Comparative mythology corpus

batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l13496-l13616

batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l13496-l13616

---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l13496-l13616
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
passage_locator:
  label: CONTENTS / NOTE. OFFERINGS OF FIRST-FRUITS. / INDEX. / FOOTNOTES; lines 13496-13616
  start: '13496'
  end: '13616'
  translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)'
  notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
    human review required.
canonical_text:
  quote: ''
  summary: The passage consists of footnotes citing sources and briefly noting customs
    involving cures by transference, possible sin-eating, food placed on a corpse,
    expulsion of a devil from a sick house, riddles connected with dreams or a corpse
    in the village, and Iroquois White Dog sacrifice or feast.
  language: English
  quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
  text: The passage cites collections of cures by transference in works by Strackerjan,
    W. G. Black, and Grimm.
  category: other
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:2
  text: The passage reports a statement that bread and salt were placed on the breast
    of a corpse, while warning that the authority did not speak from personal knowledge
    and that the evidence should be treated cautiously.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: obs:3
  text: The passage states that Dyaks drive the devil at the point of a sword from
    a house where there is sickness.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:4
  text: The passage states that, in a cited Huron context, each man demanded the subject
    of his dream in the form of a riddle for others to solve.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:5
  text: The passage states that in Bolang Mongondou riddles may be asked only when
    there is a corpse in the village.
  category: setting
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:6
  text: The passage cites accounts of Iroquois White Dog sacrifice or White Dog feast.
  category: other
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
  name_or_label: corpse
  description: A corpse associated with bread and salt placed on its breast and with
    a village setting where riddles may be asked.
  role_refs:
  - role:1
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:4
- id: fig:2
  name_or_label: devil
  description: A devil driven from a house where there is sickness.
  role_refs:
  - role:2
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: fig:3
  name_or_label: White Dog
  description: A White Dog associated with cited Iroquois sacrifice or feast accounts.
  role_refs:
  - role:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: fig:4
  name_or_label: dream claimant
  description: A man who demands the subject of his dream in riddle form.
  role_refs:
  - role:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
  label: deceased body in ritual or custom setting
  assigned_to:
  - fig:1
  basis: Bread and salt are reported as being placed on a corpse, and riddles are
    restricted to times when a corpse is in the village.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:4
- id: role:2
  label: expelled harmful being
  assigned_to:
  - fig:2
  basis: The devil is said to be driven from a sick house at sword point.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: role:3
  label: sacrificial or feast animal
  assigned_to:
  - fig:3
  basis: The cited titles refer to Iroquois sacrifice of the White Dog and White Dog
    feast.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: role:4
  label: dream-subject requester
  assigned_to:
  - fig:4
  basis: The man demands the subject of his dream as a riddle.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
  label: bread and salt on corpse
  literal_form: bread and salt placed upon the breast of a corpse
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: sym:2
  label: sword used in expulsion
  literal_form: sword point used to drive a devil from a sick house
  associated_figures:
  - fig:2
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: sym:3
  label: riddle as ritual speech
  literal_form: riddle used to demand or identify the subject of a dream, and restricted
    in one place to the presence of a corpse in the village
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  - fig:4
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: sym:4
  label: White Dog
  literal_form: White Dog named in Iroquois sacrifice or feast citations
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
  label: Bread and salt placed on corpse
  summary: A reported custom places bread and salt on the breast of a corpse; the
    passage explicitly cautions that the evidence is indirect and uncertain.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:1
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: scene:2
  label: Devil driven from sick house
  summary: A devil is driven at sword point from a house where sickness is present.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:2
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:2
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: scene:3
  label: Riddle observance linked to dreams and death setting
  summary: One cited practice has men demand dream-subjects as riddles; another restricts
    riddles to times when a corpse is in the village.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:4
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: scene:4
  label: Iroquois White Dog sacrifice or feast cited
  summary: The passage cites scholarly accounts of an Iroquois White Dog sacrifice
    or White Dog feast without giving ritual details in this excerpt.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:3
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
  label: cure by transference
  taxonomy_refs: []
  basis: The footnote identifies cited collections of cures by transference.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The excerpt gives only bibliographic references and does not describe
    individual cure procedures.
- id: motif:2
  label: food placed on corpse as possible sin-eating survival
  taxonomy_refs: []
  basis: The passage reports bread and salt on a corpse and notes that this was interpreted
    by the informant as a survival of sin-eating.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  confidence: low
  cautions: The author explicitly says the authority did not speak from personal knowledge
    and that the evidence must be received with caution.
- id: motif:3
  label: exorcistic expulsion from a sick house
  taxonomy_refs: []
  basis: The passage states that Dyaks drive the devil at the point of the sword from
    a house where there is sickness.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
  confidence: medium
  cautions: Only one brief comparative note is given, with no ritual sequence or local
    terminology.
- id: motif:4
  label: riddle observance connected with dreams, divination, or corpse presence
  taxonomy_refs: []
  basis: The passage describes dream-subject demands in riddle form and notes a restriction
    on asking riddles when a corpse is in the village.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The claim that enigmas were originally a kind of divination is the author's
    conjecture in a footnote, not a detailed primary report in this excerpt.
- id: motif:5
  label: White Dog sacrifice or feast
  taxonomy_refs:
  - sacrifice
  basis: The passage cites works titled or described as accounts of Iroquois sacrifice
    of the White Dog and Iroquois White Dog feast.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The excerpt is citation-only and supplies no ritual details beyond the
    name of the feast or sacrifice.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
  claim: The passage itself treats riddle observances as comparable across the Huron
    dream-riddle report, examples cited from other works, and the Bolang Mongondou
    restriction on riddles when a corpse is present.
  claim_level: same_function
  target: riddle as superstitious or divinatory observance
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  counter_evidence_refs: []
  confidence: low
  limitations: The comparison is made in a footnote and is supported here only by
    brief references, not by detailed descriptions of each practice.
- id: claim:2
  claim: The note compares a Dyak practice of driving a devil from a sick house with
    other sickness-related expulsion customs cited nearby.
  claim_level: same_function
  target: expulsion of harmful being or sickness from a house
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
  counter_evidence_refs: []
  confidence: low
  limitations: The excerpt gives only the Dyak example explicitly and refers to surrounding
    cited material without reproducing full accounts.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
  type: summary
  locator: lines 13496-13504
  quote_or_summary: Footnotes cite Strackerjan, W. G. Black, and Grimm for collections
    of cures by transference.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
  type: summary
  locator: lines 13516-13529
  quote_or_summary: A note reports Moggridge's statement about bread and salt on a
    corpse as possible sin-eating, but cautions that he lacked personal knowledge
    and that the evidence should be treated carefully.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
  type: quote
  locator: lines 13556-13560
  quote_or_summary: "“The Dyaks also drive the devil at the point of the sword from
    a house where there is sickness.”"
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
  type: summary
  locator: lines 13570-13580
  quote_or_summary: A note compares Huron dream-subject riddles, riddles as superstitious
    observance or possible divination, and a Bolang Mongondou rule that riddles may
    be asked only when there is a corpse in the village.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
  type: citation
  locator: lines 13591-13616
  quote_or_summary: Footnotes cite several sources for Iroquois traditions, including
    works on the “Iroquois sacrifice of the White Dog” and “Iroquois White Dog feast.”
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized citation.
confidence:
  extraction: medium
  motif_candidates: medium
  comparison_claims: low
  notes: The excerpt is mostly bibliographic footnotes with a few brief descriptions
    of customs. Motif candidates are therefore preliminary and need checking against
    the cited main text or primary sources.
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 additional taxonomy IDs were assigned except sacrifice for the White Dog citation, because the excerpt does not provide enough detail to support broader taxonomy mapping.
  batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
  custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg__l13496-l13616
  passage_sha256=6b36bcacb9d8207eb5b48b2bd21f36550e5c1dec2bf985c3d7cb1723faec692f