The Mythology and Folklore Database
J12D - Kills a rival.




35 Myths, Legends and Folktales
35 Unique Narratives for Motif J12D
32 Cultures & Traditions where J12D is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
13 Sub-Motifs of Motif J12D


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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

After a girl marries a worthy suitor, the rejected suitor or his relatives kill the rival. See motif J12.

Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures


J12 has 13 other sub-motifs


J12.  A girl or two sisters wander, usually in search of a suitable groom or husband who has left or lives far away. Along the way or upon reaching their destination, they encounter false suitors. (Traditions in which two heroines travel rather than one are highlighted in bold (motif j13).
J12a.  A girl or two sisters come to an old woman who invites them to marry her son. In reality, he is a worm, a snake or a penis, which his mother hides in a vessel during the day. The girl (sisters) do not allow him to approach them and run away. See motif J12.
J12b.  A honey groom or a skilled honey gatherer is attractive to a girl.
J12c.  A girl meets her fiancé at a dance and then follows in his footsteps. See motif J12.
J12d.  After a girl marries a worthy suitor, the rejected suitor or his relatives kill the rival. See motif J12.
J12E.  The false bridegroom - skunk. See motif J12.
J12F.  False groom - eagle owl/owl. See motif J12.
J12G.  The false bridegroom is a bird that lives on or near water. See motif J12.
J12H.  The false groom - the opossum.
J12I.  A desirable marriage partner secretes beads instead of saliva or excrement. See motifs J12 and M57.
J12j.  A girl or sisters end up with a false groom who plays the role of a jester in the chief's house. See motif J12.
J12k.  Desirable and undesirable marriage partners live in the same house. The undesirable partner is a servant or junior partner, usually pretending to be the master.
J12l.  The murderer pretends to mourn the victim along with everyone else. The deception is revealed, and the murderer is pursued. See motif J12.
J12m.  A woman or two sisters come to two men and become wives of one of them. The other kills or tries to kill his rival or the women. As a result, the women turn into waterfowl.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
K27O96.51%The confrontation between heroes and antagonists unfolds in the form of a ball game.
K4194.32%A character representing a thunderstorm or a giant bird fights a snake or other large creature living in water or underground.
L74A93.89%The enemy carries the hero away or tears off and carries away part of his body, after which he hangs his victim or part of his body (usually over a fire) in order to cause the victim torment. Another character rescues the hero himself or returns the stolen part of his body to him.
M8092.57%The character insults a partridge bird, kills or offends its chickens; the partridge suddenly takes off in front of the offender, he falls (usually into a lake or river).
L15B92.44%The character can only be killed with a specific plant, which is not usually used for making weapons.
L8692.02%Having turned into a demon, a woman pursues her children. Cf. motif K102a2: A mother seeks to destroy her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair and/or sides with his father in a conflict between his parents.
M8291.91%The character sees that something is tied to the other's tail. He also wants such a tail for himself, and as a result he suffers damage.
C1091.84%During the flood, some birds or animals escape to a mountain, a tree, a boat, or by clinging to the sky; their tails or other parts of their bodies remain in the water and as a result acquire their current colour or shape. Cf. A2211.7 ("During the flood, birds cling to the sky; their tails acquire their current colour").
K43C91.78%The bound children (a young man and his sister) are left alone in an empty camp, and the animal frees them.
K19G91.71%One star is an old man, the other is a young man; both stars differ in brightness or colour, but it is impossible to determine the age of the star-man by these characteristics (a dim star may be young and vice versa); usually two girls want to marry stars of different types (one bright, the other dim, one red, the other blue, etc.). See motif K19B.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 32 traditions: Ewe, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw), Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Micmac, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Eastern Swamy Cree, Eastern Cree, Menominee, Potawatomi, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Arapaho, Santee, Iowa, Gros Ventre, Plains Ojibwa, Chilkotin, Kalapuya, Okanagon, Sanpoil, Kutenai, Karok, Alabama, Koasati, Wintu, Patwin, Nomlaki, Guayabero, Sanema, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Tariana, Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet


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