Folklore Database · Browse
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1e In E1 family | Son-stalk. | The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk. | 2 | 3 |
| E7 | Stuck in a hole in the sky. | The path from one part of the world to another passes through a narrow opening. The character gets stuck in the opening, permanently severing the connection between the worlds. | 23 | 23 |
| E13 | Tambourine – lake. | The shamanic tambourine is compared or associated with a lake. | 2 | 4 |
| E42 | The appearance of female breasts. | Women have two breasts because the original breast was cut in half. | 2 | 3 |
| E41 | The blacksmith kneads iron with his hands. | A skilled blacksmith, as a special gift, can take iron heated in a furnace with his bare hands, knead it like dough, and shape it as desired. Usually, he breaks a certain taboo and loses his gift. (The motif was identified and the material collected by Ruslan Doutalieyev). | 7 | 9 |
| E28 | The blood of the Moon pours onto the earth. | People shoot at the Moon, its blood spills onto the earth. | 4 | 9 |
| E15a In E15 family | The boat as a bird's breastbone. | The bow of the boat is modelled on a bird's breastbone. | 6 | 10 |
| E1 | The creation of man. | The first human being was created, made by a certain character, and did not exist initially (on earth, underground, in the sky, in a small container) and did not arise spontaneously. Only variants that specify the material from which humans were created, or that refer separately to the creation of the human figure and its ensoulment, rather than simply to the fact of "creation" itself, are taken into account. | 164 | 311 |
| E30a In E30 family | The ersatz spouse is replaced by the real one. | A man without a wife or a woman without a husband uses a substitute spouse made of wood or other material until a real spouse appears. | 19 | 27 |
| E38c In E38 family | The first humans are mute. | The first humans were mute and began to speak after being struck by something, made to laugh, etc. | 5 | 5 |
| E1a In E1 family | The first humans made of fragile materials. | The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable. | 13 | 19 |
| E9aa In E9 family | The fox wife in the burrow of all animals. | A man searches for a missing woman, who is a fox by nature, and comes to the burrow where she has hidden. Various bird or animal women come out of the burrow and offer themselves in place of the fox. Then they let him inside. | 4 | 6 |
| E5 | The half-finished man tries to stand up. | God makes man out of clay. He must wait until it dries, but tries to stand up earlier. | 9 | 5 |
| E12 | The living drawing. | A character draws an object or creature on sand, ash, a wall or the surface of water, and it comes to life. | 25 | 30 |
| E29 | The lizard makes hands for humans, A1311.1. | Two characters (usually a coyote and a lizard) argue about whether human hands should be shaped like paws or end in fingers. | 17 | 24 |
| E9h In E9 family | The magical wife - the dove. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dove. | 74 | 104 |
| E9a In E9 family | The magical wife - the fox. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a fox. | 13 | 17 |
| E9g In E9 family | The magical wife - the vulture. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture. | 20 | 34 |
| E9o In E9 family | The magical wife – a frog or a toad. | A man marries a woman who has the appearance of a frog or toad. | 38 | 48 |
| E9c In E9 family | The magical wife – a hoofed animal. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a large hoofed mammal (buffalo, antelope, moose, etc.). | 31 | 49 |
| E9n In E9 family | The magical wife – an aquatic mammal. | A man marries a female seal, seal or dolphin that has taken the form of a woman and lives with her among people. | 15 | 18 |
| E9j In E9 family | The magical wife – monkey. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a monkey, or the man hides the woman and pretends that the mistress is a monkey. | 20 | 24 |
| E9l In E9 family | The magical wife – mouse. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a mouse (rarely: a rat). | 14 | 13 |
| E9m In E9 family | The magical wife – the bear. | A man marries a bear (white or grizzly) that takes the form of a woman, or a woman who takes the form of a bear. | 16 | 29 |
| E9i4 In E9 family | The magical wife – the crane. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a crane. | 10 | 11 |
| E9d In E9 family | The magical wife – the dog. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dog or puppy (wolf cub). | 40 | 70 |
| E9i2 In E9 family | The magical wife – the duck. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper, adopted daughter) takes the form of a duck. | 20 | 26 |
| E9b In E9 family | The magical wife – the elephant. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of an elephant (elephant tusk). | 7 | 8 |
| E9i3 In E9 family | The magical wife – the goose. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a goose. | 32 | 24 |
| E9f In E9 family | The magical wife – the parrot. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a parrot. | 18 | 50 |
| E9i1 In E9 family | The magical wife – the swan. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a swan. | 58 | 117 |
| E19 | The origin of drugs. | Narcotic plants arise from the body of a human being torn to pieces by others. | 6 | 10 |
| E20 | The origin of fish poison. | When a certain person enters the water, the fish die. A plant grows from parts of his body or on his grave, from which fish poison (timbó) is made. | 17 | 27 |
| E17 | The origin of ornamentation. | People get the idea of ornamentation of vessels, baskets, bodies, etc., or of a sign system after someone manages to see a pattern on the body of a zoomorphic or supernatural creature or make an imprint of it. | 21 | 32 |
| E6a In E6 family | The path through water. | People walk across a (frozen) body of water to reach their current place of residence, while some remain on the other side or drown. | 6 | 12 |
| E5d In E5 family | The predator watches over those who leave. | The first people to arrive on earth and settle within a limited space are threatened by a predator or monster. | 21 | 24 |
| E22 | The swallowed gains knowledge. | Once inside a certain creature, the swallowed character learns rituals, songs, ornamental motifs, obtains drugs or poison, and, once outside again, passes this knowledge on to people. | 9 | 12 |
| E5e In E5 family | The two-headed creature does not come out onto the ground. | People or animals come out from under the ground or descend from the sky. The two-headed creature following them gets stuck in the opening or is not allowed to come out. | 10 | 7 |
| E9 | The Unknown Mistress, N831.1. | The character notices that someone is running the house in his absence and catches the person doing so by surprise. | 227 | 453 |
| E21 | The victim of aquatic creatures finds revenge. | A child catches fish (with poison), or fish poison is secreted from his body. Fish or water snakes kill him. Death is avenged. | 7 | 10 |
| E26 | Those who have become fish are turned back into humans. | People, or only women, go underwater and turn into fish. Men catch them with fishing gear. Those who are caught become human (women) again. (Narratives about the transformation of only one caught fish into the hero's wife are not included; see motif F7). | 9 | 12 |
| E18 | Vessels and snakes. | People learn to make or decorate ceramics or baskets (usually learning to apply patterns) thanks to a water creature. | 17 | 26 |
| E35 | Webbing between the fingers. | The first humans or creatures created by the Creator's rival were incomplete, not fully anthropomorphic (they resembled larvae, had webbing on their fingers, etc.). | 42 | 52 |
| E31a1 In E31 family | Who will be the husband of the created girl? ATU 653C. | Three (rarely four or two) men participate in the creation of the girl: one carves the figure out of wood, another dresses her, and the third brings her to life. To whom should the animated girl belong? | 52 | 46 |
| E8 | Wooden people. | The first humans or the wife of the first ancestor were made of wood. | 66 | 84 |
| E30 | Wooden substitute spouse. | A man has no wife or a woman has no husband, and uses a wooden substitute as a spouse. | 25 | 36 |
| E10 | Young animals turn into children. | Characters who have shed their animal (plant, object) forms become the children of women or spouses who catch them off guard. | 31 | 39 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.