The Mythology and Folklore Database
I110 - Heavenly farmers.




155 Myths, Legends and Folktales
154 Unique Narratives for Motif I110
42 Cultures & Traditions where I110 is told
59 Mythemes Indexed
2 Sub-Motifs of Motif I110


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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

Constellations are associated with agricultural tools or with people engaged in agricultural work (most often ploughing and haymaking). See motifs I110A (plough), I110B (haymaking).

Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations


I11 has 2 other sub-motifs


I11.  The turtle (toad, frog) serves as a support (embodiment) of the earth (sky), or the supports of the sky are made from its body.
I11a.  Describes how, in the process of creation, the earth is placed on the back of a turtle or frog, which becomes its support.
I11b.  The pillars of the sky are made from the legs of a four-legged animal (usually a turtle).

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
K56E99.65%Two people have the same physical defect (a bump, a hump). The first one finds himself in a place where spirits gather, and they rid him of his defect. The second comes to the spirits, and they double his defect, giving him what they took from the first person. (Uther 2004 mentions Kasevich, Osipov 1976, No. 171; the Karen text is published there and does not correspond to the definition of the motif).
M120B99.60%The character is looking for a nanny (nurse, wet nurse, shepherd, husband) and consistently rejects those whose voice he does not like. He settles on the one with the most beautiful voice, but the choice turns out to be unsuccessful (usually the nurse eats the child, the sick person, the sheep, etc.).
K38F599.24%Flames burst from the horse's mouth and/or nostrils, or the entire horse is engulfed in fire.
K35A399.24%In order to obtain the privileges enjoyed by the hero, the deceiver manages to swap status with him.
K15199.19%A magical helper grants a poor man's simple wish. The poor man or his wife ask for more and more. In the end, the helper punishes the beggar (usually by taking away everything that was given). {Many references to texts outside Europe in Uther 2004 are not related to the plot of ATU 555 and do not contain the K151 motif. This applies in particular to the Arabic and Ossetian variants}.
F54E99.18%Not knowing who is in front of him, a young man kills his father.
I76B99.13%After a certain amount of time or after performing certain actions, an ordinary mouse turns into a bat.
K119C99.07%The antagonist believes that he has been attacked by the lord of thunder (the father of the bride, whom a zoomorphic assistant has tricked into marrying a poor young man, motif K119).
L23A99.07%In an attempt to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance, in particular turning into fire (and water).
L42B199.07%A character kidnapped by a demon advises him to stack pots, pans and other kitchen items on top of each other and climb up them. He does so, falls and breaks.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 42 traditions: Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Khmer, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, Ireland, Wales, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, Dutch, Flemish, 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, Poles, Kashubians, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Estonians, Finns, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Karachays, Balkar, Georgians, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Chechens, Ingrians, Prussians, Galicians, Kolam, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Terek Cossacks


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