Motif family
Death Attributed to Fate or Destiny
Death understood as fated, destined, or determined by forces beyond human control. The warrior who cannot escape the death assigned to them. Includes the Norse concept of wyrd, Greek moira, and Islamic qadar.
34 traditions
384 occurrences
379 mapped motifs
- akan
- arthurian
- biblical
- buddhist
- celtic
- celtic irish
- confucian
- daoist
- egyptian
- finnish karelian
- germanic
- gnostic
- greek
- greek roman
- hawaiian
- hindu
- islamic
- islamicate folklore
- japanese
- maya
- mesopotamian
- nahua maya inca
- native american northwest coast
- native american plains
- native american southeast
- native american southwest
- norse
- persian
- roman
- romanian
- sikh
- slavic
- sufi
- zuni
Conserved neighbors: divine judgment · lament and mourning · sacrifice · fate figures cosmic weaving
This family has not yet been binned into sub-families; its mapped motifs are listed directly, most widespread first.
Mapped motifs
379 motifs, showing the 60 most attested
- Death overcomes the strength of the world 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- celtic
- celtic irish
- appointed cup that all must drink 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- foretold death at a ford 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- inexorable fate ruling gods and mortals 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- omen of death before battle 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- acceptance of destiny after loss 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- accidental death by received weapon 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- aged warrior knowingly accepts fatal combat 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- persian
- animal companion as possible doom 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- appointed day and inescapable heroic mortality 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- appointed day of death 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- appointed death fulfilled by attempted escape 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- appointed death named by a death deity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- akan
- approaching death signaled by fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- augury unable to avert death 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- Bad foretelling ignored before fatal duel 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- balanced battle turned by a champion and fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- balanced mutual destruction in battle 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- Ball driven by Fate without agency 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- battle balance turned by fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Battle weighed in a balance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Beloved companion sent into doomed battle 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- beloved friend or foster-brother as fated opponent 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Birth date as death date 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- Birth date determines or signals character and fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Book of Fate with inscribed or obliterated names 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- brief glory granted before foretold death 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- calm acceptance of inevitable death 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- celestial confinement and unknowable fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- celestial wheel as constraint 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- chief god swallowed by wolf and avenger promised 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Combatant repeatedly foretells its own possible death 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- companions bound by shared fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- condemnation of ritual superstition attributed to divine institution 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- conditional death prophecy 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- corpse-choosing women with charge of the slain 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- cosmic order governed by personified Necessity and Fates 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- cosmic ordering of fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Cosmic wheel and impermanent fortune 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- cursed treasure and inevitable fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- dangerous animal as a person's fate 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- death accepted as divine necessity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- zuni
- death as equalizer 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- biblical
- death as predatory bird overtaking the powerful 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Death as winner of the game of Night and Day 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Death attributed to non-human agency and to fate/destiny 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- persian
- Death by a weapon fitted with feathers of one's own kind 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- death by a weapon made partly from oneself or one's kind 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- death caused by combined fate, divine force, and mortal agency 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Death fixed by divine writing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Death governed by prophecy 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Death-guardian announces fated lifespan 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Death messengers ignored during a martial journey 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- Death out of due season despite remaining allotted lifespan 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- death overtakes even in fortified heights 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- death seeks the mortal 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- persian
- death that prophecy cannot avert 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- death-wish withdrawn when Death arrives 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- decreed death despite imagined avoidance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- decreed fate delayed but not annulled 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
Each motif link opens its evidence page: every tagged passage with its quote, and a path into the book where the passage lives.