The Mythology and Folklore Database
J17 - Frogs in the hair.
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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
Instead of lice in the character's hair, there are other creatures, or he pretends that such creatures live in his hair.Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L15A | 93.07% | The character's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs. |
| I1 | 92.38% | Creatures that cause or embody rain and/or thunderstorms are birds or winged anthropomorphic characters. {Traditions in which birds are associated with thunderstorms and rain, but Thunder itself is not a bird, are marked with an asterisk (*). |
| J46 | 92.09% | Antagonists perish by falling into water or attempting to cross a water barrier. See motifs J42, J44. |
| L41 | 92.03% | After catching a person, the cannibal carries his prey home, but the captive escapes on the road or at the cannibal's house. See motif L38 (a person falls into a demon's trap). |
| B3B | 91.67% | Initially, the earth or the world as a whole was small in size, then it grew; fertile soil grew from a small amount of initial substance. See motif B3A (the earth grows from a piece of solid substance thrown onto the surface of the water). |
| I22 | 91.10% | There are objects that, while remaining in place, move constantly or periodically (collide and diverge, fall and rise, open and close, rotate). |
| F74 | 90.86% | Upon seeing a dangerous character, a man or woman undresses and pretends to be dead (or the character undresses the woman). Examining and sniffing the supposed corpse, the character finds what he takes to be a wound or signs of decay and leaves. |
| C16 | 90.63% | Contrary to human desire, processed skins, tools, and (meat) food (again) turn into (those) animals (from whose body parts they were made). Cf. motif M84. |
| K27O3 | 90.06% | Two groups of characters compete in overcoming trials or play a game, divided into two teams (at least two episodes with different characters on both sides). The participants are either anthropomorphic but possess different unusual abilities, or they are different animals (natural phenomena, elements, etc.). Cf. motif K27xy (Characters with different properties in opposing camps). |
| M49 | 89.97% | The hero meets a character from the enemy camp and, taking on his form, penetrates enemies. Usually, the hero kills the person he meets and puts on his skin. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 44 traditions: Dusun, Murut, Kelabit, Tombonuwo, Bajau, Tidong, 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, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, 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, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Tajik, Persians, Georgians, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kara Kalpak, Chuvash, Southern Selkups, Oroch, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chuvans, Russian-speaking Creols of Markovo, Chukchi, Koyukon, North Alaskan Inupiat, Mackenzie Delta, Tsimshian, Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Menominee, Blackfoot, Arapaho, Gros Ventre, Plains Ojibwa, Comox, Pentlatch, Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Nez Perce, Tillamook, Pomo, Sierra Miwok, Tewa (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe; Hano), Tiwa (Taos, Picuris; Sandia, Isleta), Towa (Jemez), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Amuesha, Machiguenga, Yuracare, Chacobo, Nambikwara, Botocudo, Kodiak, Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)