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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

Showing 151–200 of 317 · Page 4 of 7

Ref	Title	Summary	Traditions ▲	Narratives
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
I35a1 In I35 family	Challenging the thunderer.	The character claims the role of the thunder god and imitates him.	21	37
I82g In I82 family	Venus – Shepherd's Star.	Venus or another star (Arcturus, Sirius, etc.) is called the Shepherd's Star (the star of the Shepherd, Sheepherder, Cowherd, Swineherd, etc.).	21	20
I86a In I86 family	Down turns into snow.	Snow arises from bird down when a bird shakes itself in the sky or when a character shakes out down or fur clothing, plucks birds, etc.	21	24
I18	Wife or husband without a mouth or anus.	Visiting the world of people without an anus or mouth (the underworld, if not otherwise), the hero or heroine enters or attempts to enter into sexual relations with the local inhabitants. See motif I14.	22	15
I20c1 In I20 family	Dwarves – inhabitants of rocks and hills.	Dwarves do not live deep underground, but inside hills, in rocks, in mines, etc., and usually come out from there onto the ground.	22	62
I35b In I35 family	Copper sky.	The sky is considered to be metallic. The process of its creation resembles metal forging.	22	38
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
I119	The dead shake the earth.	Earthquakes are caused by inhabitants of the underworld; during earthquakes, they try to get to the surface of the earth to check whether people are still alive.	23	31
I127	Ursa Major – bed.	Ursa Major – bed, couch.	23	34
I131	The thread of life.	Every person's life corresponds to a thread; when the thread breaks, the person dies.	23	30
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
I35a1a In I35 family	Insulting a deity.	The character considers himself equal to the deity, imitating him, mocking him or trying to kill him.	23	42
I39a In I39 family	The souls of the dead walk on the rainbow.	The souls of the dead walk across the rainbow to another world; a rainbow bridge spans the river separating the world of the dead from the world of the living.	23	23
I61	Milk on the Milky Way, A778.5.	The Milky Way is a trail of spilled milk.	23	34
I80b In I80 family	The forgotten wind, ATU 752B.	Man is allowed to control the weather in his own interests. He sends rain at the right time, but cannot take all factors into account (he usually forgets about the wind). The bread will not grow or will be unpalatable.	23	8
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
I120b In I120 family	Taking something out of an animal's ear.	The character takes food, clothing, and other valuables from the ear of an animal (most often a horse or cow).	24	26
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
I95c In I95 family	Orion – staff.	Orion's belt – staff, stick, three sticks, rod, crutch, etc.	24	21
I97	Rainbow horse.	Rainbow – hoofed animal (horse, bull, goat, sheep).	24	24
I100a In I100 family	Pleiades – family.	The Pleiades – a woman or man with children, members of the same family.	25	33
I126	The constellation of funeral bier.	The Great Bear or other constellation – a bier on which the dead or sick are carried, a body prepared for burial, a grave.	25	27
I128	Ursa Major – a ladle.	The Big Dipper – a ladle, a scoop.	25	36
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
I4b In I4 family	Thunder in trouble: fighting the enemy.	A person helps thunder defeat the enemy.	25	34
I82i In I82 family	Venus – Zahra/Zura.	The name of the object in the night sky (usually Venus) sounds like Zukhra, Zahra, Zura, etc.	25	29
I87d In I87 family	People in the time of giants, ATU 701.	In the past, giants inhabited the earth. One of them finds a tiny human being and brings him to his father or mother. They usually say that such people will replace the current giants.	25	35
I106	The Great Bear is a single character.	The Great Bear is one anthropomorphic character, not a group of people.	26	31
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
I27a In I27 family	Settlements and dog trails.	The souls of dead dogs go to a special place in the afterlife and/or go to the afterlife along a special path.	26	24
I81	Waters fall into the abyss.	Earthly waters fall into the abyss.	26	29
I93	The Milky Way – the backbone of the sky.	The Milky Way – the backbone, support, pillar of the sky or world.	26	20
I21	Sunburnt.	The inhabitants of the underworld or the land of the rising sun have red (yellow) hair and/or red or black skin and/or suffer from the heat of the sun, which passes them by at a short distance. See motif I20.	27	35
I32	The tree of infants.	There was or is a tree on which babies grow; the souls of unborn babies; whose leaves have turned into people; whose trunk is covered with many female nipples or flowers from which babies suck milk or juice.	27	44
I89	The lost caravan.	There is a star that brings death and misfortune; it is usually told how people mistake a star or constellation rising at night for the Morning Star, set off on a journey and lose their way.	27	39
I87aa In I87 family	The Great Bull, ATU 1960A.	Describes a giant bull (rarely: horse): head in one field, body in another; a bathhouse on its tail, a lake on its back; people standing at its head and tail have to walk a long way to meet each other; etc. Usually the bull is killed and eaten (by people in Baltic-Finnish traditions and in Olonets antiquity; by birds in most southern traditions).	28	50
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
I103	Dog Star.	Sirius is associated with a dog or a wolf.	29	47
I110b In I110 family	Orion – reapers.	Orion – people or agricultural tools associated with harvesting or haymaking.	29	62
I33	The Tree of the Dead.	The soul on its journey to the afterlife stops at a certain tree.	29	31
I56a In I56 family	Man is an evil spirit in the world of spirits.	When a person who has entered another world touches the local inhabitants, they become ill or die.	29	42
I59b1 In I59 family	The Milky Way – the road to a distant city.	The Milky Way – the road to a distant city, usually with religious significance (Rome, Jerusalem, etc.).	29	52
I95	The Pleiades – a sieve for grain.	The Pleiades are a sieve or riddle for sifting agricultural products. See motif I95.	29	45
I124	Ursa Major – a boat.	The Big Dipper is considered a boat.	30	23
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
I130	Heavenly net.	One of the constellations – a hunting or fishing net, a seine, a trap, a snare.	31	41
I51b In I51 family	Earth – animal.	The earth or sky is perceived as a large mammal or created from parts of its body.	31	41
I74	Stars – stones.	Stars – (bright) stones, sequins, beads.	31	34
I75	Previous worlds.	Before the emergence of the present world or present humans, there were others (at least two worlds or races).	31	68

Showing 151–200 of 317 · Page 4 of 7

Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.