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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.
C - Disasters
| Ref ▲ | Title | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Falling sky. | In the past, a catastrophic shift in the layers of the universe occurred or will occur in the future. Among the variants (sometimes combined): the sky fell to the earth; the present earth or underground world swapped places with the sky; the earth turned upside down; it fell into the underworld; the layers of the universe successively collapsed onto the earth or will swap places in the future. | 28 | 41 |
| C2 | Flood and fire. | The inhabitants of the middle world (in part) are destroyed (or will be destroyed) once by fire or drought, another time by a flood, or the world is flooded with a stream of fire and boiling water. | 163 | 319 |
| C2a In C2 family | The Woodpecker's Fire. | Two characters meet a woodpecker and receive an object from it, which causes the ground to catch fire upon contact. The stronger and smarter of the two characters escapes, while the weaker and stupider one is burned or burned to death. | 7 | 12 |
| C2b In C2 family | The Burnt Moon. | The Sun and the Moon are caught in a fire. The strong and intelligent Sun escapes, while the weak and foolish Moon is burned or consumed, but the Sun revives it. | 8 | 10 |
| C3 | The snake plugged the hole in the ark, A1853.1, (ATU 825). | The snake (eel, frog) saved the ship (or the whole world) by plugging the hole from which water was pouring with its body. | 44 | 56 |
| C4 | The Flood: Falling Fruit. | During the flood or at the beginning of time, fruits, seeds, or other objects fall into the water one after another. As this happens, the water begins to recede, exposing the earth. | 40 | 65 |
| c4a In c4 family | The Flood: Salvation on a Tree. | During the flood, those who climbed trees were saved. | 41 | 71 |
| C5a In C5 family | Scout birds. | A bird, various birds, or people who then turn into birds are sent to explore the earth (whether it exists, whether it has dried up, whether there are any survivors, why smoke is rising from the earth, etc.) or with the task of bringing back a piece of solid substance to create dry land. | 132 | 209 |
| C5b In C5 family | Animals sent on reconnaissance. | After a global catastrophe or during the creation of the earth, animals run around, making the earth large, reporting on its condition, or are sent to find out how large the earth is. | 35 | 47 |
| C6 | Obtaining valuables from the underworld. | In texts with an emphasis on authenticity, characters dive or otherwise descend into the underworld to bring back to earth something desirable that is located at the bottom (deep below) (aka "The Earth Diver" motifs) (cf. fairy tale motif k27x9). | 188 | 439 |
| C6a In C6 family | Diver – turtle/frog. | A turtle or toad (frog) brings a desired object from the bottom or from the underworld. | 38 | 45 |
| C6b In C6 family | Diver – muskrat (beaver, otter). | The desired object is brought up from the bottom by a muskrat (rarely a beaver or otter). | 44 | 92 |
| C6c In C6 family | The Diver – Bird. | The bird dives and brings up the desired object from the bottom. See motif C6. | 68 | 149 |
| C6c1 In C6 family | Birds: successful and unsuccessful divers. | Two or more different birds (in Siberia, often a loon and a duck) successively try to retrieve something from the bottom. Only one succeeds. | 19 | 34 |
| C6c2 In C6 family | The punished loon. | Birds must dive to retrieve soil from the bottom, from which land will emerge. The loon cannot reach the bottom, refuses to dive, or tries to hide the soil it has retrieved (usually punished for this). | 9 | 10 |
| C6c3 In C6 family | The loon – a successful diver. | The loon dives and brings back a piece of earth (grass, etc.), which turns into land (it is the only or the only successful diver). | 23 | 40 |
| C6c4 In C6 family | Duck – a successful diver. | A duck or similar waterfowl dives and brings back a piece of earth, which turns into land (it is the only or the only successful diver). | 57 | 103 |
| C6d In C6 family | Obtaining land from the underworld. | Land (earth) is formed from a small amount of solid substance (silt, sand, clay, mud) that characters retrieve from the underworld (usually from the bottom of the ocean). | 109 | 233 |
| C6e In C6 family | Diver – crab, shrimp. | A crustacean retrieves earth from under water or from the underworld. | 14 | 18 |
| C6f In C6 family | Retrieving a drowned person. | The characters attempt to retrieve a living creature or part of its body that has sunk to the bottom of the water. See motif C6. | 12 | 13 |
| C6g In C6 family | The diver – the boar. | The boar brings earth from the bottom and/or scatters it on the water. | 4 | 7 |
| C6h In C6 family | An insect brings soil. | The insect brings soil (from the bottom of the sea or from somewhere far away). | 6 | 10 |
| c6h1 In c6 family | Earth was taken from the belly of an invertebrate. | The earth brought from the underworld was found in the belly of a worm or insect, from where it was taken. | 5 | 6 |
| C6i In C6 family | Stuck mud turns into earth. | A zoomorphic character returns from the underworld covered in mud. He shakes himself off, or the mud is scraped off him, and earth emerges from it. | 8 | 12 |
| C6i1 In C6 family | A mound of earth rises above the water. | There is water everywhere. Earth is raked up from the bottom into a mound, its top rises above the water and turns into dry land. | 3 | 3 |
| C6j In C6 family | Obtaining land in connection with the creation of man. | In the same narrative, the story of the creation of man and the attempt to prevent it follows immediately after the story of obtaining earth from the bottom of the sea or from the underworld. | 22 | 26 |
| C6j1 In C6 family | The earth is brought by the antagonist of the deity. | An anthropomorphic deity sends someone to fetch earth from the bottom of his enemy. At first, the enemy or both characters sometimes have the appearance of birds. After the enemy brings the earth, a confrontation begins between the two characters, who now always have anthropomorphic appearances. | 45 | 84 |
| C7 | The Flood: The Destroyed Barrier. | Initially or after the flood, an earthen or stone barrier, the body of a character or creature prevents the flow of water. Later, this barrier is removed or destroyed. | 34 | 51 |
| C8 | Blood relatives give birth to people. | At the beginning of time or as a result of a catastrophe, the only human couple is a brother and sister (less often a mother and son, father and daughters). They marry and give birth to people. | 103 | 266 |
| C8a In C8 family | Millstones fall on each other. | Finding themselves alone and without other marriage partners, a brother and sister make it possible to marry each other by the occurrence of an incredible event. This event takes place, giving them a sign to become spouses. Among such events (alternatively or sequentially): 1) millstones rolling down from two different mountains fall on top of each other; 2) swords thrown from two mountains end up in the same scabbard; 3) objects thrown up join together; 4) smoke from two fires joins together (rising in a column); 5) two planted bamboo stalks join at the tops. See motif C8. | 16 | 44 |
| C8a1 In C8 family | Let the thread enter the eye. | Finding themselves alone and without other marriage partners, a brother and sister make their marriage possible by the occurrence of an incredible event: a thread far from the needle must enter the eye of the needle. | 6 | 11 |
| C8a2 In C8 family | Stone lion. | The lion (often stone) helps to survive the flood. | 2 | 4 |
| c8aa In c8 family | Brother and sister give birth to humans. | At the beginning of time, or as a result of a catastrophe, the only human couple are a brother and sister. They marry and give birth to people. | 93 | 237 |
| C8b In C8 family | Brother and sister did not recognise each other. | A brother and sister (or mother and son) find themselves alone, without marriage partners. Both of them (or only the brother, son) refuse to marry, but do so after accepting each other (or the brother accepts the sister, the son accepts the mother) as strangers. They give birth to new people. | 15 | 41 |
| C8c In C8 family | Son and mother give birth to people. | After a global catastrophe, at the beginning of time or when settling a new land, a woman and her son give birth to humans. | 15 | 21 |
| C8c1 In C8 family | Father and daughter give birth to humans. | At the beginning of time or after the destruction of the rest of humanity, a father and daughter (daughters) remain. They marry and give rise to humans or certain ethnic groups. | 6 | 6 |
| C8D In C8 family | Having had smallpox, they did not recognise each other. | A brother and sister survived the flood. They married after having had smallpox and therefore did not recognise each other. | 6 | 9 |
| c8e In c8 family | Salvation in a pumpkin during the flood. | During the flood or at the beginning of time, people (usually a brother and sister) float in a large gourd. | 21 | 47 |
| c8f In c8 family | Salvation in a drum during the flood. | During the flood, a brother and sister float in a drum. | 6 | 11 |
| C9 | Warning of the flood. | God, an animal, or a certain character warns one of the people about an impending catastrophe (usually a flood) in which most people will perish. | 62 | 112 |
| C9a In C9 family | The Flood: people turn into aquatic animals. | During the flood or when crossing a river, those who drowned or were saved turn into aquatic or amphibious animals. | 8 | 16 |
| C10 | The Flood: Wet Tails, A2211.1. | During the flood, some birds or animals escape to a mountain, a tree, a boat, or by clinging to the sky; their tails or other parts of their bodies remain in the water and as a result acquire their current colour or shape. Cf. A2211.7 ("During the flood, birds cling to the sky; their tails acquire their current colour"). | 28 | 42 |
| C10a In C10 family | Birds clinging to the sky, A2211.1. | During the flood, some birds save themselves by clinging to the sky with their beaks. Cf. A2211.7 ("During the flood, birds cling to the sky; their tails acquire their current colour"). | 15 | 19 |
| C11 | Revenge of the insulted father. | A father with magical powers destroys people (all or many) who have insulted or harmed his son. | 13 | 16 |
| C12a In C12 family | The Flood and the Dog. | The dog warns of an impending global flood or fire and advises what to do. | 7 | 10 |
| C12b In C12 family | People – descendants of dogs. | All people or individual ethnic groups, lineages, families are considered descendants of dogs (with which a man mated). | 29 | 56 |
| C13 | Rebellion of things. | During or before the onset of a global catastrophe (flood, darkness) or (surui) at night, household items and/or stones, trees, domestic animals, and cultivated plants turn into wild birds and animals or come to life. | 36 | 50 |
| C14 | Monsters destroy people. | During or on the eve of a global catastrophe (flood, darkness), animals or monsters attack people. (See motif C13A (rebellion of things: animated objects and/or domestic animals threaten people, attack them).) | 48 | 62 |
| C15 | The walled-up jaguar. | A monstrous jaguar (puma) is locked in a cave or tree trunk. | 8 | 15 |
| C16 | Products of labour become animals, E161, E168. | Contrary to human desire, processed skins, tools, and (meat) food (again) turn into (those) animals (from whose body parts they were made). Cf. motif M84. | 64 | 83 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.