L9B. Elbow knives, G341. .24.35.41.43.-.46.48.49.66.
Acharacter's sharp elbows or (rarely) knees are like knives or awls.
Senoi (Sakai), Southern Selkups, Eastern Khanty, Taltan, Quarry, Winnebago, Western Marsh Cree, Eastern Cree, Northern Ojibwa, Ojibwa, Timagami Ojibwa, Naskapi, Montagne, mikmak, assiniboine, santi, iowa, tonkawa, chumash (knees), eastern shoshoni, marubo.
Malaysia-Indonesia. Senoi (sakai) [little hairy dwarfs have a sharp bone blade on their right forearm; when they climb a tree, they saw off their branches; they fall with the female, but are always unharmed]: Skeat, Blagden 1906:283.
Western Siberia. The Southern Selkups [logo (the devil) asks him to be transported across the river; he must be put in a boat facing him; if with his back, he will move and stab him with iron elbows; on the other side he will ask give money or fur; you must ask for fur; he will take six steps, leave fur on each; you have to take six; at the seventh step he will kill]: Pelikh 1972:324 (=Lukina 2004, No. 2. 13:49; retelling and others sources in Tuchkova 2004:198); Eastern Khanty (Salym) [when you are sailing by boat along Maly Salym, you may meet an iron man with iron pins on his elbows and knees with tips; he asks to be transported to the other side; you can't sit him with your back to you, otherwise he will plug him with his sharp pins; when you sit face to him and drive away from the shore, you need to swing the boat and throw it out him into the river; then you have to sit on the shore and wait for the sixth birch bark to emerge; it is placed in a sacred chest, it brings happiness; you can't take the seventh, otherwise the Iron Man will pop up and kill]: Vizgalov, Kardash 2010:88-89, 184-185.
Subarctic. Taltan [the cannibal's mother and daughter have knives on their elbows; they kill men, luring them to lie down with their daughter; the man cuts his daughter's throat with a knife, runs away, hides in a log shelter; an old woman gets tired of crumbling logs, he also kills her with a knife]: Teit 1921a, No. 46:241-242; (cf. doghrub [giant Naba-Cha caught and brought a Cree young man named Ithenhiela ("with-foot-caribou"); an elk named Hottah lived in N.'s home; ordered to take a lump of land, a bunch of moss, a stone, a branch; carried I. back to Big Water in the west, where the good Nesnabi lived; tells you to throw objects behind, hills, swamp, Rocky Mountains appear; H. carries the young man across the Yukon; when he carries the giant, he dumps him drowns; I. comes to a man who gives him 7 arrows, tells him not to climb a tree after them if the arrows are stuck; a young man climbs into the sky; two blind old women have taken the magic belt of heaven Chief Hatempka; a young man comes to old women; copper blades protrude from their backs; he throws a bag of feathers between them; old women pierce each other; I. returns the belt to the chief, marries his daughter; the northern lights are "I's fingers"]: Bell 1903, No. 3:80-84 (paraphrased in Clark 1960:99-103).
The coast is the Plateau. Jenness Quarry 1934, No. 6 [see motif B6, L1; brother and sister stay alone, get married; their young son kills people by taking their tongues out to sleep; two girls were in ritual isolation. escape; push a child into the fire, his ashes turn into mosquitoes; one conceives from a stone; dies because her child is too heavy and hard; the other conceives from a pen, gives birth to Ahlnuk and his three brothers (Ahlnuk, Tachandalkan, Taslas and one more); they kill a big snake that drowned people; kill two grizzlies that did not give people water; A. asks the man what he does; I cut out a club to kill A.; A. touches his lips with his finger, it falls dead; brothers come to people who are going to cut a woman to extract the child; A. teaches childbirth; a man harpoonite fish with its pointed tibia; A. turns into salmon, the person misses, breaks the bone against the stone; sharpens again; A. makes him a normal leg, gives him a jail (the origin of the jail)], 10 ( Hagvilgate) [a young man comes into the world of the dead; an old woman adopts him; two blind women pierce the suitors of a girl living in their house with sharp forearms; the young man changed his jewelry (now his name is Kite (Labretka), women pierce the girl hoping to kill K.; K. throws his blanket inside the house; women pierce each other, die; K. kidnaps the wife of Great Sonya; K.'s adoptive mother gives him a boat copper oars and hats; the fugitives are unharmed when the Great Sonya sends flint and stone rains; K. brings his wife home; see motif K1], 30 (Fort Fraser) [Ayas comes to two blind women; they have sharp elbows; he throws his cape between them, they pierce each other; he replaces their tips with normal arms; makes them sighted], 43 (Hagvilgate) [boy and girl hunt squirrels; girl laughs hysterically, scratches his stomach, dies; a young man reaches the river, is transported to the other side; an old woman warns him of dangers; a blind old woman lures grooms to his daughter, kills him at night piercing them with pointed forearm bones; a young man changes jewelry with her daughter, she kills her daughter; he kills and blinds an old woman; kidnaps the Sleepy's wife]: 129-136, 145-147, 191, 219-220; Jenness 1934, No. 10 (Hagvilgate) [a young man comes to the world of the dead; an old woman adopts him; two blind women pierce the suitors of a girl living in their house with sharp forearms; the young man changed his jewelry (now his name is Kite (Labretka), women pierce a girl hoping to kill K.; K. throws her blanket inside the house; women pierce each other, die; K. kidnaps Great Sonya's wife; K.'s adoptive mother gives him a boat , copper oars and hats; fugitives are unharmed when Great Sonya sends flint and stone rains; K. brings his wife home; see motif K1], 30 (Fort Fraser) [Ayas comes to two blind women; y they have sharp elbows; he throws his cape between them, they pierce each other; he replaces their tips with normal arms; makes them sighted], 43 (Hagvilgate) [boy and girl hunt squirrels; girl laughs hysterically, scratches his stomach, dies; a young man reaches the river, is transported to the other side; an old woman warns him of dangers; a blind old woman lures grooms to his daughter, kills him at night piercing them with pointed bones of their forearms; a young man changes jewelry with her daughter, she kills her daughter; he kills and blinds an old woman; kidnaps the Sleepy's wife]: 145-147, 191, 219-220.
The Midwest. Winnebago [Sharp Elbow has sharp knees and elbows; kidnaps the Hare's lightning arrow, kills his friend; The Hare puts the whetstone forward, the elbows and knees of the Sharp Elbow break against the stone; the Hare kills with his arrow, revives a friend, orders the children and pregnant wives of the Sharp Elbow to be burned]: Radin 1956, No. 7:67-70; Western Swamp Cree (Stone Cree) [grandfather takes Ayās to the island to collect bird eggs, tells me to move away, sails away in a boat; the Horned Serpent says he is Grandma A., tells him to sit between the horns, drives him across the lake, asks me to say if a storm cloud appears; A. denies that the cloud is close, says that this is just the noise of water being cut; he jumps off the shore, lightning strikes the Horned Serpent; in the morning A. collects blood in a birch bark vessel, the Horned Serpent revives, sends it to Grandma A. Frog; she does not repair his moccasins well, the stitches are wide; the next grandmother Mouse repairs well, warns of two blind old women with sharp elbows; A. comes to their house, says he is going to go out, he gets out of the teepee in another place, the old women pierce each other; from another old woman A. feeds poisoned food to a fox hidden under her clothes, throws a fox at the old woman, the fox kills her; A. comes to a scabbed woman who cuts wood; a bird tells her that her son has returned, she does not believe it at first; says A. that those people burn her face and hands every night; A. tells her to ask for a baby throw him into the fire, call him; A. says he will burn the earth, his grandfather and his people do not believe; he fires arrows, everything lights up; A. turns into a crow, his mother into a woodpecker; the woodpecker has a black back and a white apron on the chest]: Brightman 1989:105-112; Eastern Cree (Rupert House) [Aioswé has two wives, he is jealous of one of them for his son from the other; noticing that she has traces of touch (without details), he believes it a sign of treason; swims with a young man to the island to collect bird eggs, throws; a walrus (i.e. a horned monster) carries a young man, asks him to speak if he hears thunder; the young man lies as if they heard a rumble Walrus himself produces; next time it throws the rider into the water, but the shore is near; Thunder kills the Walrus (var: he escapes; seagulls carry the young man ashore); the old woman explains what to do on his way to at home and when he returns, gives a skin of caress in a white winter outfit; comes to two old women (obviously blind - they do not see who has come), they have sharp elbows; the young man attaches a bundle to the stick, sticks between them , they pierce each other; human bones hang along the path; if touched, they will thunder, dogs will hear and tear; a young man digs an underground passage but touches his bones; dogs scream that it is the son of A.; a young man caresses sticks out his head, people think that the dogs were mistaken, they kill them; at home, the young man fires an arrow, setting fire to the ground, the second makes the water boil; A. asks how to escape, the son advises to sit in a vessel with with bear fat, A. burns; son draws a line, son and mother are safe inside her; son offers to become birds; mother turns into a robin, son turns into a Canadian jay]: Skinner 1911:92-95; Northern Ojibwa (Sandy Lake) [see motive L70; Wai-Mishus leaves his son Iyas 'a on the island; he returns home; two blind old women with sharp elbows kill travelers; I. throws clothes between them, old women pierce each other; I. revives them, cuts off their tips, heals their eyes]: Ray, Stevens 1971:112-120; Ojibwa [see motif K1; father leaves the young man on the island; returning home, he arranged two old women with awl elbows to kill each other]: Jones 1916, No. 26:378; timagami ojibwa [like Cree; the young man throws his clothes at the door, the old women rush after them, they pierce each other; he cuts their bodies into pieces, they turn into bats]: Speck 1915d, No. 10:62-63; steppe crees [see motive J20; the enemy cuts off the head of the Wampum Head, carries it away; the body remains alive; the sister marries a man from the west, gives birth to twins; they have knives on their elbows; the twins fly their arrows to visit V.'s body; the raven guards V.'s head; one of the twins turns as a swallow, the raven drives him away; the other turns into a hawk, brings his head, revives V.; all three return to sister V. and her husband; the husband, V., the eldest twin, disappear one by one, is swallowed by the Snake; the elder rips open the Snake with his sharp elbows, swallowed out; the twins turn their parents into two thorny trees; V. is told to stay in the west, people will dream of him; they themselves turn into two stars]: Bloomfield 1930, No. 19:152-162
Northeast. Naskapi: Norman 1990 [Ayaje decides to marry two sisters with sharp elbows; sees human skulls in their village; runs away, carrying skulls; sisters come to his village, everyone they kill with their elbows; A. left alone]: 216-218; Speck 1925 [A.'s two wives have arms below their elbows as sharp as knives and awls; one of them cuts off their baby's leg, cooks; they argue which of them did it, fight; stab child to death]: 8-9; Montagnier [see motive F69; Chief Ayasheu's youngest wife falsely accuses his son of harassment; A. leaves him on the island; the Horned Being transports him to the mainland; he comes to the house of two blind old men with sharp elbows; throws his jacket at the door, old men pierce each other]: Desbarats 1969:6-12; mikmaq [the old woman pierces those who come with her sharp with their elbows; Gluscap lets his dogs down on her, they tear her to pieces]: Michelson 1925:52.
Plains. Assiniboine [two women kill men by inviting them into their home and piercing them with sharp elbows; the hero asks women to sit with their backs; leaves a blanket between them; they pierce each other]: Lowie 1909a, No. 26:183-184; santi [see motive K1; older brother's wife accuses younger brother of trying to rape her; husband sends Unktomi to take brother to Unvisited Island Collect bird eggs, throw them there; a young man meets various monsters; comes to two blind people (?) old women who have awls; throws a blanket between them, they pierce each other]: Riggs 1893:139-143; iowa [see motive J27; a person does not tell a pregnant wife to look at a guest if he comes to his absence; for the fourth time she looks, sees his second face on the back of his head and sharp bones sticking out of her elbows; he kills her with them; her husband pulls the twins out of her stomach; they grow up, kill various monsters, including Sharp Elbows; to do this, the elder tells the youngest to cut it and cook it; he jumps out of the cauldron, pouring boiling water over Sharp Elbows]: Skinner 1925, No. 1:427-441; tonkawa [young man comes to the cannibal; she has sharp iron elbows; he puts a stone on his chest, the cannibal dies (without details)]: Hoijer 1972, No. 17:58-59.
California. Chumash [Grandma Momoides (Datura meteloides) has two grandchildren, does not tell them to go far; the youngest comes to the cave of Mons 'a (Lasky), is killed; Momoy advises the eldest Beat Monsov with a cane; the elder cuts Monsov and his mother, who has knives protruding from her knees]: Blackburn 1975, No. 17:116-117.
Big Pool. Eastern shoshones [like Assiniboine; women are blind]: Saint Clair 1909b, No. 4:267.
Montagna - Jurua. Marubo [Sheta Veká woman meets a snake/worm; copulates with him while sitting on the floor; he was getting fruit and fish for the woman; mother noticed; SW's husband and other men killed the snake; pregnant a woman goes to the forest, encourages a jaguar to eat her; gives birth to two twins Wani (Morning Star) and Yawewa (Evening Star); if she wears black, a hood, night, if white, day; meets Topane , the son of a forest woman Shoma Wetas; she ate her children; she had knives in her elbows, but her husband broke them off; only T. of Shom Vetsa's children escaped; when Sheta Vetsa came to T., her mother-in-law and her sister began to eat her children; T. pushed both into a fire pit; T.'s children became creoles]: Melatti 1984:110-111.