G8D. The fall or growth of a tree threatens the world.
.14.21.22.27.29.-.31. (.32.38.) .50.53.66.68.70.
A tree (pole, mountain) is cut down (gnawed, rubbed) or not allowed to do so in order to rid the world (or gods, king, etc.) from danger.
Kabilas, Arabs (written tradition), Lepcha, Burma Naga, Khasi, Tyam, Greeks, Serbs, Macedonians (Romanians), Ingush, Kumyks, Persians, (Norwegians, Komi, Japanese), Hicarilla, Bribri, Ashaninka, Kashinahua, Kayabi, Kayapo, Apinaye.
North Africa. Kabila [the earth rests on the bull's horns, if it moves, the world will die; there are 7 layers of earth and 7 heavens; our layer is fifth from below, there are two more above; tiny creatures live on the lower layer, that hatch from ant larvae; they are angrier and smarter than even ants; there is a tree growing there, if it falls, these creatures will crawl to the ground and all die; they gnaw on the tree and almost gnaw through the trunk by evening, but they go on vacation, and during the night the trunk becomes intact again]: Frobenius 1921a, No. 13:83-84.
Tibet is the Northeast of India. See G8D motif: trees are cut down to save the world (gods, king) from danger. Lepcha [at the top of a tree (sago palm tree?) the cannibal bird Laso Fomo lived; the gods began to cut down the tree, but during the night the felling overgrew; the gods descended into the underworld to ít mu, who, at their request, sent the niung pun di snake; it ate the trunk from the inside; if if the tree fell towards Tibet, Nepal or Bhutan, trade with these countries would stop; the gods decided that the tree should sink into the ground, blocking the way for mak nióm mung spirits; the bird took off, which made animals and birds rush in all directions; a huge elephant ran, broke its leg; the bird told the animals that it was not her fault, but the snake that had fallen down the tree; the animals killed the snake, took out the bones, repaired them using an elephant's leg; the bird flew looking for a place to sit; killed and ate Mucha's son-in-law; Father-in-law hit her with a poisoned arrow, but the bird flew away; people caught her with an iron net, killed her; the gods cut her into pieces, scattered around the world, they became leeches; the tree's flowers were snow, the fruits were hailstones; when it was cut down, the snow-covered mountain Sa Nyol Kung Bung appeared on this site; snowstorms come from it and hail]: Siiger 1967, No. 4:175-176; khashi [the Iei tree grows to a gigantic size, obscures the sun; people cut down the trunk, go to rest, felling overgrows overnight; Wren says that The U Khla tiger licks the felling; loggers leave the axes in the felling with the point outward; the tiger hurts the tongue, runs away, the tree falls down]: Rafy 1920, No. 8:43-48; Burma's naga [a tree growing in the sky has roots reach the ground; a woman in heaven wants to destroy the earth, begins to cut roots, an earthquake occurs; her maid stings a woman's children, they cry, the woman goes to them, the maid overgrows the felling on roots]: Zapadova 1977:229-230.
Burma - Indochina. The Chams [King Po Rame had two Khmer wives and one Vietnamese woman; they constantly quarreled; considering themselves offended and trying to destroy Champa, the Vietnamese woman pretended to be sick and said that she would recover, if you cut down the tree Mesua ferrea Linn, the patron saint of Champa; the healers said that the woman was healthy, but the king did not believe it, ordered them to be executed; the tree began to be cut down, the felling was overgrown; finally, the king knocked him down, blood sprinkled the ground; the Viets captured Champa, cut the king to pieces; one of the Khmer women begged the king's incisors, made them an object of worship]: Cabaton 1904:113.
The Balkans. Greeks: El-Shamy 1980 (written by a 20-year-old student in Egypt who heard this from his Greek mother on Fr. Leros; there is no such story in Egypt) [the earth rests on a huge tree trunk; small evil creatures Kalikanzaroi try to cut it down all year to laugh at how the earth will fall; but every year before Christmas they go out to the ground to have fun, at which time the felling overgrows]: 273; Krappe 1938 [callicantzari demons chew on a pole or tree; by the end of the year, the pole is almost ready to fall, but demons are summoned to the ground for 12 days (from Christmas to King's Day); during which time the trunk is restored]: 267; Greeks: Czocha 2009 [spots on the moon are the tree that holds the earth; all year round tries to cut down the Devil (or Cain) with an ax; stays on his hair and the tree will fall; then {the devil} sits down for a while and spit on his hands, at which point the tree is whole again, the Devil forced to cut again (Peloponnese)]: 184-185; Serbs: Janković 1951 [the ground stands on a pole or nail for which the devil is attached; he gnaws a pole to get to paradise; when the pole is about to fall, the angels are singing, "Christ is risen," and the pillar is restored]: 12; Plotnikova 1995:313 (Homolye) [the whole earth is located on the branches of a huge hawthorn (glog) to which it is attached a big black dog; this dog is constantly nibbling on hawthorn, and when there is very little left, it starts to rush to break it; this makes the Earth shake but does not collapse because it stands crack the trunk like St. Peter baptizes the tree with a rod and the hawthorn is made whole again], 314 [the annual Easter service, the ringing of the church bell, and the words "Christ is risen" prevent the devil from gnawing through the pole to the ground, and crush the earth; among Dalmatian Serbs, the devil gnaws on the earth's axis, but at the last moment God (or angels) strengthen it]; (cf. Croats (Bukovica), Serbs ("granicaries", Zica), Bulgarians (Dupnica) [an earthquake occurs when the devil shakes a pole to which he is attached]: Plotnikova 1995:313-314); Macedonians [1) the earth rests on a pole behind which an ox or buffalo is tied; when it itches, earthquakes occur; the ox licks the pole, it becomes thinner, but Spyriden is hit by blacksmiths in the anvil and the pillar is being restored again; 2) the earth rests on a pole; sometimes an ox comes up to it to scratch, the earth shudders; 3) the earth is on a pole, the devil is tied to it, breaks, the earth shudders]: Tsenev 2004:23; (cf. Romanians [water is below the ground, but the earth does not sink because it rests on four pillars on four cardinal points; these pillars are associated with bright stars on the horizon; it is impossible to see all four right away; an old witch gnaws on supports, so earthquakes happen; when women wake up flour or drain the water they used to wash the bucket after washing, they feed and water the witch]: Rusu 2009:89).
Caucasus - Asia Minor. The Ingush [black people of Ajuji and Majuji live underground on the edge of the earth; they are so short that they milk their cows while standing; they strive to reach the surface from morning to evening with long claws they dig the ground; when there is very little left, they go to bed and the earth recovers; if they spoke God's name, they would dig it right away; one day they would guess to say it, they would fill the universe, drink all the water and eat it all living things to the last bylinka]: Dakhkilgov 2006:315-32; Kumyks [where heaven meets earth behind Mount Kaf live dwarfs hanging their guns on wormwood; from morning to evening since the creation of the world they dig a passage through the mountain; when it is almost ready, evening falls and the dwarfs go to rest, and during the night the mountain recovers; if they leave they say "Insha Allah", they prophesy a through passage and the end will come light]: Khalidova 2012, No. 34:54.
Iran - Central Asia. The Persians [Majlisi writes that Yájúj and Májúj live on the other side of Mount Kaf, which borders the world; their tongues are like saws or files; every night they shed a passage into the mountain chains, but every morning the mountain is restored; they would have broken if Alexander the Great hadn't built a hundred walls to hold them; people who lived near the mountains asked him for protection; on his instructions, they they prepared a huge amount of hot iron and 7 other metals; from this he made a wall (separate or on top of the Kaf Mountains); this wall Yájúj and Májúj cannot be sawn, and it too slippery to climb]: Donaldson 1938:90-91.
(Wed. Baltoscandia. The Norwegians [the king promises a daughter and half the kingdom to the one who cuts down an oak tree, digs a well on the rock; in place of each chipped chip, two new ones grow, the oak only grows; losers are cut off their ears, they exile to the island; the youngest of three brothers named John goes to the sound of an ax, then shovels, they chop them, dig them themselves, he takes them; walks down the stream, the stream flows out of the walnut, John plugs the nut, takes them with him; the oak is cut down, the well is dug, John throws a walnut at it, the water flows out; John gets the princess and half the kingdom]: Dasent 1970:330-336).
(Wed. Volga - Perm. Komi [in Ust-Vym, near the idol, there was a large birch tree, which was donated with fur animal skins; Stefan Permsky began to cut it, left an ax in the trunk for the night; in the morning the trunk was intact, the ax was lying on the ground; it was cut down only on the third day, the storm began]: Mikhailov 1851:63-68 in Popov 1938:22).
(Wed. Japan. Japanese: Ikeda 1971, No. 577 [1) a camphor tree must be cut down to build a new mansion for a local feudal lord; 2) a huge tree causes the illness of a wealthy peasant, it must be cut down; 1) the ax does not make notches; 2) cut down chips grow at night; from the collusion of the spirits of neighboring trees overheard at night, it turns out that salt water (or infusion) should be poured onto the roots seagrass); the tree is cut down, the secret is awarded by the master]: 153-154; Markova 1991 [someone comes to the girl at night; she sticks a needle and thread in her lover's dress; finds a needle in the bark of the old one cryptomeria; tells parents; people cut down the trunk, felling overgrows overnight; all trees come to visit Cryptomeria; she says to Chernobyl that shrubs have no place among trees; he revenge advises people to burn chips; a bridge was made from the fallen cryptomeria; the trunk was moved after the girl whispered something to him; when she stepped on the bridge, the girl died]: 172-174).
The Great Southwest. Hicarilla: Opler 1960:45 [dead sorcerers enter that part of the afterlife that is separated from the rest by a wall; when they hear laughter and singing from behind the wall, they pick up a small hole, fall asleep; when they wake up, the wall is unharmed again], 134 [the souls of dead witches and sorcerers fall into the northern half of the afterlife; it is separated by a stone wall from the southern half; teeming dangerous and poisonous animals, the fire does not heat there; those who live in it do not enjoy anything; play ball but cannot finish the game; hear the joyful cries of those who play behind the wall in the south half of the afterlife; every night they try to dig a hole in the wall with flint knives to watch the game; but before they can finish their work, it's dawn, the players disperse; The next night, the sorcerers hope to dig through the hole, but what they dug out yesterday disappears, and the work starts again].
Honduras vs Panama. Bribri [a woman's hair is always wet and salty; Sibu kisses them, blessing the future sea; the shaman gives her his rod, tells her not to let go of it; she breaks the ban, the rod turns into a snake, it bites a woman, she dies, is buried; a huge tree grows on the grave; S. is afraid that it will break the roof of his house (=world); tells him to be cut down; people work all day, but the next morning, the felling overgrows; their axes break; S. comes to Okoma, sitting down on the bench every time he breaks it, pushes the new one closer; finally asks and receives an ax; people cut down a tree; S. tells Martin Pe ca and the cormorant to tie the top of their head to the roots; tells the cannibal to be ready to grab the fruits that will fall; the tree presses the cannibal; turns into water; because it described a circle (the crown is tied to the roots), the sea surrounds the land; the tree fell north, where there are most islands; the open sea is where the trunk was]: Bozzoli 1976:420-421.
Montagna - Jurua. Ashaninka (nomatsigenga) [Tobacariti and his people began to cut down a tree associated with darkness; felling is overgrown; they began to cut down early in the morning and burn the trunk; the tree rose to heaven, carrying The people who were on it with them; formed one of the upper worlds]: Shaver 1975:52; Kashinahua: Ans 1975 [heavenly people cut down trees and skies; termites heal felling; if the tree falls, we will die]: 93-94; Capistrano de Abreu: 429 in Metraux 1944 [dwarfs in the sky cut down tree-sky; thunder is the sound of their axes; ants heal felling]: 133-134.
Southern Amazon. Kayabi [brothers cut down a tree in the sky; if it falls, it would crush the ground; a deity heals the felling; after breaking an ax, the brothers throw to cut]: Pereira 1995, No. 3:39-40; (cf. paresi [brothers cut down the ancestors of trees; felling overgrows itself; then the tree turns into a river]: Pereira 1986, No. 2:91).
Eastern Brazil. Kayapo: Wilbert 1978, No. 1 [the tapir gnawed on the support of the sky; the gnawed one healed overnight; when it began to gnaw and at night, the support fell, a vault of heaven formed], 2 [where there is a huge tree supports the sky, all kinds of demons and monsters live; the tapir gnaws at the trunk, the gnawed ones overgrow, but people are afraid that the sky will fall someday], 144:29, 29-31, 346; apinaye [on in the east, where the sun rises, there are red-haired people; because the sun burns them, they shoot arrows at it in the morning, but turn away so that it does not burn them, so they miss; then they decided to cut down A pillar that supports the sky so that the sky collapses and the sun cannot rise; when they take a break, the felling overgrows and they start all over again]: Wilbert 1978, No. 3:31-32.