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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.
E - Origins of people and culture
| Ref | Title ▲ | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e9j1 In e9 family | Monkeys - ancestors of humans. | Humans are considered descendants of monkeys. | 4 | 4 |
| e9i5 In e9 family | The magical wife - the snail. | Before meeting the hero, his wife takes the form of a snail. | 4 | 8 |
| e8b In e8 family | Woman hides in a fruit. | A woman hides inside a fruit brought into the house and comes out when no one is around or when the fruit is cut open. | 19 | 22 |
| e8c In e8 family | Woman hides in a splinter. | A woman hides inside a splinter or branch brought into the house and comes out when no one is around. | 27 | 33 |
| E39a In E39 family | A female animal conceives from human urine. | An animal (snake, pig) conceives from a man's urine and gives birth to a human child (or twins). | 4 | 5 |
| E9e In E9 family | A puppy received as a reward. | An animal or object received by a young man from supernatural beings as a reward for his kindness, upon the young man's return home (to earth), turns into a girl. | 24 | 34 |
| E25 | Arachne (spider weaver). | People learn the art of weaving from a spider or from a person who later becomes a spider; the spider makes fabrics for humans. | 28 | 29 |
| E6 | Because of a woman, the connection between worlds is broken. | When a woman of childbearing age (she is menstruating, miscarrying, pregnant, with a child, or simply fat) tries to pass from one world to another, the connection between the worlds is severed forever. | 27 | 43 |
| E15b In E15 family | Birds sew a boat. | Bird women sew the birch bark covering of the hero's boat. See motif E15. | 5 | 5 |
| E11 | Burnt skin. | The future family member reveals himself or remains with the person after the object that defines the character's non-human appearance is destroyed. After the person destroys (usually burns) the discarded animal skin, the character retains his human appearance. See motif E9. | 194 | 315 |
| E1d In E1 family | Clay boats. | (The first) boat is made of obviously unsuitable material. | 9 | 15 |
| E4 | Creation from mud on the skin, A1263.3. | From mud on the skin (rarely: from under the fingernails), the character creates the earth, people or other creatures. | 36 | 62 |
| E31a In E31 family | Creators and saviours of girls, ATU 653, 653A, 653B. | Several men (women) participate in the rescue, creation or revival of a girl (man), or mourn her (his) death. The question arises as to whom the revived person should belong to or who contributed more to the revival. Alternatively, three men create something valuable, each contributing their part. The question arises as to whose contribution is more important. | 133 | 175 |
| E15 | Ducks and boats. | People learn how to build boats and row from birds; a bird or part of its body serves as a model for building a boat. | 21 | 34 |
| E31b In E31 family | Female saviours of men. | Several women participate in reviving a dead man and argue about who did more to revive him. | 9 | 11 |
| E5b In E5 family | First ancestors from the underworld. | The first human (a group of brothers) or the first human couple emerge from underground (from a cave) or from a small object on the surface (a mound, a reed, a tree, a stone, a pumpkin). Cf. motif E5A: people from the underworld. | 73 | 114 |
| E36a In E36 family | Growing nails. | Nails grow constantly, or the human body is covered with a hard crust only on the nails, because only they were washed with living water. | 2 | 3 |
| E36 | Hard covering of the body. | The human body was or could have been covered with a protective layer (bone, rarely wool), but it has only been preserved on the nails (head). | 43 | 57 |
| E41a In E41 family | How ticks were invented. | The first ticks were made as a result of observing animals (a dog's crossed paws, two snakes, snake jaws, etc.). | 8 | 10 |
| E9k In E9 family | Husband-honey (bee). | The husband or wife is the embodiment of honey or a human bee. | 10 | 15 |
| E31 | Imaginary Pygmalion. | A man makes a wooden doll and behaves as if it were alive. It does not come to life, or comes to life only partially or temporarily. A real woman replaces the figure and marries the carver. | 14 | 19 |
| E24 | Knees and elbows. | Joints appeared in humans after the first ancestor (or several first ancestors) fell from a height, breaking their arms and legs. | 6 | 10 |
| E14 | Knowledge from the dead. | Rituals received from the spirits of the dead. | 16 | 19 |
| E13B In E13 family | Knowledge from the sky. | Sacred knowledge, objects and rituals received from the celestials. | 9 | 7 |
| E13a In E13 family | Knowledge from the underwater world. | Sacred knowledge, objects and rituals were first obtained by humans from the inhabitants of the underwater world. | 38 | 76 |
| E1c In E1 family | Man made of excrement. | Man made from human excrement or (Inupiat) from carrion. | 36 | 31 |
| E1b In E1 family | Man made of unsuitable material. | A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions. | 61 | 81 |
| E14a In E14 family | Masks reproduce slain demons. | People kill demons, examine their bodies, make ritual costumes and masks, reproducing the appearance of the slain. | 6 | 6 |
| E3 | New people from the bones of the old. | After the destruction of the previous world, new people (rarely: new earth) are made from the remains of the dead. | 14 | 14 |
| E40 | Nostrils facing upwards. | The first humans had nostrils facing upwards, into which rain poured. | 4 | 6 |
| E16 | Oars with edges. | When rowing, the character first tries to push off with the edge rather than the flat side of the oar. | 8 | 9 |
| E31a2 In E31 family | One is her father, another is her brother, and this one is her husband. | The girl must be given to one of several men. She herself or someone else explains that one of the suitors can be called her father, another her brother (etc.), and only one can be her husband. | 14 | 14 |
| E38b In E38 family | People from a pumpkin. | After a global catastrophe or at the beginning of time, a pumpkin appears on earth, from which the ancestors of humans emerge. | 22 | 53 |
| E27 | People from drops of blood. | People arise from drops of blood from a wounded anthropomorphic creature. | 12 | 19 |
| E33 | People from grains. | People arise from grains, seeds, dough. | 16 | 32 |
| E5c In E5 family | People from the sky. | The first humans or deities-ancestors descend to earth from the sky. | 124 | 207 |
| E5a In E5 family | People from the underworld, A1234. | The first humans (or only the first men or first women) were not created by a demiurge, but emerged from under the ground (from a cave) or from a small object on its surface (a tree, stone, pumpkin, etc.). There are many emerging humans (or humans and animals). Cf. motif E5B: first ancestors from the underworld. | 144 | 323 |
| E5aa In E5 family | People grew like grass. | The first people grew out of the ground like trees, grass, and mushrooms. | 20 | 24 |
| E8a In E8 family | People in fruits. | Women or people in general emerge from fruits (often coconuts), or fruits or, less commonly, leaves turn into people or only women. Cf. motif k33c. | 11 | 17 |
| E38a In E38 family | People made of pieces. | A woman gives birth to a pumpkin, a sack, a sack of eggs, a piece of meat. The newborn is cut open, chopped up, and the pieces turn into new people; numerous people (usually tribal ancestors) emerge from the pumpkin or sack. Cf. motif F47. | 23 | 50 |
| E37 | People made of sticks. | The creator collects many sticks, feathers, reeds, etc., and turns them into people (either people of both sexes and all ages, or no mention is made of gender or age). | 16 | 26 |
| E2 | People on trial. | When creating humans, the creator does not immediately achieve perfection. The first versions of the creation are rejected, then the appropriate form and material are found. See motif E1A. | 31 | 47 |
| E39 | Pig ancestor. | The child of a pig or boar is a woman or man – the ancestor of a certain group of people. | 19 | 21 |
| E32 | Progenitor plants. | The first humans or the first woman (progenitor, goddess) are born from trees, emerge from a tree, stump, flower, or reed. | 90 | 155 |
| E1b1 In E1 family | Prohibited work for a daughter-in-law. | A man who has married an unusual girl is warned that she must not perform certain tasks or eat certain foods. Other members of his household ensure that the young woman breaks the prohibition, and as a result she dies or disappears. | 12 | 12 |
| E30b In E30 family | Pygmalion. | A man makes a figure or receives a woman. She comes to life and becomes his wife. | 12 | 8 |
| E31c In E31 family | Rescuers of the Abducted Maiden, ATU 513A, ATU 653. | Several men, each possessing a unique skill, bring a (kidnapped) girl from a distant country. | 66 | 65 |
| E23 | Revival by fleas. | A handful of fleas or lice must be thrown at the character; only this will make him or her move, which is necessary for revival or for the existence of people. | 9 | 9 |
| E34 | Sacred flutes made from the ashes of a cannibal. | The cannibal is killed. From his ashes arise musical instruments taboo for women, used in male rituals. | 4 | 4 |
| E1a1 In E1 family | Soaked by rain (why there are cripples). | A deity or ancestor moulds people from clay. Some of the figures got wet, which is why there are cripples among people. | 3 | 9 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.