Linked Motifs

Motif	Name	Description
a3	Male sun and female moon	The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
a32	Figure on lunar disc	A figure or an imprint of some being or object are seen in the Moon. (For statistical analysis motifs A32A – A32J are also included into A32)
a32d	Man in the Moon	Human being or imprint of human being is seen in the moon
a38	The Sun caught in snare	Person prepares a snare, loop, noose, etc. to catch the Sun and/or the Sun is caught in a snare, tied by a rope, etc.
b2a	The female earth	The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
b3a	Primeval waters	Water is the original element, the dry earth appears later
b4	The fished out earth	Islands or continent are fished out of the ocean or pulled to their present place by rope
b77	Primeval sky close to earth	Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
b77a	Giant pushed the sky up	One or several (animal)-persons push sky up to its present height
b79	Cosmic egg	From the primeval egg, eggs, or egg-like ball emerge the earth, the sky, sky bodies, different animals (all or part of the items of this list)
b86	Babylonian tower	To reach the sky (the Sun, Moon, particular star), people build a ladder or tower that consists of separate modules (bricks, logs, sticks, etc.). This construction collapses
e30	The make-believe spouse of wood	Person does not have a spouse, uses wooden fakes for his wife or her husband
e30a	Make-believe spouse replaced with alive person	Person does not have a spouse, uses wooden fakes for his wife or her husband till alive person comes to replace it
e5a	Mankind ascends from the underworld	The first people (or only the first men or the first women) are not created but come to earth from the underworld (from a cave) or from a small enclosure under the earth or on its surface (tree trunk, rock, gourd, etc.). Many people of both sexes and of different ages or people and different species of animals come out together
f40b	A man in a village of women	A man gets into the village of women. Usually he has to satisfy every woman against his will or every woman claims him for herself
f45	The Amazons	There are (or were) women who live apart from men in their own village or villages
f49	The abnormal birth	Cesarean operation upon a woman at childbirth as a custom
f9b	Piranha in vagina	Biting piranha is in woman's genitals
f9c	Snake in vagina	Snake (Pacific snake-eel in Polynesia) is in vagina; around the woman's thighs; vagina is a mouth of a snake; a woman with toothed vagina is associated with a snake; a snake crawls out of woman's mouth to bite off the man’s penis during the copulation
g21	Coconut palm from a human head	Coconut palm grows out of the human head
g8	Restored tree	A deep notch in the tree (or in the sky support) is magically restored as soon as persons or creatures who cut or gnaw it stop working
g8a	Cutting tree to make a canoe	To make some object (usually a canoe), person cuts a tree, goes away, returns, finds the tree intact. Usually another person who was restoring the tree by magic fells it down himself and makes a canoe for the hero
h4	The shed skin	Those who change their skin become young again
h5	People and snakes	Reptiles or invertebrates possess the medicine of immortality; are contrasted with men as immortal with mortals and/or are responsible for originating of death; or a snake's bite inflicts the first death
i37f	Fungi are ears	Fungi or mushrooms are named “ears”
i4	Thunder rides in the sky	Thunder is heard when a vehicle moves in the sky
i43a	The celestial monster	Giant reptilian monster (serpent, more rare fish, chain of fish) extends in the sky and/or supports the sky being associated with Milky Way or the rainbow
i43b	Milky Way is a serpent or fish	Milky Way is a reptile, fish, or chain of fish
i5	Thunder is an animal	Thunder looks like a quadruped mammal (pig, buffalo, camel, anteater, tapir, dog, cat, leopard, monkey, etc.)
i82b	Venus is female	Morning and/or Evening Star is a female personage
j1	The vengeful heroes	Persons avenge the death of their father, mother or other relatives who are one (rare two) generations older than they
j28a	Truth about father	Hero asks how one of his parents died and receives a series of false answers. Usually he successively exposes himself to the same dangers, survives and thus demonstrates that truth is still concealed from him
j4	Revenge for the death of the male relatives	Heroes avenge the murder or captivity of the male relatives: (grand)father, uncles, or the elder relatives in general, the loss of the males being the most traumatic
k10	Fight with the monstrous bird	Monstrous bird (giant bat) predates on humans. Heroes fight with it
k12	Woman is lost and returned	By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
k176	A man in search of the woman	A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
k19a	Star-wife	A man maries a star-woman
k25	Magic wife	A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
k27xy	(Animal-)persons with different qualities in the camp of their adversaries	Each of several men (male animals of different species) surpasses all others in some kind of activity. They get to the place of their adversaries and thanks to their special qualities win different competitions and survive in dangerous situations. The tale is not related to the quest of a marriage partner
k30	Flying enemy abducts woman	Flying person or creature abducts a woman but is ultimately killed or the woman escapes from him
k32	The false wife	An ugly, old, lazy, etc. woman or (in Chaco) a male trickster comes to man under disguise of his wife or bride who is driven out, confined to the underworld, killed, etc.
k66	Extraordinary companions	Several companions have extraordinary abilities (one who runs fast, one who eats great quantities, one who produces or can withstand severe frost, etc.); a hero comes across and takes for companions several men, each of them being involved into a special and unusual activity
k8a	Jonah: swallowed by monster	Person gets into the belly of water being or into the belly of giant creature which appearance and living place remain vague. He kills the monster from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
m81	Blind persons	A man travels and comes to two or several blind (usually old) persons

Similar traditions based on Cosmology and Etiology motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Early Chinese written sources
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Society Islands: Tahiti, Borabora, Raiatea
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Hawaii
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Makiritare (Yecuana)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Truk, Eastern Fayu, Losap, Pulap, Puluwat, Mortlock (incl. Satawan)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Thompson (Nlaka'pamux)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Simeulue, Nias

Similar traditions based on Adventures and Tricks motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Witoto, Ocaina
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Ticuna (Tucuna)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Paresi
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Maori, Moriori (Chatam Islands)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Southern Cook Islands: Mangaia, Rarotonga, Atiu, Iatutakim Pukapuka, Tubuai (=Austral Islands, incl Rapa)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Society Islands: Tahiti, Borabora, Raiatea
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Makka
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit