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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.
I - Supernatural objects and creatures
| Ref | Title ▲ | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| i41b2 In i41 family | Rainbow from the mouth of an animal. | A rainbow emerges from the mouth of a reptile, amphibian or invertebrate animal. | 8 | 8 |
| i50a1 In i50 family | The dog's severed legs. | The character sequentially tears off the dog's legs, but the dog continues to do what it considers necessary. | 3 | 3 |
| I91 | A body of water at the foot of a tree. | At the foot or around the base of a tree connecting the tiers of the universe or of gigantic size and considered the main tree of the world, there is a spring or water body, the water of which usually has unusual properties. | 17 | 18 |
| I87ac In I87 family | A bone in the eye. | Something huge gets into a person's eye, which he mistakes for a speck of dust. Usually, a bird carries away an animal or fish and drops a bone into the man's eye. It is difficult to find and remove (to do this, they get into a boat and float it inside the eye, throw a net into the eye, pull it out with oxen, etc.). | 17 | 29 |
| I76b In I76 family | A mouse becomes a bat. | After a certain amount of time or after performing certain actions, an ordinary mouse turns into a bat. | 13 | 13 |
| I123 | Altair – herald of the sun. | Altair with a small neighbouring star from the constellation Aquila or Vega with a similarly faint star are considered to appear during or immediately after the winter solstice, although they are actually visible before that. | 7 | 9 |
| I53 | An insect annoys the support of the earth. | An insect or other small creature bothers the animal that supports the earth, so the animal moves and the earth shakes (or, conversely, the animal is afraid to move because of the insect). | 22 | 24 |
| I64 | Animal tracks on the Milky Way. | The Milky Way – traces of animals that walked or ran. | 45 | 61 |
| I85a In I85 family | Animals around the North Star. | Animals walk around the North Star, or the movement of the stars is compared to the movement of animals around a pole. See motif I85. | 23 | 25 |
| I28a In I28 family | Animals cause earthquakes. | Large animals that are hunted go underground and cause earthquakes. | 3 | 3 |
| I28 | Animals underground, F127. | Wild or domestic animals live inside a mountain, in a cave or in the underground world, or once came out of there into our world; often animals take on human form underground and have an owner. See motif H18. | 39 | 168 |
| I66 | Ashes on the Milky Way. | The Milky Way is ash or smouldering embers. | 20 | 30 |
| I8i In I8 family | At first, the earth swayed. | Initially, the earth rocks, unstable, and must be specially secured. | 45 | 62 |
| I8g In I8 family | Atlas, A842. | A single giant holds up the earth or the sky. | 78 | 108 |
| I90 | Behind the rolling ball. | The character goes towards their goal, following a rolling ball of thread (less often an apple or a ball). | 52 | 81 |
| I22b In I22 family | Birds on their way to another world. | Migratory birds (or shamans in the form of birds) fly from our world to another; the path lies through a narrow opening between jutting rocks, or the sky strikes the earth, crushing those who fly through; and/or at the passage to the other world there is a character who feeds on birds; and/or in the world on the other side of the pulsating barrier there is the mistress of the birds. | 32 | 32 |
| I22b1 In I22 family | Birds perish at the border of our world. | Some migratory birds (shamans in the form of birds) die on the border of our world. | 25 | 26 |
| I6 | Birds that bring storms. | A person encounters a huge bird carrying clouds, rain, snow, thunderstorms, etc. | 53 | 84 |
| I22c In I22 family | Board from the stern of the Argo. | The character safely slips, sails or flies through the opening, which then slams shut, but the edge of the stern of the boat, the tail of an animal or bird, the body of a riding animal, the hero's companion or his own heel is crushed, torn off, etc. | 47 | 47 |
| I25a In I25 family | Bones for cows. | The character gives herbivorous animals food intended for carnivores, and carnivores food intended for herbivores; the character sees that the animals have food that is inedible for them and corrects the situation. | 50 | 71 |
| I25 | Bribed guards, B325.1, B567.1. | The path to the house or the entrance to the character's house is guarded by dangerous creatures. The hero appeases them with gifts or words, they let him pass back and forth, sometimes punished for this by the owner. | 110 | 174 |
| I25C In I25 family | Calling blood wine. | On the way to their goal, the character expresses imaginary pleasure when encountering repulsive and dangerous objects and creatures, thereby ensuring their loyalty (on the way back). | 24 | 33 |
| I41c In I41 family | Celestial object – reflection of a snake. | Rainbow or Milky Way – reflection of a snake (fish) on land or in the sea. | 7 | 9 |
| I35a1 In I35 family | Challenging the thunderer. | The character claims the role of the thunder god and imitates him. | 21 | 37 |
| I81b In I81 family | Charybdis (ebb and flow). | During high tide, a certain creature spews seawater or displaces it with its body, and during low tide, it swallows the water or makes room for it (or it is simply reported that the water is either spewed or recedes). | 14 | 15 |
| I81a In I81 family | Chthonic crab. | The giant crab causes earthquakes or floods, closes or can close the water outlet. | 14 | 22 |
| I44 | Chthonic serpent. | A huge serpent encircles, embodies or supports the earth. | 52 | 81 |
| I7 | Cloud serpent. | The reptile produces rain and thunderstorms. | 75 | 136 |
| I22g In I22 family | Colliding rocks. | Mountains (rocks) are mentioned that constantly collide and diverge, or a crevice or gap in a vertical rock that opens and closes. Cf. motif I22g1, Colliding rocks. | 116 | 188 |
| I22g1 In I22 family | Colliding stones. | In another world, the hero sees many strange things, including colliding stones (but they do not block his path). | 5 | 5 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| I133 | Constellation across the sky. | Star objects in different parts of the sky are associated with separate parts (as well as items of clothing, jewellery, etc.) of a single anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figure. | 23 | 32 |
| I35b In I35 family | Copper sky. | The sky is considered to be metallic. The process of its creation resembles metal forging. | 22 | 38 |
| I120 | Cornucopia. | Food and clothing can be obtained from the horns of domestic animals (oxen, cows, goats). | 45 | 53 |
| I43a In I43 family | Cosmic serpent. | A giant reptile, serpent, fish, or chain of fish stretches across the earth and/or supports the sky. Usually associated with the Milky Way, sometimes with a rainbow. | 37 | 78 |
| 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 |
| I81a1 In I81 family | Crab and snake. | The struggle between the crab and the snake (eel) determines the features of the relief of a particular area or has cosmic proportions. | 5 | 6 |
| I35c In I35 family | Craftsman god. | One of the mythological characters who, using his craft skills, first makes (usually forges) tools and natural objects; he is the patron of craftsmen (usually blacksmiths). | 36 | 62 |
| I14 | Creatures without an anus, F529.2. | Creatures without an anal opening are described. | 101 | 145 |
| I15 | Creatures without mouths. | Creatures without mouths. Usually, their mouths are cut open later. | 44 | 50 |
| I34 | Dangerous tree. | It is necessary to approach a tree that is surrounded by fire, spews fire, throws sharp splinters, etc. | 10 | 10 |
| I26 | Dangers on the path of souls. | On its way to the other world, the soul must distract its guardians with gifts or defend itself from attack. | 21 | 20 |
| I45a In I45 family | Do not look at the moon or stars. | Pointing at or staring at the moon or stars will cause illness (death) or the pointing finger to rot or wither. | 49 | 62 |
| I45b In I45 family | Do not point at a rainbow, C843.1. | If you point your finger or stare intently at a rainbow, you will fall ill, or the finger you pointed with will rot or wither away. | 143 | 177 |
| I103 | Dog Star. | Sirius is associated with a dog or a wolf. | 29 | 47 |
| I38 | Dog-headed creatures. | There are creatures that combine the characteristics of dogs and humans (usually people with dog faces or heads). | 54 | 83 |
| I38a In I38 family | Dogs – husbands of women. | The husbands of human women are dogs or dog-headed creatures. | 11 | 17 |
| I86 | Down in birds, scales in fish. | The inhabitants of the upper world produce down, wool, and scales, which turn into birds, animals, and fish. | 18 | 16 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.