The Mythology and Folklore Database
K103 - The cow as helper, ATU 511.
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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
A domestic animal (horse, cow, bull, goat, ram, sheep) helps an orphan, a lonely child, or an unfortunate young woman.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K10 has 9 other sub-motifsK10. A monstrous bird (bat) attacks people, heroes engage in battle with it. See motifs K10A – K10G. K10a. Heroes kill a dangerous bird; during or before the battle, they hide in a shelter (hut, cage, vessel, sack, well) or cover themselves with an object that protects the body. K10b. A huge bird carries away to its nest a cage, bag or other container in which people are located. See motif 10A. K10c. The hero (twins) is weighed down with the blood-filled intestines of an animal. A bird pierces them with its claw, blood flows, the bird thinks its prey is dead, and brings the man to its nest. He kills the adult bird and either kills or transforms the chicks. Cf. motif M91A. K10d. A flying monster carries the hero away to a distant island. The hero kills the monster and uses a boat, bridge or rope made from part of the monster's body to return. K10e. In the bird's habitat, the hero finds the people it has kidnapped and helps them return home. K10f. The character turns the children of a flying monster into ordinary eagles or owls. K10g. Finding himself in the nest of a giant bird on a tree or rock, a man descends to the ground with the help of an adult bird (attaching its feathers or wings to himself), and more often - a chick (grabbing its legs, sitting on the chick, attaching its feathers or wings). K10h. A bird carries a woman or boy to its nest, feeds them, but does not let them go. The captive runs away. K10i. The tree opens its trunk and hides the hero fleeing from a man-eating bird. The monster that flies in after him is held tightly by the tree, which squeezes its trunk again. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K10's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M114 | 99.90% | The character is asked to make (or actually makes) a rope or other object out of sand, ash, smoke, etc. |
| K2A | 99.80% | The character is sent down to the underworld (into an abyss, a well, etc.). After he sends the treasures (women) he has obtained back up, his envious companions cut the rope, but he manages to return to earth. See motifs K38, K39, K74. |
| M91B1 | 99.55% | A man is going to sell a pet skin. On the way, he gets big money by deception or by chance. Usually, upon return, a person says that he received money for the skin, after which others slaughter their livestock and try unsuccessfully to sell the skins for money they are not worth. (In India, the hero sometimes supposedly sells not skin, but beef, which is forbidden to brahmanas). |
| K88 | 99.50% | Two people set off on a journey or argue about which is stronger: truth or falsehood (stinginess or generosity, etc.). The evil one abandons the good one, crippling or robbing him, but the good one regains his health and achieves success. The villain usually perishes. |
| I13C | 99.38% | Reptiles possess a treasure that humans take or try to take. Usually it is a crown, a precious stone, or horns on a snake's head. |
| K33H | 99.37% | A person finds a magical object that grants any wish. This object is stolen. It is returned by animals (which the hero had previously saved). |
| M116 | 99.33% | People must kill their fathers (or mothers; Nyoro: deprive them of power and property; Baluchi: do not take them with you on a journey). One young man hides his father, and his wise advice helps to avoid trouble. |
| M157A4 | 99.31% | The character proves the absurdity of another's statements by claiming that he (or someone else) fished on a mountain, extinguished a fire with straw, sowed wheat in the sea, watched flying fish, etc. (or he himself imitates such actions). The absurdity of the statements stems from the incorrectly chosen locus or means for performing certain actions. |
| K14 | 99.31% | A person receives or buys simple advice, the meaning of which is initially unclear (travel with a companion, do not skip breakfast, etc.) and either follows it, achieving success, or violates it, getting into trouble. |
| K79 | 99.26% | Finding himself in a helpless situation, a man sees how a small animal finds a cure for itself or another animal. The man uses the same cure, saves himself or saves another. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 92 traditions: Mehri; Harsusi, Jibbali (Shahri, Shauri), Tunisia Arabs, Amhara; Zay, Harari; Silte, Gogot, Kalenjin; including Sabaot, Nandi (Nande), Arusha, Kipsigis, Pokot (Suk), Keiyo (Elgeiyo), Marakwet, Sebeei, Kikuyu, Chuka, Embu, Emberre, Mwimbe, Kosa (Xosa, Xhosa), Dusun, Murut, Kelabit, Tombonuwo, Bajau, Tidong, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Bengali, Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Kashmiri, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Kafir, or Nuristani: Prasun; Kati (incl. Paruni), Ashkun (Ashunu), Waigali, Brahui, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Meo (Hmong) of Thailand, Laos and Northern Vietnam, Early Chinese written sources, Koreans, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Maltese, Sicily, Sicilians, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, 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, 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, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, 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), Uzbek, Tajik, Persians, Ossetians, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Kurds, Kara Kalpak, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Turkmen, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Mono (Monache), Waiwai, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Mustang, Salars, Icelanders, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Frisians, Faroe Islands, Morocco, Berbers of Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt