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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.

All motif categories

Showing 701–750 of 3,494 · Page 15 of 70

Ref Title Summary Traditions Narratives ▲
A19a In A19 family In the morning on an ox, in the evening on a horse. Moving daily across the sky, the sun changes its riding animals (usually in the morning it rides on an animal that moves slowly, and in the evening on another that runs faster). 10 10
A21a In A21 family The released moon. The moon is an object that was accidentally released by its owners or stolen from them and ended up in the sky. 6 10
A32l In A32 family Silhouette in the sun. The silhouette of a certain character is visible on the solar disc. Or it is said that the character fell into the sun and remained there. 10 10
B104 The chicken turns into a turtle. A guest arrived, the host hid the chicken, and when he wanted to eat it, it turned out that it had turned into a turtle. 10 10
B11B In B11 family The drowned mammoth. At the beginning of time or during the flood, the mammoth drowned or sank into the ground, and since then it has not been seen on earth. 9 10
B32 Women turn into fish. As a result of conflict with their husbands, women turn into fish. 6 10
B33e1 In B33 family Freezing in the womb. It is said that the cold, which is stronger than anything else, can freeze boiling water, a foetus in the womb, etc. 11 10
B33f2 In B33 family Following the fire, the hero ties up an old woman. At night, the fire goes out. The young man goes to look for fire and on the way ties up an old woman or an old man (usually a character responsible for the length of night and day). 11 10
B40b In B40 family The horse changes with the cow. The horse changes with the cow, gives up its horns and/or gets teeth. 10 10
B44f In B44 family The fox wants daylight. In the dispute over whether the world should be bright, the fox is on the side of light (almost always against the bear). 11 10
B61 The mole's paw. The mole had to hold up the fallen sky and sun. Since then, its paw (hand) has remained dislocated backwards. 7 10
B64c In B64 family Small bones: fish fall from the sky. Fish, together with other earthly creatures, wage war on the inhabitants of the sky. Falling to the ground, they break their bones, which is why fish have many small bones in their bodies. See motif B64. 4 10
B65 Intestines turn into vines. A mischievous character imitates other animal-people. As a result, his belly is torn open and his spilled intestines turn into vines. 9 10
B74a In B74 family Red cloths over the eyes. Red cloths are sewn over the character's eyes (threads, eyelids are painted red) or he does it himself. He sees everything in red or his eyes have turned red forever. 9 10
B76 Frozen waves. The sea waves instantly petrified, forming land with mountains on it. 9 10
B85a In B85 family Regulating the wind. The wind stops blowing (after blowing too strongly). A character approaches it and establishes the necessary balance. Since then, the wind blows, but usually not too strongly. 13 10
b87d In b87 family Alcor - infant. Alcor (a faint star next to the second star of the Big Dipper's handle) – infant. 9 10
B96 The enemy turns into a sturgeon. The heroes' enemy turns into a large commercial fish (usually a sturgeon) or (rarely) a commercial aquatic mammal. 13 10
C12a In C12 family The Flood and the Dog. The dog warns of an impending global flood or fire and advises what to do. 7 10
C2b In C2 family The Burnt Moon. The Sun and the Moon are caught in a fire. The strong and intelligent Sun escapes, while the weak and foolish Moon is burned or consumed, but the Sun revives it. 8 10
C36 The Last Battle. The gods and their powerful adversaries clash in a decisive battle that changes the fate of the world. See Bray 2000, especially pp. 360-361. 10 10
C6c2 In C6 family The punished loon. Birds must dive to retrieve soil from the bottom, from which land will emerge. The loon cannot reach the bottom, refuses to dive, or tries to hide the soil it has retrieved (usually punished for this). 9 10
C6h In C6 family An insect brings soil. The insect brings soil (from the bottom of the sea or from somewhere far away). 6 10
E15a In E15 family The boat as a bird's breastbone. The bow of the boat is modelled on a bird's breastbone. 6 10
E19 The origin of drugs. Narcotic plants arise from the body of a human being torn to pieces by others. 6 10
E21 The victim of aquatic creatures finds revenge. A child catches fish (with poison), or fish poison is secreted from his body. Fish or water snakes kill him. Death is avenged. 7 10
E24 Knees and elbows. Joints appeared in humans after the first ancestor (or several first ancestors) fell from a height, breaking their arms and legs. 6 10
E41a In E41 family How ticks were invented. The first ticks were made as a result of observing animals (a dog's crossed paws, two snakes, snake jaws, etc.). 8 10
F10 Teeth knocked out. A woman has a second mouth (usually in her vagina) with sharp teeth. A man inserts or throws a stone, bone, stick, etc. into this mouth, knocking out the teeth or extracting toothy animals from it in this way. 16 10
F26 Cause of menstruation: loss of sacred objects. The transfer of sacred musical instruments (horns, trumpets) from women to men is associated with the onset of menstruation in women. 6 10
F47b In F47 family New people in the same place. In order to create new people (new women) to replace those who have been destroyed, the character leaves something (feathers or pieces of flesh) in each empty hut (in the hearth, in the hammock, in the village), from which new people (new women) appear. 9 10
F64a In F64 family Describes the future spouse. Leaving or pretending to be dying, the character gives instructions to a relative regarding what he or she should do to get married, indicating a partner with certain characteristics, or the character indicates the place of a future meeting with this partner; or (Philippines) describes a person who should be accepted as a guest; comes himself under the guise of the person mentioned. See motif F64. 58 10
F94 Betrayal in the sky. A man ascends to the upper world, where he can choose a wife associated with either life or death. 10 10
F99 An infant copulates with its mother. An infant turns into an adult man, copulates with his mother, then returns to his former appearance. 8 10
F9g1 In F9 family The heavy hand of the bride. On her wedding night, the bride-heroine throws herself on her groom to crush him. 10 10
G27 Harvest from urine. Cultivated plants appear together with urine or in the place where the hero urinated. 6 10
H37b In H37 family Skunk's volley wasted. One character gives another his power (usually a skunk gives his volley). The other wastes the resource unnecessarily to test its effect. Usually, when the need arises, the resource no longer works. 9 10
H7f1 In H7 family Death as a devourer. Death devours the dead and thus satisfies its hunger. 13 10
I122 The Pleiades – a beehive. The Pleiades – a beehive, a nest, a cluster of bees or wasps. 11 10
I133a In I133 family The constellation of the great bird. There is a constellation that represents a bird and corresponds to several large constellations in European traditions (mainly equatorial, rather than circumpolar). 8 10
I22h In I22 family Pulsating Abyss. The character must jump over a gap (abyss) beneath his feet, which alternately widens and narrows, or a river whose banks converge and diverge. 9 10
I34 Dangerous tree. It is necessary to approach a tree that is surrounded by fire, spews fire, throws sharp splinters, etc. 10 10
I46e In I46 family Rainbow sword. Rainbow - sword, cutting weapon. 8 10
I59b3 In I59 family The Milky Way – the road of salt traders. The Milky Way – the road of salt traders, "Chumak Way". 15 10
I59b4 In I59 family The Milky Way – snow, hoarfrost. The Milky Way is associated with snow, hoarfrost, and cold. 10 10
I7a In I7 family Lightning snake. Lightning is associated with a snake. 13 10
I87ad In I87 family Hidden in a tooth cavity. A giant hides a persecuted person in his mouth – usually (perhaps always) in a tooth cavity; or the person remains alive in the giant's mouth, hiding in a tooth cavity. Cf. motif M21a. 11 10
I92a In I92 family Jumping over the rainbow. A person who jumps or steps over a rainbow changes their gender. 9 10
I98C In I98 family Pleiades – a flock of birds. The Pleiades - a flock of (flying) birds. 11 10
J58c In J58 family Bridge of arrows. A chain of arrows forms a bridge across a water barrier. 10 10

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