Mythological motifs

5,822 motifs · page 9 of 30

• Mortal cannot look at sun since God's name is engraved on it. A733.2
• Two faces of the sun: fire, directed toward earth; hail, directed toward heaven. A733.3
• Beams of light are snares with which sun is tied to earth. Cf. A728. A733.4
• Sun dries out earth with its heat. A733.5
• Sun hides. A734
• Sun hides in cave. A734.1
• Pursuit of sun by moon. A735
• Moon tied to sun so that when sun sinks moon is dragged up to light earth. A735.1
• Sun and moon pursued by dark planet in black chariot. A735.2
• Sun as human being. A736
• Sun and moon as man and woman. A736.1
• Sun sister and moon brother. Brother visits sister at night. She marks him to identify him. He flees and she follows with flaming brand. She is sun and he the moon. A736.1.1
• Sun-brother and moon-sister. A736.1.2
• Sun and moon as lovers. (Cf. A736.1.1.) A736.1.3
• Sun and moon married. A736.1.4
• Sun and moon quarrel when sun eats up all their children but two. A736.1.4.1
• Moon kills sun's children. A736.1.4.1.1
• Moon, sun are sister and brother, wife and husband. A736.1.4.2
• Creator separates sun and moon to prevent birth of more stars. A736.1.4.3
• Sun as woman. A736.2
• Sun and moon as brothers. A736.3
• Sun and moon as twin brothers. A736.3.1
• Sun and moon brothers: sun clever, moon stupid. A736.3.2
• Sun and his brother rise and set alternately. A736.3.3
• Sun and moon as sisters, daughters of sky-god. A736.4
• Children of the sun. A736.5
• Son of sun so hot no one can hold it. A736.5.1
• Children from union with the sun turn into bit of blood in daytime as soon as they are exposed to sun; take human form (shape) again at sunset. A736.5.2
• Sun and moon as friends. A736.6
• Sun's affection for human girl rouses moon's jealousy. A736.7
• Sun marries woman. A736.7.1
• Original moon changed into sun and sun into moon. A736.8
• Sun cursed by moon. A736.9
• Human son of sun. A736.10
• Contest between sun and moon. A736.11
• Causes of eclipses (sun or moon). A737
• Origin of eclipse of moon. A737.0.1
• Eclipse caused by monster devouring sun or moon. A737.1
• Cause of eclipses: mother's curse laid upon her third son. A737.2
• Toad causes eclipses of the sun. A737.3
• Ghosts of the sun's children return to cause eclipse. A737.4
• Moon's eclipse caused by moon's interfering between attacker and person attacked. A737.5
• Eclipses caused by animal hiding sun behind his body. A737.6
• Eclipses from quarrels between moon and sun. A737.7
• Eclipses when sun smears his face on account of mourning. A737.8
• Sun hides face in shame: eclipse. A737.8.1
• Eclipse as punishment by deity. A737.9
• Eclipses because sun cannot endure tragic happenings of history. A737.10
• Partial eclipses because of ailments of sun or moon. A737.11
• Attributes of sun. A738
• Physical attributes. A738.1
• Sun and moon are balls of feathers. A738.1.1
• Sun a fat woman walking across sky. A738.1.2
• Mental powers and disposition of sun. A738.2
• Religious sun and moon. A738.2.1
• Sun endowed with wisdom and passion. A738.2.2
• Sun's healing powers. A738.3
• Sun's power over plants. A738.4
• Nature and condition of the sun – miscellaneous. A739
• Sun at the edge of the sky. A739.1
• War with the sun. A739.2
• Each of sun brothers works for a month and plays for the other eleven; were they to work all together, the world would be burned up by the heat. A739.3
• Reason for variations in seasonal heat of sun. A739.4
• Why the sun is red. A739.5
• Sun sets and refuses to rise: must be coaxed back from underworld. A739.6
• Sun's all-seeing eye. A739.7
• Sun as caretaker of the poor. A739.8
• Sun has weapons of iron to repel enemies. A739.9
• Creation of the moon. (Cf. A710 to A719, where many of the motifs refer to the moon). A740
• Moon from object (person) thrown into sky. A741
• Moon is water slung into sky. A741.1
• Chest of sacrificed youth becomes the moon. A741.2
• Moon as grinder which brings fire out of the sun. A741.3
• Moon made from shining fragments. A cap is opened and shining things fall out. Children pick them up and put them into a box. At the end of the month the box is full. The full moon shines when all the fragments are gathered together. A742
• Moon from transformed object. A743
• Origin of moon from shell. A743.1
• Heavenly smith is hammering on the moon. A744
• Family of the moon. A745
• Moon born from first couple. A745.1
• Mother of the moon: the most distant star in the sky. A745.2
• Moon younger brother of the sun. A745.3
• Person transformed to moon. A747
• Nature and condition of the moon. Many motifs in A720 to A739 refer to the moon and are not here repeated. A750
• Man in the moon. A man is said to be seen in the moon. Various explanations are given as to how he came to be there. A751
• Man in moon is person thrown or sent there as punishment. A751.1
• Man in moon has punishment for burning brush on Sunday. A751.1.1
• Man in moon is put there as punishment for cursing God. A751.1.2
• Man in moon as punishment for disdainful sacrifice (Cain). A751.1.3
• Man in moon banished there for stealing bundle of thorns. A751.1.4
• Man in the moon a rabbit (hare, other animal). A751.2
• Frog in moon. A751.3
• Man in moon a frog which has jumped into person's face and remains there. A751.3.1
• Man in the moon: tarring of the moon. Man sets out to tar the moon and remains with his tar-bucket in the moon. A751.4
• Man in the moon from scratches or paint. A751.5
• Man in the moon: moon's face scratched by hare in retaliation for injury to hare. (Cf. A2216.3.) A751.5.1
• Man in the moon: dung (ashes) on moon's face smeared there by sun. A751.5.2
• Moon wants to marry his sister the sun. She is angered and throws hot ashes on his face. A751.5.2.1
• Mark of her mother's hand to be seen on moon's shoulder. A751.5.3
• Mark of tiger's paw on moon. A751.5.4
• Moon spots are tattoo marks. A751.5.5
• Cotton tree and nettles on moon. A751.6
• Spots on moon a banyan tree planted there by creator to diminish its light. A751.6.1
• Two children in moon with yoke and bucket. A751.7
• Woman in the moon. A751.8
• Man in the moon is an old woman busy with her spindle. A751.8.1
• Man in moon is a woman threshing corn with a dog by her side. A751.8.2
• Goddess in moon with calabash at her side. A751.8.3
• Woman in moon's oven seen on clear nights. A751.8.4
• Girl with tree carried to moon and is seen there. A751.8.5
• Goddess in moon beating tapa beneath tree. A751.8.6
• Miscellaneous images on moon. A751.9
• Rows of palm trees (black spots) on the moon. A751.9.1
• Bag in the moon. A751.9.2
• Giant in moon. A751.9.3
• Particular individual is man in the moon. A751.10
• Joshua as man in the moon. A751.10.1
• Jacob as man in the moon. A751.10.2
• Other marks on the moon. A751.11
• Moon as a person. A753
• Moon as wooer. The moon is enamored of a mortal. A753.1
• Moon abducts woman. A753.1.1
• Moon (man) cohabits with woman. A753.1.2
• Moon (goddess, woman) cohabits with mortal man. A753.1.3
• Moon married to mortal woman. A753.1.4
• Moon married to son of sky-god. A753.1.4.1
• Moon is wife to all twelve brothers of the sun and they have her a month at a time because she ate up her sisters. A753.1.4.2
• Moon and mortal have child. A753.1.5
• Moon has house. A753.2
• Moon as person – miscellaneous. A753.3
• Moon deceives sun. A753.3.1
• Moon steals from a garden. A753.3.2
• During day moon stays with his mother under the earth. A753.3.3
• Moon endowed with wisdom and passion. A753.3.4
• Moon kept in box. (Cf. A755.1). A754
• Moon buried in pit. A754.1
• Moon falls into pit but is rescued by man. A754.1.1
• Causes of moon's phases. A755
• Moon's phases caused by its being put in box. (Cf. A754). When it is closed up in the box, it is dark; when taken out of the box, light. A755.1
• Moon's phases caused by watcher's death. Moon is hung in tree and is tended by four men. As one dies it loses a quarter. Later it is united in the lower world. A755.2
• Moon's waning caused by her sickness. A755.3
• Sacrifice made to free moon from sickness and allow waxing. A755.3.1
• Moon cut in two by sun: hence waxes and wanes. A755.4
• Moon cut in half. A755.4.1
• Moon stolen and divided into quarters. A755.4.2
• Moon's phases caused by animals gnawing at edge. A755.4.3
• Moon's phases caused by feeding or starving. A755.5
• Moon's phases as punishment for moon's misdoing. A755.6
• Moon's waning caused by menstrual period. A755.7
• Moon as sun's representative at night. A756
• Moon-boat. A757
• Moon-chariot. A757.1
• Theft of moon. Moon is kept by a monster. It is stolen and brought to earth. A758
• Condition and nature of the moon – miscellaneous. For eclipse of the moon see A737, where both eclipses of the sun and moon are handled. A759
• Moon has wooden weapons, therefore vulnerable. A759.1
• Sun and moon as divine hero's wedding presents. A759.2
• Why the moon is pale. A759.3
• Moon is hare covered with silver, which lives in crystal house with fifteen windows. It rests on a chariot and travels around Mount Meru. A759.4
• Formerly seven moons. A759.5
• Moon under direct control of deity. A759.6
• Planet Mars lies on moon to impart warmth to her lest she freeze the earth. (Cf. A780). A759.7
• Creation and condition of the stars. A760
• Stars created by creator. A760.1
• Star from union of girl with peacock. A760.2
• Ascent to stars. People or animals ascend to the sky and become stars. A761
• River taken to sky becomes star. Eridanos. A761.1
• Chariot from heaven takes couple to live with sages in the Great Bear. A761.2
• Stars as transformed lovers. A761.3
• Stars as fires in the hearths of ghosts. A761.4
• Stars are men peering through holes in sky. A761.5
• Stars thought of as living beings. A761.6
• Star descends as human being. A762
• Star-husband. Star takes mortal maiden as wife. A762.1
• Mortal marries star-girl. A762.2
• Stars from objects thrown into sky. A763
• Stars from arrows shot at sky. A763.1
• Stars hung by god in heavens to decorate it. A763.2
• Stars as pieces of the moon. A764
• Stars as children of the moon. Cook Zeus I 523 n. 6. A764.1
• Stars as children of sun eaten by their father. Hence no stars in the day. A764.1.1
• Sun eats all his own children except morning star, while moon keeps all her children in hiding. A764.1.2
• Stars as children of sun and moon. A764.1.3
• Stars as drops of the moon's blood. A764.2
• Most brilliant stars children of the sun; others are children of the moon. A764.3
• Stars are transformed spittle of the moon. A764.4
• Naming the stars. The "Great Star" names the stars. A765
• Origin of constellations. A766
• Stars sing together. A767
• Creation of the stars – miscellaneous. A769
• Stars are trees growing on the clouds. A769.1
• Stars rebel against God. A769.2
• Stars supervised by angels. A769.3
• Speaking stars. A769.4
• Sun gives light to stars. A769.5
• Origin of particular stars. A770
• Origin of the Great Bear (Ursa Major). A771
• Origin of the Southern Cross. Analogous legends in the southern hemisphere with those of Ursa Major in the northern. A771.1
• Origin of Orion. A772
• Origin of the Pleiades. A773
• Pleiades a princess and six suitors among whom she could not choose. A773.1
• Pleiades six repudiated wives. They have been cast out for apparent infidelity. A773.2