal is the kidnapper, but when caught, it gives the hero a woman. |
| D12 | 86.83% | People in the past or inhabitants of distant lands cooked food in the sun; or the owner of the fire lies, saying that the food was cooked in this way. |
| A12E | 86.26% | The spider attacks the sun or moon (usually causing lunar eclipses). |
| J54 | 86.00% | The heroes of the narrative exterminate animals or demons of a certain species. This species could have disappeared altogether if one or more individuals (often a pregnant female) had not been saved. {This motif does not include aetiological endings, according to which the current creatures of a certain species originate from a dismembered original creature}. |
| G23A | 85.95% | Parts of the body and organs of living beings are transformed into various plants (teeth into corn, testicles into yams, etc.). |
| G20 | 85.78% | Edible (cultivated or wild) plants emerge from the body of an old woman, a young woman or a girl. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 48 traditions: Acoli (Acholi), Lur (Alur, Luri), Lango, Kerewe, Sukuma, Kwaya, Kumbi, Busiba, Gusii, Suba, Nyatutu, Kiniramba, Isanzu, Chagga (Jagga; incl Wasu), Pare, Digo, Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), To Loinang, To Wana, Balantak (Mian Balantak), Banggai Islands, Batak (Toba, Dairi), Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, 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, Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Ami, Kirati (Kiranti): Rai (incl Thulung), Limbu, Newar, Mansi, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Ainu, Chugach, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Inland Tlingit, Tahltan, Athna, Koyukon, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Plains Ojibwa, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Sanema, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Trio, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Machiguenga, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Bororo, Caraja, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje), Sherente, Chorote, Papua-New Guinea Northern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Komba, Gimi, Susure, Orokaiva, Bogadjim, Ngain, Sentani, Bargam, Imonda, Nankina, Yupta Valley, Urawa Valley, Warupu (Barupu), Pondoma (Anam), Kenya, Palau