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.
I - Supernatural objects and creatures
| Ref ▲ | Title | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I1 | Thunderbirds, A284.2. | Creatures that cause or embody rain and/or thunderstorms are birds or winged anthropomorphic characters. {Traditions in which birds are associated with thunderstorms and rain, but Thunder itself is not a bird, are marked with an asterisk (*). | 183 | 303 |
| I2 | Lightning from the eyes or mouth. | Lightning bolts fly from the eyes or mouth {specified} of a creature embodying a thunderstorm. See motif I1. | 37 | 34 |
| I3 | Weapons of Thunder. | Lightning (and thunder) is produced by an object (sword, arrow, whip, mirror, etc.) in the hands of a character; lightning is an object. | 194 | 280 |
| I3a In I3 family | Lightning – whip. | During a thunderstorm, the character strikes with a whip – these are flashes of lightning. | 19 | 19 |
| I4 | Thunder rides across the sky. | When a vehicle moves across the sky, thunder rumbles. | 43 | 65 |
| I4a In I4 family | Thunder in trouble: falls to the ground. | Thunder falls to earth and cannot rise. Usually, a person helps it return to the sky. | 30 | 44 |
| I4b In I4 family | Thunder in trouble: fighting the enemy. | A person helps thunder defeat the enemy. | 25 | 34 |
| I4c In I4 family | Thunder in captivity. | The enemy of the thunderer temporarily defeats and captures him. | 12 | 17 |
| I4d In I4 family | The stolen weapon of Grom, ATU 1148B. | An enemy steals a weapon (usually a musical instrument) used by the thunder god to summon a storm. The thunder god or his assistant comes unrecognised to the thief, takes possession of his weapon and kills his enemies. | 14 | 6 |
| I4d1 In I4 family | The stolen tendons of Grom, ATU 1148B. | An enemy steals the tendons (heart and eyes) of a thunder god, who returns them and prevails over his enemy. Cf. motif L57A, "The hero's companion returns his organ." | 2 | 4 |
| I4e In I4 family | Thunder riding on a cloud. | An anthropomorphic deity (associated with thunder and rain) rides on a cloud or a cloud. | 7 | 9 |
| I4F In I4 family | Thunder – two combatants. | The hero and his opponent engage in single combat and are still fighting in the sky. This is thunder. | 2 | 3 |
| I5 | Thunder – animal. | Thunder (lightning, rain) has the appearance of a four-legged mammal - a pig, buffalo, camel, anteater, tapir, dog, cat, leopard, monkey, etc. | 48 | 74 |
| I5a In I5 family | Thunder tapir. | The tapir is associated with the upper world (thunder, sky, moon). | 10 | 14 |
| I5b In I5 family | Thunder Jaguar. | The flying jaguar causes storms, rain, and thunderstorms. | 3 | 4 |
| I6 | Birds that bring storms. | A person encounters a huge bird carrying clouds, rain, snow, thunderstorms, etc. | 53 | 84 |
| I6a In I6 family | Male and female: different types of precipitation. | The male and female of a huge bird carry different types of precipitation (for example, the eagle carries snow, and the eagle carries rain). Or (Buryats of Mongolia) the same bird carries different types of precipitation depending on whether it is angry or not. See motif i6. Traditions associated with Na-Dene languages are highlighted in italics in the list. | 32 | 7 |
| I7 | Cloud serpent. | The reptile produces rain and thunderstorms. | 75 | 136 |
| I7a In I7 family | Lightning snake. | Lightning is associated with a snake. | 13 | 10 |
| I7b In I7 family | Lightning – a crack in the sky. | Lightning – a crack in the sky through which the heavens are visible for a moment. | 6 | 5 |
| I7c In I7 family | Rain or dew – urine. | When a character in the upper world urinates, it rains (dew falls) on earth. | 20 | 23 |
| I8A In I8 family | Pillars of the world: anthropomorphic characters. | The world, earth or sky are supported by anthropomorphic beings. | 80 | 121 |
| I8B In I8 family | Pillars of the world: zoomorphic creatures. | The earth or sky is supported by zoomorphic creatures. | 96 | 127 |
| I8c In I8 family | Suspended Earth. | The earth is prevented from falling or swaying because it is tied with ropes. | 33 | 39 |
| I8D In I8 family | Pillars of the world: pillars, mountains. | The earth or sky is supported by mountains, pillars, nails, trees. | 146 | 185 |
| I8e In I8 family | Four hold up the world. | The sky or the earth is supported by four anthropomorphic male characters located at the four cardinal points. | 28 | 31 |
| I8e1 In I8 family | Four pillars of the world. | The sky or earth is supported by four objects or beings located at the four cardinal points (either four groups of beings, or four at the corners and a fifth in the centre). Th A841. See motifs 8A, 8D. | 116 | 131 |
| I8f In I8 family | Pillars of the world: one object. | The sky, the world rests on a single object (a pillar or tree). | 70 | 83 |
| I8g In I8 family | Atlas, A842. | A single giant holds up the earth or the sky. | 78 | 108 |
| I8G1 In I8 family | Giant at the pillar of the world. | At the foot of the world pillar is an anthropomorphic character, or a character identified with a tree or pillar on which the world rests, or a character holding ropes on which the world is suspended. | 20 | 26 |
| I8h In I8 family | Man and woman hold up the earth. | The earth is supported by a man and a woman in the underworld. | 6 | 8 |
| I8i In I8 family | At first, the earth swayed. | Initially, the earth rocks, unstable, and must be specially secured. | 45 | 62 |
| I9 | Colours of the cardinal points. | Each (or at least three) of the four cardinal directions (as well as the zenith and nadir) and/or the objects located there have their own colour. Abbreviations: E: east, S: south, W: west, N: north. (Cf. Podosinov 2000: 143-147). | 81 | 154 |
| I9a In I9 family | Zenith and nadir. | Zenith and/or nadir are considered together with the four cardinal directions as one (or two) more main directions. | 18 | 21 |
| I10a In I10 family | Coloured layers of the sky. | Individual layers or categories of the sky or clouds differ in colour. | 17 | 19 |
| I10b In I10 family | Coloured tiers of the earth. | Individual layers or categories of earth differ in colour (and other characteristics). | 10 | 20 |
| I11 | Cosmic turtle/toad. | The turtle (toad, frog) serves as a support (embodiment) of the earth (sky), or the supports of the sky are made from its body. | 68 | 108 |
| I11a In I11 family | The earth is supported on the back of a turtle (frog). | Describes how, in the process of creation, the earth is placed on the back of a turtle or frog, which becomes its support. | 26 | 47 |
| I11b In I11 family | Sky supports made from animal legs. | The pillars of the sky are made from the legs of a four-legged animal (usually a turtle). | 2 | 9 |
| I12 | World axis. | A tree, a pole with branches, rarely a smooth pole connects the tiers of the universe. The most distinct variants, according to which the tiers of the universe are strung on a tree, are marked in italics. | 50 | 81 |
| I13a In I13 family | Horned serpent, B91.3. | A huge aquatic or celestial serpent, dragon, or snake-like creature with horns on its head. | 124 | 222 |
| I13b In I13 family | Horned snake, B91.3. | A small snake, the snake has horns on its head. | 41 | 50 |
| I13c In I13 family | The snake's crown, ATU 672, B101.7. | Reptiles possess a treasure that humans take or try to take. Usually it is a crown, a precious stone, or horns on a snake's head. | 68 | 97 |
| I13d In I13 family | Wintering with snakes, ATU 672D. | A person enters the dwelling of snakes, spends a long time there, is released or escapes. While in the dwelling of snakes, he usually licks a stone that relieves thirst and hunger. | 34 | 26 |
| I13e In I13 family | The devoted snake. | The snake agrees to let the man go on condition that he does not tell anyone about their meeting. Under threat of death, the man breaks his promise. The snake teaches him to drink a broth made from its flesh and takes revenge not on the man, but on those who forced him to break his word. | 10 | 7 |
| I13F In I13 family | Wintering with a bear. | In autumn, a man falls asleep in a bear's den. When he wakes up, he thinks that the night has passed, but it is already spring. Usually, the bear gives him advice before parting. | 2 | 2 |
| I14 | Creatures without an anus, F529.2. | Creatures without an anal opening are described. | 101 | 145 |
| I14a In I14 family | Ejecting food through the mouth. | People without anuses regurgitate what they have eaten through their mouths or other (marked) orifices. See motif I14. | 2 | 2 |
| I15 | Creatures without mouths. | Creatures without mouths. Usually, their mouths are cut open later. | 44 | 50 |
| I15a In I15 family | Vertical incision of the mouth. | Due to ignorance or haste, the mouth of anthropomorphic creatures is first cut vertically. | 5 | 5 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.