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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.
B - Origins of the environment
| Ref ▲ | Title | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B67 | The tree turns into stones. | A fallen tree and/or its stump turns into a mountain (mountain range) or rocks. (Usually, the branches of this tree bear the fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants, see motif G5). | 9 | 4 |
| B68 | Giant hazel grouse. | The giant hazel grouse became small – it was usually torn into pieces, which turned into the current hazel grouse. | 23 | 42 |
| B68a In B68 family | The bird is punished: let it carry another. | Birds quarrel, and the one who claimed high status cripples the weak one. For this, the others order her to carry the crippled one on her back. | 6 | 9 |
| B68b In B68 family | Attempted to frighten God. | A character who, by his appearance, behaviour or unexpected appearance, tried to frighten God (people) and was turned into an animal (with a different appearance than before) for this. | 35 | 50 |
| B69 | Striped chipmunk, A2217.2. | Wishing to reward or punish a small rodent (chipmunk, marmot, squirrel), the character makes it striped, usually by running a paw or hand down its back. | 51 | 69 |
| B69a In B69 family | Dispute about time, Chipmunk participant. | A chipmunk or a similar small animal (weasel, shrew) argues with another animal character (bear, moose, puma, snake) about whether there should be light and warmth or darkness and cold. | 13 | 14 |
| B69b In B69 family | Striped frog. | Wanting to reward or punish the frog, the character runs his hand or paw along its back, and since then, stripes have been visible on the frog's back. | 2 | 2 |
| B70 | Hare ears. | A man beats defenseless hares, foxes, and other small animals (one or many) that are usually locked in his house. The story explains the colouring of the tips of the ears and tails of these animals. Cf. motif M45A. | 29 | 38 |
| B71 | Dancing flashes. | The northern lights are people who play, dance, sit by the fire, fight or run with torches. | 43 | 50 |
| B72 | The cuckoo was not given water. | Since the children do not give their mother water, she turns into a bird (usually a cuckoo) and flies away. | 27 | 43 |
| B72a In B72 family | Mother, child and swans. | Mother (stepmother, adoptive father) does not give food to a girl or (less often) a boy. The child asks migratory birds to take him with them, they give him bird clothing, he flies away with them, becoming a bird. | 11 | 8 |
| B72b In B72 family | An offended child becomes a bird. | A girl or, less commonly, a boy turns into a bird after his mother (father, guardian) refuses to give him water or food or otherwise mistreats him. | 20 | 17 |
| B72c In B72 family | The blood of those who run stains objects. | Children run after their mother, injure themselves, and their blood stains plants, the ground, and the evening sky. | 9 | 13 |
| B72d In B72 family | Wings from a cutting board. | A woman makes herself wings (beak, tail) from clothing accessories and turns into a bird or a flying creature. | 10 | 22 |
| B73 | The cuckoo has different legs. | The character turns into a cuckoo. This happens so quickly that one foot remains unshod or one braid remains unbraided. Therefore, it is believed that the cuckoo's legs or wings are different. See motif A43A. | 11 | 21 |
| B73a In B73 family | In search of a horse. | A girl (a young man, a girl with her brother; two little brothers) searches for a lost horse, cow, sheep and, as a result (alone or with her brother; both brothers), turns into a bird (usually a cuckoo) with a characteristic call. | 10 | 17 |
| B73b In B73 family | In search of a family member. | Two teenagers or young people are looking for each other, calling out to each other (or one of them is calling the other): a girl is looking for her missing (deceased) brother or brother's wife; a brother is looking for his sister or brother; young parents are looking for their child; one or both of those calling out turn into birds with a characteristic call. | 29 | 45 |
| B74 | Red-eyed capercaillie. | The eyes of the capercaillie or black grouse turned red from tears. | 18 | 31 |
| B74a In B74 family | Red cloths over the eyes. | Red cloths are sewn over the character's eyes (threads, eyelids are painted red) or he does it himself. He sees everything in red or his eyes have turned red forever. | 9 | 10 |
| B74b In B74 family | The wedding of the owl and the moon. | The owl is forced to part with the moon and now cries out when it sees the moon. Usually, the story tells how the marriage of the owl and the moon fell apart or did not take place. | 5 | 6 |
| B75a In B75 family | Sounds of the Age of Creation: The Human Voice. | The voice of a character who once lived can still be heard (most often it is an echo; A1195, The origin of Echo). | 43 | 35 |
| B75b In B75 family | Sounds of the era of creation: the creaking of trees. | The creaking or crackling of trees is the voice of a transformed character. | 6 | 9 |
| B75b1 In B75 family | Sounds of the era of creation: the voice of a wife or mother-in-law. | The character pushes his mother-in-law or wife into a hollow, and she turns into the creaking of trees or an echo. | 7 | 9 |
| B75c In B75 family | Sounds of the era of creation: the sound of water. | The sound of the surf or water on the rapids has been heard since the time of creation. | 4 | 4 |
| B75d In B75 family | Sounds of the creation era: the rustling of leaves. | The sound of leaves or grass rustling in the wind has been heard since the time of creation. | 7 | 7 |
| B76 | Frozen waves. | The sea waves instantly petrified, forming land with mountains on it. | 9 | 10 |
| B77 | Low sky, A625.2; A660. | The sky was close to the ground, then rose. | 197 | 399 |
| B77a In B77 family | The giant pushed back the sky. | One or more anthropomorphic characters push the sky away from the earth. See motif B77. | 52 | 40 |
| B77b In B77 family | They touched the sky with a long object. | The sky moved away and/or the connection between people and the deity ceased after the sky or the heavenly deity was touched or struck with a long object (a pestle, a broom, etc.) during work. Cf. motifs B77b1 and B77b2. | 32 | 64 |
| B77b1 In B77 family | The sky was struck with a pestle. | The sky receded and/or the connection between humans and the deity ceased after the sky or the heavenly deity was touched or struck during work with a pestle used to pound in a mortar or with a spoon used to stir porridge (Ewe, Nubians, Nyiman). | 29 | 54 |
| B77b2 In B77 family | The sky was touched with a broom. | The sky moved away and/or the connection between people and the deity ceased after the sky or the heavenly deity was touched or struck with a broom. | 4 | 4 |
| B77b3 In B77 family | Placing a pancake on the sky. | In the past, either in a distant country, the sky was or is so low that various objects are placed on it as needed. | 14 | 17 |
| B77c In B77 family | The serpent pushed back the sky. | A snake-like creature pushes the sky away from the earth. See motif B77. | 6 | 5 |
| B78 | Shaking off, produces a blizzard. | When a character dusts himself off (or shakes out his clothes, plucks birds, etc.), snow falls from his hair, feathers, wool, bedding, clothes, etc. onto the ground. | 13 | 12 |
| B79 | Cosmic egg. | In the world ocean or in the world abyss, from an egg (eggs) or egg-like sphere, shell, etc., the earth, sky, luminaries, and creator gods arise. | 32 | 43 |
| B79a In B79 family | A bird laid an egg. | At the beginning of time, a bird flies, lays an egg or eggs, and various objects or creatures hatch from them. | 21 | 26 |
| B79a1 In B79 family | The bird dropped the firmament onto the waters. | At the beginning of time, a bird flies and drops pieces of solid ground onto the water, from which land or an island emerges. Sometimes the substrate onto which the piece of solid ground falls is not precisely defined. | 20 | 22 |
| B80 | Measurement of the world. | The process of creation includes measuring the dimensions of the earth or the world as a whole. | 13 | 15 |
| B81 | Dog with a gun. | The creator and his opponent consider whether to give the dog the ability to shoot (with a bow or a gun). | 20 | 22 |
| B82 | White Raven, A2411.1.1.6. | The raven (less often another bird of prey, or another black bird the size of a raven) was first white, and then turned black. | 175 | 244 |
| B83 | Unliftable weight. | A character attempts to lift a small object or creature, which turns out to be gigantic and unliftable. Cf. motif I87ab. | 18 | 17 |
| B84 | Mushrooms and growths (transformation of a cannibal). | After a demonic character (usually a woman who pursues the hero) dies, her flesh turns into objects found on trees - mushrooms, resin, fruits, cones. | 15 | 24 |
| B85 | Calming the Wind. | The wind blows too strongly, it is forced to calm down. | 28 | 30 |
| B85a In B85 family | Regulating the wind. | The wind stops blowing (after blowing too strongly). A character approaches it and establishes the necessary balance. Since then, the wind blows, but usually not too strongly. | 13 | 10 |
| B85b In B85 family | Wind in a bag. | The wind was or is in a small container, released from it or flying out of it from time to time. | 30 | 38 |
| B86 | The Tower of Babel. | To reach the sky (the moon, stars, sun), people build a ladder or tower consisting of separate modules (logs, poles, bricks, etc.), but the structure collapses. | 87 | 121 |
| B86A In B86 family | Reaching for the moon in the sky. | People try to climb up to the sky to get the moon. (In brackets are traditions in which the goal of building a tower to the sky is the moon, but the task of getting it is not mentioned). | 17 | 19 |
| B86B In B86 family | Remove the bottom brick. | When building a tower, there are not enough prepared modules (bricks, logs). The character removes the bottom one to put it on top, and the structure collapses. | 3 | 7 |
| B87 | Alcor. | Alcor (a faint star next to the second star of the Big Dipper's handle) stands out as a separate celestial object. | 99 | 156 |
| B87a In B87 family | Alcor – dog. | A dim star next to the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper (Tibetans: Little Dipper) Ursa Major – dog. | 24 | 29 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.