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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.
J - Avenger heroes
| Ref | Title | Summary | Traditions | Narratives ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J58 | Chain of arrows, F53. | Characters shoot arrows (darts) that stick into each other and form a chain. They usually climb up the chain to the upper world. | 79 | 165 |
| J47 | The pursuer falls from a height. | A character climbs up to the sky using a rope, ladder, etc., or climbs a tree or rock, or descends from the sky to the ground, or rises to the ground from the underworld. Another character climbs after them, but the rope or ladder breaks or is cut, and the character falls. | 96 | 168 |
| J42 | Parting waters. | The character creates a dry passage across the bottom of the water body, and after passing through, the waters close again. | 117 | 170 |
| J62 | Petrified people. | The character turns those who come to him into inanimate objects (usually stones). (In variants of the ATU 303 plot, the motif is often absent; original texts are needed). | 102 | 187 |
| J12 | Girls in search of a husband. | A girl or two sisters wander, usually in search of a suitable groom or husband who has left or lives far away. Along the way or upon reaching their destination, they encounter false suitors. (Traditions in which two heroines travel rather than one are highlighted in bold (motif j13). | 117 | 205 |
| J32 | Brothers guard the night thief, ATU 530. | Someone regularly steals livestock (horses, sheep, etc.) or crops (apples, hay, peas, flowers, etc.). Those who undertake to guard them (usually the older brothers) fail to catch the thief, and only the hero (usually the younger brother) discovers him. | 104 | 205 |
| J46 | The enemy drowns. | Antagonists perish by falling into water or attempting to cross a water barrier. See motifs J42, J44. | 184 | 226 |
| J4a In J4 family | Revenge for the death of a mother. | A woman is killed. Her son or sons (rarely: grandsons, nephews) avenge her. | 142 | 274 |
| J26 | Infants from the river. | The character or that from which he arises is found in a river, lake, sea, or on the riverbank. The future hero emerges from the body of water into which he was thrown. | 208 | 291 |
| J1A In J1 family | The myth of the avengers with a full plot | 153 | 297 | |
| J4 | Revenge for the death of male relatives. | The heroes avenge the death (enslavement) of their father, uncle, grandfather, or mother and father, or in general their descendants, with the loss of men being the most painful. | 197 | 428 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.