Mythological motifs

5,822 motifs · page 12 of 30

• Origin of rocks from breaking of God's sieve. A971
• Indentions on rocks from prints left by man (beast). (Cf. A901.) A972
• Indentions on rocks from imprint of gods and saints. A972.1
• Indentions on rocks from footprints of Christ. A972.1.1
• Priest stamps on stone to prove truth of pope; print is still visible. A972.1.2
• Footprints of holy man are still seen in stone where he stood to preach. A972.1.3
• Indentions on rocks from footprints of fairies (angels, devils). A972.2
• Indention on rock from footprint of angel. A972.2.1
• The devil's footprint. A972.2.2
• Holes in stones caused by piercing by saint's finger. A972.3
• Holes in stone caused by saint (warrior). A972.3.1
• Indentions on rock from weapons (limbs) of robbers through power of saint. A972.3.1.1
• Indentions on rocks from footprints of saint's cow. A972.3.1.2
• Imprint of horse in rocks. A972.4
• Indentions on rocks from marks of various persons. A972.5
• Indentions on rocks from head of infant hero (saint). A972.5.1
• Chasms between rocks mark "leaps" of giants, heroes, etc. A972.5.2
• Indentions on rock from paws of King Arthur's dog. A972.5.3
• Indentions on rocks from weapons, knees, and elbows (of persons slain by hero). A972.5.4
• Rocks or hill-tops flat because persons (gods) slept or cooked on them. A972.5.5
• Hole in stone caused by weapon of warrior. A972.5.6
• Indentions on rocks caused by giants. A972.6
• Great fish killed by hero and cut into sixteen pieces: the great stones may still be seen. A972.7
• Origin of stones: punishment for discourtesy. Jesus asks a man what he is sowing. He answers, "Stones." Jesus turns the crop to stones. This is how stones originate. A973
• Rocks from transformation of people to stone. A974
• Certain stones are druids transformed by power of saint. A974.1
• Certain stones are transformed giants. A974.2
• Why stones became hard. By God's order. (Cf. A968.1.) A975
• Why stones no longer grow. Devil sows stones; God sends cold to prevent their growing. A975.1
• Why stones no longer grow: punishment for injuring foot of holy person. A975.1.1
• Why certain rock produces fire when struck with steel. A975.2
• Fire producing rock result of contest between god of fire and god of rain. A975.2.1
• Why rocks at river are covered with moss. A976
• Origin of particular stones or groups of stones. A977
• Giant responsible for certain stones. (Cf. A963.1.) A977.1
• Devil throws stones. A977.2
• Devil and man throw stones in contest. A977.2.1
• The devil throws stones at church or churchmen. (Cf. A963.4.) A977.2.2
• Devil throws down quoits when he is told that it is wrong to play on Sunday. They remain as stones to this day. A977.2.3
• Devil drops stones. A977.3
• The devil drops stones from apron. (Cf. A963.1.) A977.3.1
• The devil turns object or animal to stone which is still seen. A977.4
• Origin of particular rock. A977.5
• Certain stones are cheeses transformed by saint. (Cf. A974.) A977.5.1
• Pile of stones in certain chapel formed of fragments of salmon transformed by saint. A977.5.2
• Stone column is membrum virile of ancient hero. A977.5.3
• Two rocks from split and transformed lapdog. A977.5.4
• Origin of minerals. A978
• Origin of minerals from body of dead culture hero. A978.1
• Iron created to punish cedar's pride. A978.2
• Origin of emeralds from marvelous vase broken into pieces. A978.3
• Other stories about stone origins. A979
• Stone rent at time of crucifixion. A979.1
• Origin of particular places. A980
• Origin of valleys or hollows. A983
• Pillars of Hercules at Gibraltar set up by Hercules. (Cf. A901.) A984
• Bridge of the Gods. A conflict of the gods breaks a primeval bridge and thus causes a rapid in a river (the Columbia River at The Dalles, Oregon). A986
• Cairn marks burial place. A988
• Origin of particular places – miscellaneous. A989
• Dark brown patches on soil mark place where marvelous cow (Glas) and her calf lay. A989.1
• Roads marked out by supernatural cows. A989.2
• Certain stones are druids' (saints') seats (chairs). A989.3
• Pile of stones (cairn) marks site of battle. A989.4
• Other land features. A990
• Origin of villages. A991
• Origin of sacred places. A992
• Origin of sacred post (placed there by ancestral culture hero). A992.1
• Sacred place where thunderbolt fell down. A992.2
• Ground bursts open and a temple rises from it. A992.3
• Five great roads of Ireland "discovered" on night of king's birth. A994
• Origin of cities. A995
• Origin of settlements (places later to be settled). A996
• Origin of boundaries. A997
• Origin of clay. A998
• World catastrophe. The world is destroyed. The incidents are usually the same whether a final destruction is thought of or a destruction which may be overcome by a renewal of the earth. A1000
• Series of world catastrophes. A1001
• Doomsday. Catastrophes precede the Day of Judgment. A1002
• Widespread calamity when feast of John the Baptist shall fall on certain day. A1002.1
• Signs before the Day of Judgment. A1002.2
• No rainbow for fifteen years before the Day of Judgment. A1002.2.1
• Bleeding wood as sign of Doomsday. A1002.2.2
• Talking stone as sign of Doomsday. A1002.2.3
• Unusual migration of birds as sign of Doomsday. A1002.2.4
• Calamity as punishment for sin. A1003
• Preservation of life during world calamity. (Cf. A1020, A1038, A1045.) A1005
• Preservation of life of certain persons in Ireland during Flood. (Cf. A1006.5.) A1005.1
• Inclosure made during world calamity and only best types of animals and men preserved. A1005.2
• Holy Land not ravaged by deluge. A1005.3
• Renewal of world after world calamity. A1006
• New race from single pair (or several) after world calamity. (Cf. A1038, A1045.) A1006.1
• New race from incest after world calamity. A1006.2
• New race made of red earth after world calamity. A1006.3
• New race from union of girl and rat. A1006.4
• Ireland repopulated by persons who escape flood. A1006.5
• Ireland, waste for centuries after flood, is repopulated by immigrants. A1006.6
• Whole tribe descended from lone woman-survivor of doomed city. A1006.7
• One bear-child escapes death, is ancestor of all bears. A1006.8
• After world-fire life recreated from tree. A1006.9
• World calamity will begin in Palestine. A1007
• World catastrophes – miscellaneous. A1009
• First race of men perishes when sun first rises. A1009.1
• Animate and inanimate objects attempt to destroy humanity. A1009.2
• Large stone falls from sky killing all but one couple. A1009.3
• Deluge. Inundation of whole world or section. A1010
• Sun and moon do not shine during deluge. A1010.1
• Great flood lasts eight months. A1010.2
• Local deluges. A1011
• Flood partially caused by breaking forth of springs. A1011.1
• Flood caused by rising of river. A1011.2
• God's promise never to destroy world by water does not apply to local floods. A1011.3
• Flood from fluids of the body. A1012
• Flood from tears. A1012.1
• Flood from Adam's tears of repentance. A1012.1.1
• Flood from tears of grieving lover. A1012.1.2
• Flood from urine. A1012.2
• Flood caused by loosing fairy horse and allowing it to stale. A1012.2.1
• Flood from blood. A1012.3
• Flood from slain giant's blood. A1012.3.1
• Flood from belly. It flows from pierced belly of monster. A1013
• Vomiting of a whale causes flood. A1013.1
• Flood caused by gods or other superior beings. (Cf. A1018.) A1015
• Flood from conflict of gods. Sea god and rain god. A1015.1
• Flood from conflict of monsters (giant animals). A1015.1.1
• Spirit causes deluge. A1015.2
• Flood caused by deity stamping on floor of heavens. A1015.3
• Pseudo-scientific explanations of the flood. A1016
• Flood from animals' boring into ground (turtles, crawfishes, etc.). A1016.1
• Deluge produced by hot liquid which burns as it floods. A1016.2
• Flood caused by melting of ice after great spell of cold. A1016.3
• Flood from broken calabashes of water. A1016.4
• Making mountains out of flat earth causes flood. A1016.5
• Moon falls into sea and causes flood by overflowing. A1016.6
• Flood whenever shard at earth's core moves. A1016.7
• Flood caused to satisfy emotional need. A1017
• Desire of man for sun causes flood. A1017.1
• Flood caused by prayer. A1017.2
• Flood caused by curse. A1017.3
• Flood as punishment. A1018
• Flood as punishment for breaking tabu. A1018.1
• Flood as punishment for incest. A1018.2
• Flood brought as revenge for injury. A1018.3
• Deluge – miscellaneous. A1019
• Subsidence of earth beneath flood. A1019.1
• Serpent king causes flood by damming rivers. A1019.2
• Flood because earth has become too thickly populated. A1019.3
• Flood puts out world-fire. (Cf. A1030.) A1019.4
• Escape from deluge. A1020
• Deluge: escape in boat (ark). A1021
• Persons excluded from Noah's ark build another ark and sail to Ireland. A1021.0.1
• Escape from deluge in wooden cask (drum). A1021.0.2
• Deluge: escape in gourd. A1021.0.3
• Deluge: escape on floating tree. A1021.0.4
• Deluge: escape in hollow tree trunk. A1021.0.5
• Deluge: escape on floating building. A1021.0.6
• Pairs of animals in ark. Seed of all beings put into ark to escape destruction. A1021.1
• Bird scouts sent out from ark. A1021.2
• Escape from deluge on mountain. A1022
• Escape from deluge on tree. A1023
• Escape from deluge in cave. A1024
• Escape from deluge on island. A1025
• Escape from deluge on foot. A1026
• Rescue from deluge by fish. A1027
• Bringing deluge to end. A1028
• Trickster sticks spear in ground and leads water to sea, ending deluge. A1028.1
• Birds fill sea with dirt and overcome flood. A1028.2
• Escape from deluge – miscellaneous. A1029
• Marvelous tree survives deluge. A1029.1
• (Four) persons who, in four quarters of the world, survived the flood and thus preserved ancient tradition. A1029.2
• Escape from deluge in pot or jar. A1029.3
• Flood: refuge in huge gourds with seven rooms in each. A1029.4
• Escape from deluge in box or basket. A1029.5
• Survivors of flood establish homes. A1029.6
• World-fire. A conflagration destroys the earth. Sometimes (as with the flood legends) the tradition is somewhat local and does not refer to an actual destruction of the whole earth; sometimes the fire marks the end of the world. A1030
• Causes of world-fire. A1031
• A "flame of fire swifter than a blast of wind" as punishment for the sin of the Irish. A1031.1
• World-fire after theft of fire. A1031.2
• Evil demons set world on fire. A1031.3
• Fall of sun causes world-fire. A1031.4
• All countries burned while the wife of sun god pours fire from a small bowl. A1031.4.1
• World-fire because of man's arrogance. A1031.5
• Miscellaneous reasons for world-fire. A1031.6
• Quenching the world-fire. A1035
• Rain invoked to destroy world-fire. A1035.1
• Creator puts out world-fire with his staff. A1035.2
• Earth recreated after world-fire. A1036
• Men hide from world-fire and renew race. (Cf. A1006.1., A1045.) A1038
• World-fire – miscellaneous. A1039
• Vulture sent out as scout to see whether earth has cooled from world-fire. (Cf. A1021.2.) A1039.1
• Continuous winter destroys the race. Spoken of as "Fimbulwinter". It ushers in the end of the world. A1040
• One pair escapes continuous winter and renews race. (Cf. A1006.1, A1038.) A1045
• Continuous world-eclipse. A1046
• World-eclipse ended by bat making sun smile. A1046.1
• Heavens break up at end of world. A1050
• Behavior of stars at end of world. A1051
• Stars fall down at end of world. A1051.1
• End of world when stars in one constellation overtake those in another. A1051.2
• Behavior of sun at end of world. A1052
• Sun devoured by monster at end of world. A1052.1
• Sun shining at night as sign of Doomsday. A1052.2
• End of world when four (seven) suns appear in sky. A1052.3