Motif
Cutting hand or fingers releases or produces sea animals
cutting_hand_or_fingers_releases_or_produces_sea_animals
A motif of the Primordial Sacrifice and Dismemberment family, within the sub-family Marine Animals from Severed Body Parts. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
inuit
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The Central Eskimo SOCIAL CUSTOMS IN SUMMER. / SOCIAL ORDER AND LAWS. / RELIGIOUS IDEAS AND THE ANGAKUNIRN (PRIESTHOOD). / SEDNA AND THE FULMAR.; lines 7079-7175 confidence: high
The spell holding animals lies in her hand; cutting nails, joints, knuckles, or metacarpal bones frees bears, netsiq, ugjuq, walrus, and whales.
The Sedna/Nuliajoq account links cutting the hand to animal release, while the Greenland tale says cut-off fingers became sea animals.
read in the book →