Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K11D — A disintegrated monster turns into ordinary animals.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewPieces of flesh from a huge creature that has fallen apart or been cut into pieces turn into ordinary animals, birds or fish.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
K11 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedK11. Brothers (brother and sister) kill a monstrous bird. Its eyes turn into heavenly bodies (among the Oaxacan Indians) or something else (among the present-day Condors of the Yokuts).
K11a. Plucked feathers of a (huge) bird turn into actual birds (or their plumage) or humans emerge from them.
K11a1. Pieces of flesh or feathers from a monstrous/unusual bird turn into present-day birds (or their plumage).
K11b. The bones of a huge bird are turned into reeds or bamboo for making arrows or sarbacanes.
K11C. The plucked feathers of a huge bird turn into plants.
K11D. Pieces of flesh from a huge creature that has fallen apart or been cut into pieces turn into ordinary animals, birds or fish.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 0.00% | Another sun — less powerful or less favourable to humans — existed before the appearance of the current one. |
| A10 | 0.00% | The sun gets its sparkling eyes (eye) from an animal. |
| A11A | 0.00% | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. |
| A11B | 0.00% | The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A. |
| A11C | 0.00% | The Sun and Moon kill a monster whose eyes shine differently. At first, the Moon takes the brighter eye, but then swaps with the Sun. |
| A12 | 0.00% | A creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, winter and summer, night and day, phases of the moon) or occasionally (eclipses, eschatological catastrophes) attack the luminaries or block their light. |
| A12A | 0.00% | During an eclipse or under other circumstances, predators attack the luminaries: wolves, bears, jaguars, pumas, dogs, foxes, raccoons. See motif A12. |
| A12B | 0.00% | During an eclipse or at sunset (marked *), the luminaries are swallowed by a toad or frog. |
| A12C | 0.00% | Eclipses of the sun, moon or their setting (marked*) are caused by a snake, lizard, dragon, fish or crocodile; these creatures attack the luminaries now or attacked them at the beginning of time. See motif A12. |
| A12D | 0.00% | Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Cite this map
Distribution of the traditions attesting motif K11D, ‘A disintegrated monster turns into ordinary animals.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (6 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/K11D (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
6 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Batak (Toba, Dairi), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Ainu, Ticuna (Tucuna)
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