The Mythology and Folklore Database
I43A - Cosmic serpent.
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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
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.Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature
I43 has 1 other sub-motifsI43a. 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. I43b. The Milky Way is a reptile, fish or chain of fish. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I43's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I43B | 97.97% | The Milky Way is a reptile, fish or chain of fish. |
| F26 | 92.87% | The transfer of sacred musical instruments (horns, trumpets) from women to men is associated with the onset of menstruation in women. |
| M7 | 92.74% | 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. |
| B55 | 92.56% | Fish grow on tree branches or tree leaves turn into fish. |
| G23A | 92.02% | Parts of the body and organs of living beings are transformed into various plants (teeth into corn, testicles into yams, etc.). |
| M44B | 91.00% | 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. |
| I16 | 90.63% | Early humans have no mouth, anus, or genitals, and their women are unable to give birth. |
| G24 | 89.40% | 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). |
| B30B | 89.24% | Animals arise from the remains of a killed person. |
| D5 | 89.11% | The original owner or inventor (but not the embodiment) of fire is a female character. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 26 traditions: Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Malawi (incl Nyanja, Banyanja, Manganja), Tumbuka (incl Henga), Nsenga, Matengo, (Ba)Wenda, Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands), Society Islands: Tahiti, Borabora, Raiatea, Southern Cook Islands: Mangaia, Rarotonga, Atiu, Iatutakim Pukapuka, Tubuai (=Austral Islands, incl Rapa), Tuamotu, incl Pukapuka (different from Pukapuka in Cook Islands), Vahitahi, Anaa, Hao, Fangatau, Mangareva, Hawaii, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Minangkabau; Kerinci, Simeulue, Nias, Burmese, Intha, Semang, Senoi, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Poles, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Armenians, Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Tenetehara, Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon, Phoenicia, China