Motif family
Enchanting Music and Sound Power
Music, song, instrument sound, or voice acts as supernatural force: charming nature, compelling sleep or procession, subduing opponents, summoning powers, or luring hearers across a threshold.
45 traditions
296 occurrences
292 mapped motifs
9 sub-families
- afro caribbean
- akan
- amazonian
- andamanese
- arctic inuit
- arthurian
- australian aboriginal
- biblical
- buddhist
- celtic
- celtic irish
- celtic welsh
- christian apocrypha
- comparative
- confucian
- daoist
- estonian
- finnish karelian
- germanic
- greek
- greek roman
- hindu
- inuit
- islamic
- islamicate folklore
- japanese
- jewish christian
- khoisan south african
- mesopotamian
- nahua
- nahua maya inca
- native american great lakes
- native american northwest coast
- native american plains
- native american southeast
- native american southwest
- navajo
- norse
- persian
- roman
- romanian
- shan
- slavic
- sufi
- zuni
Conserved neighbors: storytelling as power · sacred knowledge · threshold guardian · sacred love · sacred combat
Sub-families · the next landing down
Sleep and Emotional Enchantment
5 motifs
- Enchanted music that causes sleep 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- celtic
- celtic irish
- Music that compels emotion and sleep 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- celtic
- celtic irish
- Magical music causing universal emotion or sleep 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- magical music controlling emotion and sleep 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- music that induces sleep or weakens vigilance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
Luring, Procession, and Compulsory Dance
4 motifs
- Enchanted music compels procession 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Enchanting music that attracts living beings 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- irresistible fairy music causing compulsory dance or fatal performance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Siren song draws river travelers to death 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
Enchantment of Nature and Animals
4 motifs
- Enchanted music summons animals, birds, forest beings, and sky daughters 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- Magical music announces or controls the transformed herd 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- music that charms nature 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- music that charms nature and restrains violence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
Subduing Powers and Captive Contexts
3 motifs
- Enchanted music used within captivity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Magical music subdues opponents 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- music compelling or softening supernatural powers 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
Lethal and Perilous Music
4 motifs
- Fatal music from a supernatural harp 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- lethal supernatural music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- perilous enchanting music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Powerful music causing beings to fall or perish 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
Sacred, Divine, and Cosmic Music
3 motifs
- divine assembly with music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- sacred music draws celestial bodies downward 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- sacred sound-making instrument used in religious rites 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
Musical Style, Civic Preference, and Human Formation
3 motifs
- contest between rustic and refined music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- divine musical contrast as civic preference 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- music shaping soul and body 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
Resistance and Hostility to Enchanted Sound
2 motifs
- Giants hostile to Christian sound 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- resistance to magical enchantment 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
General Supernatural Music
1 motifs
- Enchanting supernatural music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
Not yet placed in a sub-family
263 motifs, showing the 60 most attested
- Music with sleep-inducing power 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- celtic
- celtic irish
- healing or treatment through song 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american plains
- Aesthetic sound as distraction from doctrine and meditation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Affective and sleep-inducing music enabling escape 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Alluring music of water spirits 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Animal call compels human attraction 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american plains
- animal-hat and animal-call halt violence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- animal learns a song from another animal 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- zuni
- Animal named by sound and attributes in song 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- navajo
- Animate natural world responds to music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- animated food responding to song and dance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american plains
- bardic art restraining warrior rage 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Bardic song opens bonds and releases a prisoner 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic welsh
- ceremonial dance-song unity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- amazonian
- Ceremonial last-night dance song 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- navajo
- ceremonial music as essential to dance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- amazonian
- Charm-song draws a desired object from water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- japanese
- Community traps and executes a cannibal through song and binding 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- arctic inuit
- Complaint or grievance expressed through song 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- amazonian
- Compulsive dancing caused by music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- afro caribbean
- Concord represented as sacred music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- christian apocrypha
- condemned captive's song brings rescue 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american great lakes
- correspondence between sound and inner spirit 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- confucian
- Cosmic music and ordered celestial mechanism 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- cosmic music through wind and openings 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Counter-music neutralizes supernatural song 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- creation joins a holy singer in divine praise 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Dangerous spirit summoned by song and animal arrival 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- daylight restored through singing and dancing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- andamanese
- deadly enchantment by song and controlled listening 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Deadly or immobilizing song with plant remedy 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- afro caribbean
- Deadly or overpowering music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- death-dealing voice or whistle 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- destructive enchanting song 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- Devotional music and ecstatic holy dance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Disobeyed warning about music draws dangerous animals 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- afro caribbean
- Distant music leading to named communal dance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- afro caribbean
- divine praise through song 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Divine singer with lyre 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Divine source of poetic and musical skill 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Drum-and-song spirit conjuration 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- arctic inuit
- Drum used for making peace 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- efficacious sacred song requiring exact performance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- navajo
- enchanted birdsong and suspended feast 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic welsh
- Enchanted music causing collective sleep 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- enchanted music compels dancing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- enchanted music compels involuntary dancing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- Enchanted music gathers animals and supernatural listeners 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- Enchanted music subdues a guardian 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- romanian
- enchanted sleep disables the vigilant helmsman 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- enchanting music that heals or soothes listeners 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Enchanting song that masters nature and weapons 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- Enchanting song that pacifies or suspends conflict 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Enemy fort vulnerable after all-night ceremonial singing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- escape instructions in a chase-warning song 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- esoteric ritual song requiring mythological and symbolic knowledge 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southwest
- etiology of animal behavior through weather songs 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- zuni
- Exceptional music attracts royal attention 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamicate folklore
- execution interrupted by uncanny performance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- Failed musical lure followed by practical capture 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
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