870 motifs match “world” — showing the first 100; narrow the words for the rest  ·  back to the chapters

• Creator from below. God rises from beneath (the center of the spiritual world) and creates the world. A25
• Angel of sea rebels at world's creation; put to death by God. A54.1
• Satan attempts to create another world. A63.8
• Creator goes to make afterworld. A78
• God of the living and the dead in the otherworld. A108
• Deity emerges from darkness of underworld. A115.4
• Giant god goes with three steps through the world. A133.2.1
• God represented as king, world as his kingdom. A137.10
• God of the upper world. A200
• Witch-woman of upper world. A205
• Thunder spirit lives in world below earth. A284.3.2
• God of the underworld. A300
• Goddess of underworld. (Cf. A310.1.) A300.1
• Demigod of underworld. A305
• Warrior chieftain of underworld. A308
• God of the world of the dead. A310
• Goddess of world of the dead. A310.1
• Goddess divides time between upper and lower worlds. Persephone spends six months on earth and six in Hades. A316
• Demon god lies in wait for spirits descending to underworld. A317
• Gods of the Quarters. A god or spirit for each of the world-quarters, north, south, east, and west. A417
• Culture hero returns to upper world. A566
• Divinity retires to the end of the world. A567
• Demigod and witch woman of upper world have son. A592.1
• World-soul. The universe a manifestation of the creator. A612.1
• Universe from parts of creator's body. Ymir makes the world from his members – mountains from bones, cliffs from teeth, heavens from skull, etc. A614
• Spontaneous creation – evolutionary type. From primeval chaos gradually arise worlds and life. A620.1
• Universe created out of fire world. A622
• World parents: sky-father and earth-mother as parents of the universe. The sky-father descends upon the earth-mother and begets the world. A625
• Pre-existing world of gods above. Such a world is assumed before the real creation of the universe. Though this belief is not explicitly set forth in many mythologies, it seems to be implied in most of the North American Indian systems. See, for example, motif A31, Creator's grandmother. A631
• Earlier universe opposite of present. Everything in the earlier world was the reverse of the present world. Cf. A855. A633
• Hierarchy of worlds. A series of worlds, one above the other. A651
• Nine worlds. A651.0.1
• Four world systems. A651.0.2
• Series of upper worlds. A651.1
• Highest of celestial worlds consists of twenty heavens. A651.1.0.1
• Region above the three worlds. A651.1.1.2
• Seven heavens. A series of seven upper worlds. A651.1.4
• Series of upper worlds – miscellaneous. A651.1.8
• Series of lower worlds. A651.2
• Two lower worlds. A651.2.1
• Three lower worlds. A651.2.2
• Seven lower worlds. A651.2.3
• Worlds above and below. A651.3
• Seven worlds above and below. An angel upholds the seven worlds on his shoulders. Under him in turn are: rock, bull, fish, vast sea, air, fire, and serpent. A651.3.1
• Worlds above and below – miscellaneous. A651.3.2
• World-tree. Tree extending from lowest to highest world. (Cf. A878.) A652
• Tree hanging from sky. A tree hangs upside down in the sky. By its branches men pass back and forth to the upper world. A652.2
• Tree in upper world. A652.3
• World as egg. The two halves are heaven and earth. A655
• River connecting earth and upper and lower worlds. A657
• Each world corresponds to different color. A659.4
• Nature of the upper world. A660
• Heaven. A blissful upper world. A661
• Upper world (heaven) as a mountain. The sky is the hollowed under side of the mountain. A662
• Four gods at world-quarters support the sky. A665.2.1.1
• Rodent gnaws away ladder to other world and thus ghosts remain on earth. A666.2
• Nature of the upper world – miscellaneous. A669
• Judges in the upper world. A669.1
• Nature of the lower world. A670
• Hell. Lower world of torment. A671
• Stygian river. River in lower world. In Greek myth five such rivers in Hades, Styx (hate), Acheron (mourning), Kokytus (lamentation), Lethe (forgetfulness) and Pyrephlegethon (flame). A672
• Ferryman on river in lower world (Charon). A672.1
• Hound of hell. Cerberus (monstrous dog) guards the bridge to the lower world. A673
• Judges in the lower world. A675
• In other world one room contains the dead, another contains souls of the unborn waiting to enter the wombs of women, and a third contains all the evil spirits. A678
• Sun in the underworld. A681
• Hole to lower world up which people come. A682
• Nature of the lower world – miscellaneous. A689
• Miscellaneous worlds. A690
• Overseas otherworld in the west. A692.1
• Intermediate future world. Residence for those whose good and evil deeds exactly counterbalance. A693
• Christian paradise (Terra Repromissionis) corresponding to pagan Celtic otherworld (Ireland). A694.1
• Moon as next world. (Cf. A750.) A695
• World of serpents. A696
• Various Buddhist otherworlds. A697
• Brahma world. A697.1
• Tusita world. A697.2
• Years are days in Tusita world. A697.2.1
• Deva world. A697.3
• Heavenly bodies created after the plant world. A700.4
• Sun and moon placed in top of tree. Hero makes the sun and moon and fastens them to the top of the "World Tree" (cf. A652), but they give no light at first. A714.2
• After world catastrophe, new sun reappears and starts new epoch. A719.2
• Sun and moon to remain half their time in underworld. A722.10
• Phaëton. Sun entrusts his chariot to another (his son) and the horses run away. The world is almost burnt up. A724.1.1
• Sun-snarer: fast sun. The sun goes too fast to dry clothing. The hero snares the sun's legs with a rope as he is climbing up from the underworld. He releases the sun upon the promise to go more slowly. A728.2
• 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
• Sun sets and refuses to rise: must be coaxed back from underworld. A739.6
• 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
• Pleiades from hunters marooned in sky after felling world-tree. A773.5
• China first land to appear in our world. A802
• Ocean under this world. A816.2
• World is transformed mud parrot in golden cage. A822.1
• World-columns. Four (two, etc.) columns or supports sustain the earth. A841
• The four world-columns fastened immovably by two gods with their mother's hairs. A841.0.1
• Four world-cords. Earth is suspended from the sky by cords at four corners. A841.1
• Taprobane at eastern end of the world. A871.0.1
• Four rivers, rising in paradise, water primitive world. A871.2
• River that flows around the world. A872
• Seven seas encircle the world. A872.1
• Stream of paradise from roots of world-tree. A878.1