μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

Dead cannot rest because of sin.

The dead. · Ghosts and other revenants. · Ghosts and revenants – miscellaneous. · The unquiet grave. · view the constellation · filed as E411

Filed across the traditions
  • Irish Beal XXI 330, O'Suilleabhain 96
  • Icelandic *Boberg
  • Finnish-Swedish Wessman 4 Nos. 31–34
  • Spanish Exempla Keller
  • New York Jones JAFL LVII 242
  • Africa (Fang) Trilles 134.
  • general *Herbert III 380 No. 127
  • general Alphabet Nos. 198, 300, 386, 701, 703, 752
  • general England, Wales: *Baughman
Within the index

Filed under The unquiet grave. (Cf. D2151.1.2.3.) Dead unable to rest in peace. Aside from the references given in the numbers immediately following, see E200–E399 passim.

18 finer motifs beneath it
Hand of sinner sticks out of grave Unquiet dead sinner taken to priest for absolution Horse unable to draw evil dead man Sinner wanders between earth and heaven Other dead drive sinner from graveyard Earth rejects buried body. (Cf. V62.1.) Demons cast evil man from grave leaving only his shroud Saint's body miraculously moves so that it is laid properly north and south, not northeast and southwest Murderer cannot rest in grave Adulterous person cannot rest in grave Perjurer cannot rest in grave Usurer cannot rest in grave Swindler cannot rest in grave Person who never said "good morning" cannot rest in grave Monk who dies without his cowl cannot rest in grave Pilate appears periodically at Mt. Pilatus and washes his hands Magician who has sold his soul to the devil hires his servant to bury him properly: the coffin bursts. (Cf. E261.2.1.) Persons who die violent or accidental deaths cannot rest in grave
Filed beside it
Ground trembles or rumbles when ghost rises from grave Ghost shakes off earth when he rises from grave Person under religious ban cannot rest in grave Murdered person cannot rest in grave. (C.f. all references to E231, E334, E337.1.1, E337.3.) Drowned person cannot rest in peace. (Cf. E334.4.) Dead cannot rest until certain work is finished Man who removes landmarks cannot rest in grave. (Cf. E345.1.) Dead person speaks from grave Other restless dead

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