K27n3c1. The hero's opponents are polar bears. .39.40.44.

The hero is offered difficult tasks and trials by the inhabitants of the polar bear village – his wife’s relatives.

Chukchi, Asiatic Eskimo, St. Lawrence Island, Bering Strait and Northern Alaskan Inupiat, Mackenzie Mouth, Igloolik, Eastern Ojibwa.

NE Asia. Chukchi (reindeer) [White Bears]: Baboshina 1958, no. 46 [as in Menovshchikov, no. 63; a young man is carried away on an ice floe; he sees a naked woman, gives her some of his clothes; it is a She-Bear, she rewards him, becomes his wife; his mother calls her a werewolf, she leaves with the children; he follows her; her ex-husband, a Bear, proposes challenges; (without a story about returning home)]: 118-122; Belikov 1982 [a polar bear kidnaps a man's wife; he comes to the bears, they propose a competition; 1) jumps further than the bear; 2) defeats the bear in single combat; 3) plays ball with a walrus's head (dodges, throws the head, the fangs pierce the bear); 4) kills the kidnapper, the bear Kochatko, with a spear; gets a she-bear as a wife, returns home with two wives]: 24-27; Bogoras 1902, #31 [approximately like Menovshchikov 1974, #63]: 633-634; Menovshchikov 1974, #63 [an orphan is unable to catch a seal, is carried away on an ice floe; the she-bear tells him to sit on her back, takes him home, turns into a woman; gives birth to a bear cub and a boy; the husband's mother scolds them, calls them bears; the wife and children leave; the husband follows her to the land of polar bears; the she-bear's former husband suggests a competition; 1) hunt seals (the man killed five, the bear three); 2) lift a stone from the bottom (wearing the skin of a sea cock, the man dives for a long time, lifts a heavier stone); 3) to fight (a man kills a bear with an arrow); the bears cry out in terror that a white bear is coming; it is a rat, the man easily kills it; the wife's relatives are in awe of his strength; =Sanghi 1989: 440-446], 64 [as in (63); the grandmother offends her bear-wife, saying that she eats whole pieces of fat; after the second test with the bears, the man and his wife return to people; kills the grandmother, lives with two wives]: 232-238, 238-242.

Arctic. Asian Eskimos: Bogoraz 1949, no. 12 [an unsuccessful hunter is carried out to sea on an ice floe; the White Bear kills a seal for him, becomes a woman, he brings her home; she gives birth to two sons; her mother-in-law reproaches her for eating fat intended for a fat lamp; she leaves, taking her sons; her husband follows her to the land of polar bears; the Bear's former husband suggests a competition; 1) to lift a stone from the bottom (wearing a polar bear skin, a man lifts the stone for a long time and at the same time kills a seal); 2) to play ball with a walrus's head (wearing a bear skin, a man wins); 3) to fight; a man kills a bear with an arrow; lives with his wife and children among the bears; having grown old, he wants to return to people; his bear sons bring him to the shore]: 161-176; St. Lawrence Island [a young man, bullied by a relative, sees a light in a cave, finds a woman there; the relative suggests swapping wives, comes to the cave, is killed by the woman; she is the White Bear, takes the husband to her people; the bears with the necklace were killed by hunters and were reborn; the wife's sister's husband suggests a competition, the wife teaches how to win; 1) dive into the sea, retrieve heavy stones from the bottom, throw them up; 2) play with a heavy walrus head; the man wins]: Slwooko 1979: 86-91; Inupiat of the Bering Strait (Cape Prince of Wales) [a young man does not marry for a long time; he sees a strange girl, brings her to her home, she makes it a condition that his mother not insult her; they have a son; the mother-in-law says that the daughter-in-law eats raw blubber, she is the White Bear; the wife leaves, the husband comes to the White Bears; father-in-law tells him to throw a bead into his son's mouth, the Bears become friendly; the headman challenges the man to a contest, the father-in-law gives him his skin; 1) play ice ball (the man throws it the farthest); 2) who can dive for the longest time (the man secretly breathes, wins); 3) hunt seals (wins); the man stays with the Bears]: Curtis 1976(20): 157-160; Bering Strait Inupiat [ Taktak meets a strange woman on the ice, marries, they have a son; T.'s mother tells her grandson that his mother eats like a polar bear; she takes her son, goes to the polar bears; T. comes to them, they are happy; her father helps him, gives him a bearskin; these bears are the souls of those killed by people; they are divided into two parties, white and speckled; T. is in the white party; wins ball game (ice ball); first to catch seal; stays with wife and children with bears]: Garber 1940, no. 24: 195-203; Bering Strait Inupiat [orphan Seetuklives with his uncle, studies with him; the uncle's wife eats all the supplies, tells her husband that his nephew is doing it; the uncle puts S. in a box, ties the lid, and lowers it into the sea; the box comes ashore; S. is freed, hunts, and gets everything he needs; someone drives fish, deer, and wolves to his house (they have valuable skins); two brothers and a sister arrive; she is ready to marry S. if he overtakes her and defeats an evil rival; S. first lags behind, then casts a spell, overtakes; the girl's father gives him the skin of a polar bear; S. defeats his rival in a ball game (it is a large stone); in diving into the sea; he kills him with an arrow when he appears in the form of a bear; S. gets married, his father-in-law gives him hawk plumage; S. flies to his native village, picks up his uncle, throws him into the sea, after taking off his bird clothing and saying why he is going to kill him; brings his uncle's corpse to the village, tells his story; the people kill his uncle's wife, bury her with her husband; S. returns to the Hawks, becomes their chief]: Garber 1940, No. 27: 204-215; Inupiat of northern Alaska [Inyuhuyuk marries a girl with big teeth who plays ball; the mother-in-law notices that she licks her fingers, says that she is like a she-bear; taking both sons, the offended daughter-in-law leaves; I. follows them, the trail becomes the trail of bears; his wife's relatives are kind to him, but the bear's former companion suggests a competition; 1) run to an ice hole, catch a seal, return; 2) to dive for a long time (the old man advises to take a deep breath in the parka, to breathe at the bottom); 3) to slide down a mountain; I. wins; often visits his parents with his wife, who takes on human form]: Hall 1975, No. PM71: 270-274; Inupiat of northern Alaska [a man marries a White Bear woman; the mother-in-law does not like that her daughter-in-law eats too much fat; she goes to her own people; in her village, Angusiliuk kills strangers by challenging them to a competition, takes the wives of the dead; the man's father-in-law and brothers of the wife help him; 1) to play with a heavy ball made of bone and ice (the man breaks it); 2) to get seals (the man is the first to pull out a seal); 3) A. turns into a walrus, the dugout fills with water; the man harpoons the walrus; heals his opponent; 4) to dive for a long time (a man breathes through a tube; A. is barely alive); a man with his wife and son returns to his parents]: Spencer 1959: 419-425; the mouth of the Mackenzie [a man meets a woman, follows her to her relatives; these are Polar Bears; the father-in-law demands 1) to hit a target with a ball, 2) to get a seal in an ice hole, 3) to get a "narrow" (a fabulous animal); the son-in-law wins every time, returns home, leaving his bear wife]: Ostermann 1942: 91-95; igloolik(Repulse Bay) [a good Angusugjuk hunter finds a puppy near a house, and a woman in the house; she leaves when her mother-in-law reproaches her for eating only fat; A. follows a trail - part man, part polar bear; the wife jumps into the water, takes A. to the polar bear village; the wife of the biggest one looks into the house, says that her husband is challenging A. to a competition; the mother-in-law teaches him what to do; there is no need to accept the challenge to dive for jellyfish at all; 1) pick up, carry a stone (it is slippery, but it has four notches, A. wins); 2) dive for seals (A. grabs something black, at home it turns out to be a seal)]: Spalding 1979: 12-14.

Midwest. Eastern Ojibwa (Timagami) [a lonely young man carves a wife out of wood; she has her locked in a wigwam for three days; he peeks out until time, she goes away; he follows her; three old women show him the way one after another, give him lynx bones as amulets; he climbs up a tree trunk to heaven; 1) his wife warns him that her brothers the White Bears will play ball with him, kicking the ball around the world; he makes the Bear drop the ball, wins; 2) the Bears cannot move a rock, he breaks it with an arrow; 3) he kills first a red, then a blue otter; is recognized as his son-in-law]: Speck 1915d, no. 9: 57-62.