μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

Ordeals. Guilt or innocence thus established.

Tests. · Tests of truth. · Tests of guilt or innocence. · Ordeals. · view the constellation · filed as H220

In our texts — keyword-matched, unreviewed
Filed across the traditions
  • English Child V 490 "ordeal"
  • Icelandic Boberg
  • West Indies Flowers 455.
  • general **Patetta Le Ordalie (1890). *Hdwb. d. Abergl. III 994ff.
  • general Penzer VIII 196 n.
  • general Keith Encyc. Relig. Eth. s. v. "ordeal"
  • general Basset RTP XVII 397, 597, XIX 156ff., XXIII 182. Irish: *Cross, Beal XXI 317
Within the index
13 finer motifs beneath it
Ordeal by fire. Suspected person must pass through or jump over fire to determine guilt or innocence Ordeal by water. Guilt or innocence shown by ability to swim Ordeal by poison Ordeal by crocodiles (snakes). Judgment depends on whether person is devoured or rejected by crocodiles Ordeal by rope-walking Ordeal by balance. Defendant is weighed twice. He must be lighter second time Ordeal: carrying murdered man's blood. Must not spill it Ordeal by creeping under a sod partially detached from the earth without its falling down Ordeal by bread and cheese. Declaration: if I am not innocent may I choke on bread and cheese Ordeal: taking stone out of bucket. Color indicates guilt or innocence Scales test: weighing witch against Bible Ordeal: cock under pot crows when guilty person touches pot Ordeal by exposure. (Cf. S141, S331.)

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