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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.
N - Fabulous and epic formulas
| Ref | Title | Summary | Traditions ▲ | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N30 | He looks one way, cries, looks the other way, laughs | formula that describes the confusion of feelings: when a character looks in one direction, he cries, and when he laughs or smiles in the other direction. | 37 | 80 |
| N33 | Drives the enemy into the ground | hero drives the enemy into the ground, or he and the enemy alternately drive each other into the ground (ankle-deep, waist-deep, etc.). | 47 | 65 |
| N10 | Transparent body | A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described. This transparency is a sign of beauty. | 49 | 100 |
| N27 | Bird's milk | Bird milk (variant: chicken, pigeon, hawkish, etc.) milk is mentioned in fairy tales, riddles, paroemias and conspiracies as something very rare and difficult to obtain or non-existent actually. | 51 | 82 |
| N14 | A storyteller at a wedding | fairy-tale text ends with a formula stating that the narrator attended a feast and/or wedding arranged by the characters of the fairy tale. | 57 | 170 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.