batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l258-l329
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l258-l329
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS;
lines 258-329'
start: '258'
end: '329'
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: 'Frazer describes European harvest customs in which the corn-spirit is
represented as a cock: the cock is said to sit in the last sheaf, is chased or
caught at harvest, appears as a live bird or artificial figure in harvest processions,
is associated with harvest supper and farm display, and in some customs is killed,
beheaded, buried, or preserved in part so that its feathers can be mixed with
seed-corn in spring.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that one form often assumed by the corn-spirit is that
of a cock.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: In several described customs, the cock is associated with the last standing
corn or the last sheaf.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: obs:3
text: Harvesters are described as chasing, catching, carrying, or naming the cock
during harvest customs.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Artificial cock figures are described as made from flowers, wood, pasteboard,
or ears of corn and carried on poles, waggons, crowns, or garlands.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Some customs include presenting, cooking, eating, or otherwise associating
a cock with the harvest supper.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Some customs describe a live cock being killed, beheaded, struck, buried up
to the neck, or bound in the last sheaf and killed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: One Transylvanian custom keeps the cock's skin and feathers until spring,
then mixes the feathers with grain from the last sheaf and scatters them on the
field to be tilled.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The passage explicitly interprets the killed cock as identified with the corn
and states that the corn-spirit in cock form is killed at harvest but rises to
fresh life and activity in spring.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: corn-spirit
description: A spirit of the corn said in the passage to assume the form of a cock
and to be identified with the corn in harvest customs.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: cock / Harvest-cock
description: A live cock or cock figure associated with the last sheaf, harvest
procession, harvest supper, killing rites, and spring field scattering.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: reapers / harvesters
description: Harvest participants who chase, catch, carry, name, receive, kill,
or process the cock in the customs described.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: master / farmer / farmer's wife / mistress
description: Farm household figures who release, receive, provide, cook, or display
the cock in harvest customs.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: leader of the women-reapers
description: A leader who carries on her head a garland of corn-ears or flowers
to which a live cock is fastened in a harvest procession.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: young man in the Klausenburg custom
description: A young man who attempts to cut off the buried cock's head with a scythe
at a single stroke.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: corn-spirit embodiment
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:2
basis: The passage states that the corn-spirit assumes the form of a cock and identifies
the cock with the corn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: harvest ritual participants
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: The reapers, leader, and young man perform harvest actions involving catching,
carrying, or killing the cock.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: farm household recipient or provider
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The master releases or receives the cock, and the farmer's wife or mistress
cooks or handles it in some customs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: ritual victim
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Live cocks are described as buried, beaten, beheaded, bound in the last sheaf,
or otherwise killed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: cock as harvest-cock
literal_form: Live cock or cock figure made from flowers, wood, pasteboard, or ears
of corn.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: last sheaf
literal_form: The last sheaf or last patch of corn, named Cock, Cock-sheaf, Harvest-cock,
Harvest-hen, or Autumn-hen in different customs.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: harvest procession objects
literal_form: Pole, harvest-waggon, harvest-crown, and garland of corn-ears or flowers
bearing a cock or cock figure.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: May-tree with cock image
literal_form: A May-tree on the last harvest-waggon with the cock image fastened
to its top.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: sickle or scythe
literal_form: Harvesting implement used in some customs to strike off or cut off
the cock's head.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: feathers and seed-corn
literal_form: Cock feathers kept until spring and mixed with grain from the last
sheaf before being scattered on the field.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Cock in the last corn
summary: The cock is said to sit in the last sheaf or be caught in the last patch
of corn; harvesters cry that they will chase out or catch the cock.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Harvest-cock procession and display
summary: A cock figure or live cock is carried home on a pole, waggon, crown, or
garland, sometimes before the harvest-waggon or by the leader of women-reapers;
in some customs the cock figure is later fixed to the house or gable until the
next harvest.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Harvest-cock supper and farm exchange
summary: The harvest supper may be called Harvest-cock or Stubble-cock, and in some
places a cock is a chief dish or is supplied by the farmer to the harvesters.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Killing the cock at harvest
summary: In several regional customs a live cock is placed in the last corn, chased,
buried, beaten, beheaded, or bound in the last sheaf and killed.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Preservation for spring sowing
summary: In the Udvarhely custom, the cock's skin and feathers are kept until spring,
then the feathers are mixed with grain from the last sheaf and scattered on the
field to be tilled.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: corn-spirit embodied in harvest animal
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage repeatedly associates the cock with the corn-spirit and the last
sheaf or last standing crop.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy list has no specific corn-spirit or harvest-animal
motif family.
- id: motif:2
label: death of the crop embodiment at harvest
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: The cock identified with the corn is killed, beheaded, buried, beaten, or
bound in the last sheaf and killed at harvest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the action as killing the corn-spirit; whether every
local custom understood it as sacrifice is not independently demonstrated in the
excerpt.
- id: motif:3
label: seasonal death and renewed life of the corn-spirit
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
- death_rebirth
- dying_and_returning
basis: The passage states that the corn-spirit in cock form is killed at harvest
but rises to fresh life and activity in spring, and describes feathers mixed with
seed-corn for spring sowing.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is Frazer's comparative interpretation of the customs, not necessarily
a direct statement from the practitioners.
- id: motif:4
label: last sheaf as locus of the crop spirit
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
basis: The cock is said to sit in the last sheaf, the last sheaf is named after
the cock, and a live cock may be bound in the last sheaf before being killed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The label abstracts several regional customs into a common pattern.
- id: motif:5
label: fertilizing remains returned to the field
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
basis: The cock's feathers are preserved until spring, mixed with grain from the
last sheaf, and scattered on the field to be tilled; the passage calls this a
sign of quickening and fertilising power.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The fertilizing interpretation is explicitly supplied by the author.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: Across the regional customs cited, the passage presents a recurring pattern
in which a cock or cock figure is linked to the last corn or last sheaf and treated
as a harvest embodiment.
claim_level: same_motif
target: European harvest-cock customs in Austria, North Germany, Transylvania, Thüringen,
Westphalia, Galicia, Silesia, and related regions as described in the passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is internal to Frazer's selected examples and does not
establish historical contact among the regions.
- id: claim:2
claim: 'The customs of killing, beheading, burying, or otherwise destroying the
cock perform a similar harvest-season function in the passage: marking the death
of the corn-spirit or crop embodiment.'
claim_level: same_function
target: Regional cock-killing harvest customs in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Picardy,
Westphalia, and Transylvania
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The functional interpretation depends on the author's comparative reading;
local meanings may have varied.
- id: claim:3
claim: The preservation of cock feathers for spring sowing is compared by the author
to the renewed vitality of the corn-spirit after harvest death.
claim_level: same_function
target: Seasonal renewal pattern within the Udvarhely harvest-cock custom
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is based on a single described custom plus Frazer's explanation,
not on multiple independent spring rites in the excerpt.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 258-267
quote_or_summary: The passage introduces the corn-spirit as taking cock form; children
are warned about the Corn-cock in Austria, North German reapers say the cock sits
in the last sheaf and chase or catch it, and Transylvanian reapers cry that they
will catch the cock in the last patch.
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 267-281
quote_or_summary: The last sheaf receives cock-related names; it may be shaped like
a cock, and cock figures or live cocks are carried on poles, harvest-waggons,
crowns, garlands, or a May-tree in several regional customs.
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: summary
locator: lines 281-290
quote_or_summary: The cock appears in harvest supper terminology and food customs;
a spilled harvest-waggon is said to spill the Harvest-cock, a cock figure is fixed
to a house or gable until next harvest, and a threshing participant may be called
the Clucking-hen.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 291-303
quote_or_summary: 'The passage says the corn-spirit is killed in cock form: live
cocks are placed in the last corn, chased, buried up to the neck, beheaded with
sickle or scythe, beaten, killed with whips or sticks, cooked, or used in soup.'
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: summary
locator: lines 303-314
quote_or_summary: Near Klausenburg a buried cock is beheaded by a young man with
a scythe; near Udvarhely a live cock is bound in the last sheaf, killed with a
spit, skinned, and its skin and feathers are kept until next year.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 314-329
quote_or_summary: 'Frazer interprets these customs as identifying the cock with
the corn: the cock''s death corresponds to cutting the corn, and preserved feathers
mixed with seed-corn and scattered in spring express quickening and fertilising
power; the corn-spirit in cock form is killed at harvest and rises to fresh life
in spring.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is explicit and internally comparative, but several motif labels
rely on Frazer's interpretive framing rather than direct local testimony.
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 external sources or taxonomy identifiers beyond the supplied lists were used.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg__l258-l329
passage_sha256=330a4050b1cc48d3b21d2d2a4ce047b52d7740aac76f33f1c4ae12cd2bf61f25