Rainbow and animal in the traditions of the peoples of the world (based on the analytical catalogue of motives). Part 1

The article discusses the rainbow and animal’s designations in the traditions of many nations. The aim of this research is to analyze the representations (associations) of the rainbow as an animal in the mythological perspective of certain cultures, attempting to establish the structure and possible connections of such representations. The author’s scope though is not aimed to determine the ethnogenesis of any particular nation, but merely to define these representations and to show the geographical distribution of parallels. The first part of research presents the analysis of some animals’ images which are connected with rainbow term directly or indirectly, such as frog, crocodile, fish, goat, sheep, horse and cow (bull). The research is based on the analytical catalogue named “Thematic Classification and Distribution of Folklore-Mythological Motifs by Areas” by Yu. E. Berezkin and E. N. Duvakin which includes over 80,000 texts. The paper is based on both general and specific methods of folklore and language studies. The connection between the rainbow and the frog is geographically limited to Southern Siberia and Tibet, with two texts not interconnected, realizing different plot motives. Thus, we cannot propose the typological nature of these representations. Connection between the rainbow and the crocodile / fish is more defined compared to the rainbow - frog group and has a clear localization. A very unique representation of the rainbow as multicolored sheep flock tended by an old woman in the sky was found in Kazakh and Tatar cultures.