batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l10942-l11093
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l10942-l11093
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF THE SOUL. / HEINE. / CHAPTER III. KILLING THE GOD.
/ FOOTNOTES; lines 10942-11093
start: '10942'
end: '11093'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: This passage is a sequence of footnotes citing ethnographic, classical,
biblical, and folklore sources. Substantive details include a Latin quotation
about preserved hair to be cut by a father at altars, a citation to Numbers 6:5,
and a note about explanations for delaying the cutting of girls' nails among Indians
identified by the cited sources as Tinneh or Chepewyan, compared with European
explanations for a similar custom.
language: English with one Latin quotation
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage consists primarily of numbered footnotes and bibliographic citations.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A quoted passage from Valerius Flaccus names Eurytion and states that his
preserved hair will be cut by his father at Aonian altars when he returns.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: One footnote cites Numbers 6:5 without giving further explanatory text in
this excerpt.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: 'One note reports an alleged reason that girls'' nails should not be cut sooner:
otherwise the girls would be lazy and unable to embroider in porcupine quill-work.'
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:5
text: The same note states that the alleged Indian reason is probably a late invention,
like European reasons assigned for a similar custom, with the commonest European
reason being that the child would become a thief.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: A footnote lists multiple European folklore sources immediately before the
note comparing European reasons for a similar custom.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Eurytion
description: Named figure in the Latin quotation whose preserved hair is to be cut
upon his return.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Eurytion's father
description: Figure in the Latin quotation who will cut Eurytion's hair at Aonian
altars.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Indians identified in cited sources as Tinneh or Chepewyan
description: Group to whom the note attributes an explanation for delaying the cutting
of girls' nails.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Girls
description: Girls whose nails are the subject of the cutting restriction or delay
mentioned in the note.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Europeans assigning reasons for a similar custom
description: European comparanda mentioned as assigning reasons for a similar custom,
including the claim that the child would become a thief.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: bearer of preserved hair
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Latin quotation says Eurytion's hair is preserved and will later be cut.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: parental cutter of hair at altars
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The father is said to cut the hair at Aonian altars after Eurytion's return.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: group associated with nail-cutting explanation
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The note attributes the reason for delayed nail cutting to the Indians mentioned
in the cited sources.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: subjects of nail-cutting restriction
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The note discusses girls' nails and what would happen if they were cut sooner.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: comparative source of analogous explanations
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The note compares the alleged Indian reason with reasons assigned in Europe
for a similar custom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: preserved hair
literal_form: hair kept uncut until a later cutting
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: Aonian altars
literal_form: altars at which hair will be cut
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: girls' nails
literal_form: nails whose cutting is delayed or restricted
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: porcupine quill-work
literal_form: embroidery in porcupine quill-work
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: child becoming a thief
literal_form: European explanatory consequence for a similar custom
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Return and cutting of preserved hair
summary: The Latin quotation presents Eurytion as keeping hair preserved until his
father cuts it at Aonian altars after his return.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Explanation for delayed cutting of girls' nails
summary: The note reports an explanation that cutting girls' nails too soon would
make them lazy and unable to perform porcupine quill-work.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Comparison with European explanations
summary: The note compares the alleged Indian explanation with European explanations
for a similar custom, especially the claim that the child would become a thief.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Preserved hair followed by ritual cutting at altars
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Latin quotation describes hair preserved until a father cuts it at altars
after the son's return.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The excerpt gives only the quoted lines and does not explain the wider
ritual or narrative context.
- id: motif:2
label: Delayed cutting of girls' nails with consequence explanation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The note reports that cutting girls' nails sooner was said to cause laziness
and inability to embroider in porcupine quill-work.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The note itself questions the explanation as probably a later invention.
- id: motif:3
label: Analogous explanations for similar body-cutting customs
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The note explicitly compares the Indian explanation with European explanations
for a similar custom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The European custom is not described in detail in this excerpt.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage cautiously compares the alleged Indian explanation for delayed
cutting of girls' nails with European explanations for a similar custom.
claim_level: same_function
target: European reasons assigned for a similar custom, especially the belief that
the child would become a thief
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage gives a comparison of explanations, but it does not fully
describe the European custom or establish historical contact.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 10942-11093
quote_or_summary: The passage is a set of numbered footnotes, mostly bibliographic
references, spanning notes 647-694.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 11043-11046
quote_or_summary: 'Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica i.378 sq.: “Tectus et Eurytion
servato colla capillo, / Quem pater Aonias reducem tondebit ad aras.”'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: citation
locator: line 11056
quote_or_summary: Footnote 687 cites Numbers vi.5.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 11058-11068
quote_or_summary: Footnote 688 lists multiple European folklore and ethnological
references, including works by Köhler, Henderson, Panzer, Zingerle, Wolf, Knoop,
Veckenstedt, Haltrieh, and Krause.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 11072-11078
quote_or_summary: The note says the reason alleged by the Indians was that if girls'
nails were cut sooner they would be lazy and unable to embroider in porcupine
quill-work, and adds that this is probably a late invention like European reasons
for a similar custom, commonly that the child would become a thief.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: This line range is mainly footnotes rather than narrative exposition. Motif
extraction is therefore limited to the few notes that contain explicit substantive
details.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No taxonomy references were assigned because the available taxonomy list does not include precise hair-cutting or nail-cutting taboo categories, and broader categories would be interpretive beyond the excerpt.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg__l10942-l11093
passage_sha256=e2fea8e9ab4e0967e8f3b245065a54e30842eac2507bb2450bcf9d997a62aa88