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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

Showing 51–100 of 161 · Page 2 of 4

Ref ▲	Title	Summary	Traditions	Narratives
J22a In J22 family	Two of one.	Two men or a brother and sister emerge from a single body or embryo cut in half, or the second emerges from a part of the body or from the secretions of the first. Cf. motif M37.	37	43
J22b In J22 family	Two women from one.	A woman is cut or torn in half, and two new ones appear.	11	19
J22c In J22 family	Conjoined women.	There is a demonic character in the form of Siamese twins – two semi-fused women.	5	5
J22d In J22 family	Animals cut in half.	Foreigners or animals of two different species emerge from a single person or animal cut in half.	11	15
J22e In J22 family	Man from the afterbirth, T541.12.	The second character emerges from the afterbirth of the first.	17	15
J23	Late children defeat the monster, ATU 312D.	People in general or older brothers (siblings, older sister) disappear one after another. A woman raises a boy or twins from infancy. Sometimes, left alone, she miraculously conceives a son or finds a baby. He defeats the antagonists, usually reviving or freeing the missing ones.	121	154
J23a In J23 family	Snot turns into a boy.	A woman cries, and the discharge from her nose (her tears) turns into a boy, who grows up and defeats strong opponents.	9	13
J23b In J23 family	Spears are placed along the path.	To defeat the monster, the young man (twins) prepares spears in advance and leaves them along the supposed retreat route. Fleeing from the monster, the young man throws spears at it one after another and eventually kills it.	7	8
J23c In J23 family	The younger brother defeats the monster, ATU 312D.	People in general or older brothers (siblings, older sister) disappear one after another. A woman raises a boy from infancy or, left alone, miraculously conceives a son or finds a baby. He defeats the antagonists, usually reviving or freeing the missing ones.	107	122
J23D In J23 family	Late twins defeat the monster.	People in general or older brothers (siblings, older sister) disappear one after another. A woman raises two twins (or several children) from infancy. They defeat their antagonists, usually reviving or freeing those who have disappeared.	16	24
j23e In j23 family	Flies through the body of a cannibal.	Wanting to make sure that the enemy is really dead, an insect or bird penetrates its body from one end and exits from the other.	4	4
j23f In j23 family	Temporarily incarnated in a human being.	Something inanimate incarnates in a human being to solve people's problems and then returns to its original state.	3	3
J24	Ground into flour.	The hero, ground into powder, is reborn.	9	11
J25	Infants hide and return.	Heroes (one, two or one of two), while still infants or embryos, disappear or are thrown away (often into water). To bring them back to the world of humans, they are lured, persuaded or (with difficulty) caught.	92	131
J25a In J25 family	Son of the grave.	The mother dies or is killed. The child in her womb or the newborn baby is buried with her. He comes out of the grave, meets people, returns to the grave, or is found in the entrails of his dead mother. In the end, the child stays with the people. See motif J25.	26	33
J25a1 In J25 family	A child born in a grave saves his mother.	A woman dies, but remains incorrupt and gives birth to a child in the grave. He is found and brings his mother back to life.	5	4
J25b In J25 family	Dead mother brings food to her child.	A pregnant woman dies and is buried. Her spirit leaves the grave to bring food to the child. The child is found and grows up.	3	2
j25c In j25 family	Raised by a wolf.	A she-wolf nurses an abandoned infant. He becomes an outstanding leader.	3	4
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
J26a In J26 family	Boys and puppies.	Among children of a woman or two women living together, there is a boy and a puppy, or a puppy was placed with a woman, and her son was thrown out. The puppy lives with the woman and helps her.	14	14
J27	Cast out and at home, Z210.1.	A little boy (several babies) was abandoned, born to a mother who had already died, lives in a river, in a forest, etc. Another boy lives with his father or mother, but in the end the first one moves to live in the locus of the second. Often (see motif J25, "Infants hide and return"), the brother living in the river, in the forest, etc., first secretly meets with his "home" brother (with his brothers; with other children from his clan; with a puppy nursed by his mother).	67	94
J27a In J27 family	The rejected child kills his father.	One of the babies is abandoned and lives in a river, forest, etc.; the other remains at home; after the abandoned brother returns home, the brothers kill their father or his men. See motifs J19, J25.	6	9
J27b In J27 family	Water Father.	An infant is thrown into a lake or river and occasionally comes ashore. In addition to his earthly parents, he has a father (and mother) in the underwater world. He does not want to part with them, nor do they want to let him go.	16	14
J28a In J28 family	The truth about the father.	When asking how one of his parents died, the hero receives a series of false answers. He often exposes himself to the same dangers, but remains alive, proving the falsity of the proposed versions.	21	31
J28b In J28 family	Hot flatbread.	Upon learning that a woman (usually the hero's mother) is hiding the truth about his father, mother, brothers, or bride, a young man (rarely a young woman) causes her pain, forcing her to tell the truth (usually by pressing hot bread into her palm or sticking her fingers into hot food).	44	69
J29	The shadow of the father.	Murdered parents themselves inform their children about the circumstances of their death.	13	13
J30	Remains of parents.	Before the heroes defeat their antagonists or flee from them, they find or receive the remains or property of the victim.	78	108
J31	Father's weapon.	Heroes receive weapons or other items that belonged to their deceased father and are necessary for fighting their antagonists.	47	58
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
J32a In J32 family	At night by his father's grave, ATU 530.	When dying, a person orders that someone spend the night at his grave or bring something to the grave.	61	89
J32a1 In J32 family	Nocturnal pests – horses.	But at night someone tramples the field, steals hay, etc. The hero learns that it is horses doing this.	24	30
J32b In J32 family	Extended night.	In order to accomplish what he wants, the hero prolongs the night by changing the behaviour of the character on whom the alternation of day and night depends.	10	12
J32c In J32 family	The demon comes to harm the deceased.	At night, a demonic character comes to the grave of the deceased, intending to harm him.	13	14
J32d In J32 family	The Princess in the Tower, ATU 530.	The girl will be won by the one who, on horseback or by some other means, quickly reaches a hard-to-reach place (the top of a tower, a mountain, the upper floor of a palace, the top steps of a staircase, a bridge, the bottom of a chasm, jumps over a moat, etc.). Usually, the girl herself is located where the suitor must climb or (rarely) descend. In Italian versions, the hero wins tournaments.	66	101
J32e In J32 family	Stolen Foals.	Every time a mare foals, the foal is stolen. The hero finds out who is doing this.	18	20
J32f In J32 family	Stolen apples.	While standing guard, the hero discovers who is stealing fruit (usually apples) from the garden.	61	85
J33	Scarecrow.	A boy, a young man, or two children live in the house of an older character. In order to elicit a certain reaction from him, they kill a person or a large animal, stuff the scarecrow with insects, worms, ashes, grass, or inflate it.	17	27
J33a In J33 family	An old woman beats a scarecrow.	A boy, a young man, or two children live in an old woman's house. They kill her husband—a man or a large animal—and make a scarecrow out of him. Angry that her husband is not responding to her, the old woman beats the scarecrow and then discovers that her husband has been killed. See motif J33.	4	4
J34	Grandchildren scare their grandmother.	After killing a dangerous enemy, the heroes make a scarecrow out of him to frighten the household.	11	14
J35	The frog kills its pursuer.	A tree frog kills or neutralises a demon or beast pursuing the heroes.	12	12
J36	Antagonist - turtle.	The turtle drags the hero's parents under water.	7	8
J37	A bird carries away the antagonist.	Transforming into a powerful bird or creating one, the hero lifts his opponent into the air and carries him away.	40	65
J38	Stuck claws.	A mighty bird sinks its claws into a huge aquatic creature. The claws get stuck in its body. The bird is dragged underwater or struggles to free itself.	24	27
J39	Who killed the rabbit?	The antagonist makes the woman his slave. Other characters secretly come to her and kill a small animal or bird for her. The antagonist suspects that the woman could not have caught the game herself, but she insists that she did.	20	16
J40	Enemy from the sky.	The sky is inhabited by creatures that descend to kill people. Usually, the creature carries away a person or many people, or a human head. The hero (usually a close relative of the deceased) avenges the killer and/or returns the kidnapped person (persons; the carried-away body part).	41	65
J40A In J40 family	Avenged captives.	Returning after a long absence, the hero finds his parents or other close relatives in humiliating slavery, orders them to demonstratively show disobedience, and punishes those who humiliated them.	22	12
J40b In J40 family	Avenged prisoners	After the hero comes back after a long absence and finds his parents enslaved, he tells them to demonstrate openly a lack of respect to their masters and punishes those who were cruel with them	0	0
J41	Foxes mock the abandoned.	The hero leaves for a long time. When he returns, his relative does not immediately believe that it is really him. All this time, someone has been mocking him or her, imitating the voice of the departed, saying that he has returned and/or throwing ashes in his or her face.	14	14
J41a In J41 family	Son turns mother into a bird.	The son returns and finds his mother, who has been humiliated and tortured in his absence. The son turns his mother (and usually himself as well) into a bird of a certain species.	10	6
J41b In J41 family	The returned son burns his tormentors with magic.	The son returns, finds his mother, who was humiliated and tortured in his absence, and burns his tormentor and his men, summoning fire and heat with magic.	10	12

Showing 51–100 of 161 · Page 2 of 4

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