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Berezkin/Duvakin Catalogue of Motifs
English translation, enhancements and additional metadata by Jonathan Fielder-White
Source: Berezkin and Duvakin's Analytical Catalogue · Original catalogue (Russian)
About the catalogue and its sources
Unless otherwise stated, narrative and tradition data comes from Berezkin and Duvakin's Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area (Analytical catalogue).
Original Berezkin/Duvakin catalogue (Russian)
The English translation uses AI assistance alongside manual verification. Errors may occur; consult the original source when in doubt.
A - The Sun and Moon
| Ref | Title ▲ | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a35b1 In a35 family | The moon hinders the thief. | The criminal tries to make the moon dim because its light annoys him or prevents him from committing crimes. | 10 | 18 |
| A38b In A38 family | A mouse gnaws through a snare. | The sun gets caught in a trap. Only a mouse or other small animal manages to gnaw through the trap and free the sun. | 22 | 33 |
| A12a In A12 family | A predatory beast eclipses the luminaries. | During an eclipse or under other circumstances, predators attack the luminaries: wolves, bears, jaguars, pumas, dogs, foxes, raccoons. See motif A12. | 103 | 136 |
| A13b In A13 family | Ants eclipse the sun. | During an eclipse or at the first appearance of night, ants eclipse the sun. | 5 | 9 |
| A1a In A1 family | Before the sun, a parrot shone. | Before the sun appeared, the world was lit by a large bird with bright colours (a parrot or toucan). | 2 | 2 |
| A12d In A12 family | Birds eclipse the sun. | Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12. | 30 | 32 |
| A32d1 In A32 family | Cain and Abel on the moon. | Cain and Abel are associated with the moon, usually distinguishable (both or only Cain) in the silhouette of lunar spots. | 21 | 45 |
| A32e In A32 family | Character with an object in their hands. | On the lunar (rarely: solar) disc, a character holding an object or animal is visible. See motif A32D. | 154 | 256 |
| A20 | Childhood and youth of the Sun and Moon. | The Sun and the Moon (less often the Sun and a star, the Moon and a star) are brothers (sisters, brother and sister) who initially live on earth, but at the end of the story, as teenagers or young adults, ascend to the sky and become celestial bodies. | 56 | 79 |
| A14a In A14 family | Conflict of two luminaries. | The sun and moon (month) are or have been in hostile relations either constantly or from time to time. | 134 | 200 |
| A35b In A35 family | Covering the moon with resin. | The character tries to cover the moon with resin (so that it shines less brightly). | 11 | 14 |
| A15 | Crossing paths. | An eclipse or the appearance of spots on the lunar disc is explained by the fact that the moon or sun turns onto the wrong path or the paths of the luminaries intersect. See motif A14. | 16 | 20 |
| A27 | Crowns of the sun and moon. | The light and/or heat of the sun and/or moon is contained in their crowns, necklaces or clothing (made of feathers or animal teeth). | 48 | 57 |
| A16 | Dangers on the path of the sun. | Every night, the sun passes by creatures or objects that try to swallow or destroy it. | 33 | 37 |
| A32c In A32 family | Dog and man on the moon. | The figures of a man and a dog are visible (or should have been visible) on the lunar disc. | 23 | 29 |
| A12 | Eclipses: attacks by monsters, A737.1. | A creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, winter and summer, night and day, phases of the moon) or occasionally (eclipses, eschatological catastrophes) attack the luminaries or block their light. | 300 | 530 |
| A14 | Eclipses: the relationship between the sun and the moon, A737.7. | The meeting of the sun and the moon is the cause of eclipses or lunar phases. | 111 | 136 |
| A39 | Every day a new sun. | Suns are born and die, and every day a new one rises in the sky. | 9 | 9 |
| A2c2 In A2 family | Extra moons. | The catastrophe threatening the earth is associated with the appearance of not only several suns, but also several moons. | 13 | 21 |
| A2c In A2 family | Extra suns – children of the chief, A736.1.4.1. | The extra suns that existed in the past or may appear in the future are the children of the Sun-father. See motif A2A. | 28 | 45 |
| A11a In A11 family | Eyes of the luminaries: coolness and night. | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. | 33 | 45 |
| A32 | Figure on the surface of the Moon, A751. | A figure or imprint of some creature or object is visible on the lunar (Moon) surface. Statistical calculations also include motifs A32A – A32J (a rabbit, frog, predatory animal, human, tree, etc. are visible on the moon). | 29 | 35 |
| A24a In A24 family | First day or night: transformation into spirits. | At the moment of the first day or the first night, people transform into supernatural characters. | 8 | 6 |
| A23b In A23 family | First rays on mountains and trees, (ATU 120). | Two characters argue about who will be the first to see the rising sun. The winner is the one who first notices not the sun itself, but its reflection or the trees and mountains illuminated by its first rays. | 35 | 38 |
| A24 | First sunrise. | The first ancestors live in twilight. When they first find themselves in the rays of the sun, they (spontaneously or by someone's will) perish, turning into animals, spirits, or stones. | 38 | 56 |
| A32k In A32 family | First to the sun, then to the moon. | A character, discernible in the silhouette of the moon's spots, first headed for the sun and only then reached the moon, or the Sun and the Moon argued over who he should belong to. | 20 | 31 |
| A39B In A39 family | Full moon and crescent moon. | The full moon and the crescent moon are different characters. | 2 | 2 |
| A25 | Getting used to light. | When coming out onto the earth (for the first time or after a global catastrophe) or witnessing the first sunrise, people should not look directly at the light. | 9 | 26 |
| A32m In A32 family | Gypsy sun. | The moon is called the "Gypsy sun". | 8 | 9 |
| A32de In A32 family | Headless man on the moon. | A headless man is visible on the lunar disc. | 10 | 6 |
| A19 | Heliophores. | Anthropomorphic or zoomorphic creatures help the luminary move across the sky (and the underworld). See motif A17: zoomorphic creatures are helmsmen or rowers in the sun boat. | 32 | 39 |
| A32g In A32 family | Holding on to a bush. | On the lunar disc, a character can be seen holding onto a tree or bush and ending up on the moon with them. See motif A32D. | 27 | 32 |
| A22b In A22 family | Hot fire and cold embers. | The sun and its companion burn up. The companion burns in a less intense fire (is thrown into the ashes, etc.); therefore, the moon (or star) is cold. See motif A22. | 6 | 1 |
| A19b In A19 family | In summer on a snail, in winter on a bird. | Moving across the sky, the sun changes its mounts depending on the season – in summer it rides on a slow animal, in winter – on a fast one. Or in winter the sun is carried by a young man, and in summer – by an old man. | 8 | 6 |
| A19a In A19 family | In the morning on an ox, in the evening on a horse. | Moving daily across the sky, the sun changes its riding animals (usually in the morning it rides on an animal that moves slowly, and in the evening on another that runs faster). | 10 | 10 |
| A22 | Into the sky from the bonfire. | One or two people fall into fire or boiling water and ascend to the sky, turning into the sun and/or the moon. | 34 | 64 |
| A32b1 In A32 family | Jumps on the face of the Moon. | A woman sits (jumps) on the face (back) of the Moon Man and is now visible in the silhouette of the moon spots. | 13 | 14 |
| A8a In A8 family | Liberation of the sun, moon and stars, ATU 328A*. | The sun, moon and star (stars) appear as three consecutive and comparable objects/characters in narratives about the abduction and subsequent liberation of celestial bodies. | 11 | 8 |
| A38a In A38 family | Loop made of pubic hair. | The sun is caught in a loop made of a woman's pubic hair. | 11 | 16 |
| A21 | Luminaries thrown into the sky, A700.I, A714, A741. | The sun and/or moon were objects that were thrown or placed into the sky. | 95 | 175 |
| A32d In A32 family | Man on the moon, A751. | The figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic creature is visible on the lunar disc. | 265 | 658 |
| A32d2 In A32 family | Man with a pitchfork on the moon. | A man with a pitchfork in his hands can be seen in the silhouette of the moon's spots. | 14 | 32 |
| A32dd In A32 family | Man with brushwood on the moon. | The lunar disc shows the figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic character carrying a bundle of wood or brushwood. | 24 | 76 |
| A17 | Midday rest of the sun. | Having travelled halfway across the sky or the underworld, the Sun stops to rest. | 53 | 58 |
| A32a In A32 family | Moon Rabbit, A751.2. | The figure or imprint of a rabbit or hare is visible on the lunar disc. | 66 | 107 |
| A32b In A32 family | Moon toad, A751.3. | The figure or imprint of a toad or frog is visible on the lunar disc; the moon is associated with this animal. | 45 | 56 |
| A32h In A32 family | Moon tree, A751.6. | A tree, bush, branch, snag, etc. are visible on the lunar disc. See motif A32G. | 81 | 112 |
| A32f In A32 family | Moon water carrier. | On the lunar disc, a character is visible who has gone to fetch water and/or is holding a vessel for liquid in his hands. See motif A32D. | 87 | 182 |
| A35a In A35 family | Mud thrown in the face. | Moon spots - mud (manure, clay, ash, dough, dirty rag) thrown in the face of the Moon/Moon as a result of a family or love conflict - often by a brother/sister or mother. | 33 | 54 |
| A2c3 In A2 family | Octagonal moon. | In extraordinary circumstances, the moon or sun are not round, but have corners and edges. | 4 | 3 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.