μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

Obstacle flight. Fugitives throw objects behind them which magically become obstacles in pursuer's path.

Magic. · Transformation. · Miscellaneous transformation incidents. · Magic flight. · view the constellation · filed as D672

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“Then he rolled over and pretended to go to sleep again but looked out through his eyelashes. By and by he saw a very small but handsome girl coming along. Her skin clothes were very clean and neat, and her leggings were ornamented with porcupine quills. Just as she reached out to shake him he said, “I have seen you already.” Now the girl stood still and said, “I have come after you. My grandmother has sent me to bring you to her house.””

— Tales of the North American Indians, Tale 53 · served from our shelf  receiptuncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan

Attested across traditions
Scholars’ trail — 27references

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

  • Irish mythCross
  • BretonSébillot Incidents s. v. "objets"
  • SwissJegerlehner Oberwallis 304 No. 30
  • IcelandicBoberg
  • HungarianSolymossy Hongaarsche Sagen (Zutphen, 1929) 403
  • French CanadianBarbeau JAFL XXIX 11
  • JewishNeuman
  • India*Thompson-Balys, Penzer II 21, III 227 n. 1, 236ff., IX 151
  • ChineseEberhard FFC CXX 234f.
  • KoreanZong in-Sob 173f.
  • JapaneseIkeda: Indonesian: Dixon 236 nn. 48, 49, DeVries Volksverhalen Nos. 16, 17, 63, 116
  • Philippine (Tinguian)*Cole 75, 17 n. 1
  • MarquesasHandy 117
  • N. Am. Indian*Thompson Tales 333 n. 205, (Yuchi): Speck UPa I 141 n. 5, Hatt Asiatic Influences 92ff.
  • Eskimo (Mackenzie Area)Jenness 79, (Greenland): Rasmussen I 106
  • JamaicaBeckwith MAFLS XVII 274 No. 86
  • Africa (Duala)Lederbogen Märchen 145, (Basuto): Jacottet 4 No. 1, 220 No. 32, (Mpongwe): Nassau 74 No. 15, (Kaffir): Theal 87
  • general *Types 313, 314, 325, 327, 502
  • general **Aarne Die Magische Flucht (FFC XCII)
  • general **BP II 140
  • general Fb "hår" I 771b, "flaske" I 309a, "hvidtorn" I 703a
  • general *Wesselski Theorie 31
  • general *Hdwb. d. Märch. I 151a
  • general *Hdwb. d. Abergl. II 1655
  • general Cosquin Études 166, 193ff. – England, Scotland, U.S.: *Baughman
  • general S. Am. Indian (Mundurucú, Carajá): Lowie BBAE CXLIII (3) 55, (Amuesha): Métraux RMLP XXXIII 149
  • general Frobenius Atlantis IV 220, V 308. Cf. Ceiuci: Alexander Lat. Am. 304.
Within the index

Filed under Magic flight.

1 finer motif beneath it
Magic objects as decoy for pursuer. Date palms are dropped which are transformed into animals which the pursuer stops to pick up
Filed beside it
Transformation flight. Fugitives transforms themselves in order to escape detection by the pursuerReversed obstacle flight. Magic obstacles raised in front of fugitiveMagic flight with the help of a he-goat. Speaking he-goat saves the girl promised to the devilSea turns to ice to permit flight
Travels with
Transformation to elude pursuers. (Cf. D671, D672.)
Keeps company with — shares receipted episodes
Transformation flight. Fugitives transforms themselves in order to escape detection by the pursuerReversed obstacle flight. Magic obstacles raised in front of fugitiveLadder to upper worldAscent to upper world on arrow chain. Hero shoots arrows which join one another in the air to form a chainBridge to otherworld
Carried in tale types

wander