μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

Old person as helper.

Chance and fate. · Helpers. · Human helpers. · view the constellation · filed as N825

ask the rhapsode about this motif →

“He had not gone very far when he came to a row of dried human bones hung across the path so that no one could pass by without making them rattle. Not far away, there was a tent full of people and big dogs. Whenever they heard anyone disturb the bones, they would set upon him and kill him. The old woman who had advised Aioswé’s son told him that when he came to this place he could escape by digging a tunnel in the path under the bones.”

Tales of the North American Indians, Tale 47 · served from our shelf  receiptuncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan

Attested across traditions
In our texts — keyword-matched, unreviewed
Scholars’ trail — 1reference

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.

  • SpanishEspinosa II Nos. 99–103, 119–121, 126–132.
Within the index

Filed under Human helpers.

3 finer motifs beneath it
Childless old couple adopt heroOld man helperOld woman helper
Filed beside it
Help from little manLame boy (girl) as helperHelp from beggar. (Cf. N825.3.1.)Child as helper. (Cf. N832.)Wise woman as helperGirl as helperBoy as helper. (Cf. N827)Wealthy (powerful) man as helperKing as helperQueen as helperHero (culture hero) as helperShepherd as helperCook as helperHermit as helperDervish as helperMagician as helper
Keeps company with — shares receipted episodes
Sharp-elbowed women. Kill with their elbowsPotiphar's wife. A woman makes vain overtures to a man and then accuses him of attempting to force herWhale-boat. A man is carried across the water on a whale (fish). (He usually deceives the whale as to the nearness of the land or as to hearing thunder. As a consequence the whale runs into the shore or is killed by lightning.)Cruel father
Carried in tale types

wander