Bears the world on its back
A motif · Form · Thompson A842, Mythological motifs
4 figures carry it.
Nearby in Thompson's index
Motifs this bestiary also holds from A840 and below. The codes are the index's; the names and counts are ours.
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A844Restrained by a god to prevent earthquakes 1 figure -
A844.1Thrashing causes earthquakes 1 figure
Carried by
This titanic creature bears the weight of the entire Earth upon its back, serving as the ultimate foundation of our world.
bear the sky upon his shoulders
Once creation was finished, several tellings describe Mawu recognizing that the completed earth was too heavy and would collapse or fall through the cosmos unless something bore its weight, and so she directed Aido Hwedo to coil itself beneath the world to support it.
Akupara appears in Hindu cosmological accounts as the foundational tortoise upon which the earth is said to rest, part of a layered picture of the world in which the ground is supported by elephants, and the elephants in turn stand upon Akupara's shell.