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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 2,051–2,100 of 3,494 · Page 42 of 70

Ref	Title	Summary	Traditions	Narratives ▲
M195a In M195 family	Where is the upper end of the stick?	A character sends a long object that either looks the same at both ends or is inside a small object, and asks which end of the object is the top and which is the bottom. The guesser gives the correct answer.	24	31
M24	The turtle is going to war	turtle goes to war and/or is captured. See M23 motif. Cf. motif K77 “Verlioka”.	24	31
M39a6i In M39 family	The servant hid part of the gift, ATU 875A	A person sends food or things to another and tells the messenger to give the recipient some words that the messenger does not understand. On the way, he stole or ate some of what he was supposed to bring. From the messenger's words, the recipient understands what exactly was transferred and accuses him of stealing.	42	31
N34	Honey and oil	Streams (jets) that consist not of water but of honey (honey and butter, butter and milk, milk and blood) are mentioned as signs of generosity and abundance. Cf. H16 motives - H16B, K33F.	24	31
A12d In A12 family	Birds eclipse the sun.	Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12.	30	32
A32d2 In A32 family	Man with a pitchfork on the moon.	A man with a pitchfork in his hands can be seen in the silhouette of the moon's spots.	14	32
A32g In A32 family	Holding on to a bush.	On the lunar disc, a character can be seen holding onto a tree or bush and ending up on the moon with them. See motif A32D.	27	32
A7a In A7 family	Torches in the hands of celestial bodies.	The light of the sun (moon, Venus) is a burning torch in the hand of a celestial body.	22	32
B16c In B16 family	The mill grinds salt, ATU 565.	The magic mill is ordered to grind salt, but is not given the command to stop. The mill sinks into the sea, usually grinding salt to this day.	46	32
B28b In B28 family	Taming of things.	The inhabitants of the area where the hero finds himself are afraid of creatures that are tools, utensils, and plants that are now harmless. The hero easily defeats these creatures and usually transforms them into what they are now.	16	32
B28d In B28 family	Unrecognised transformer.	Not understanding who they are dealing with, the characters respond to the wandering Transformer that they are preparing weapons to kill so-and-so or a hiding place to escape from so-and-so. The Transformer kills them himself or turns them into animals.	21	32
B46a In B46 family	Separated star of the Pleiades.	One of the stars of the Pleiades was separated from the others (usually stolen by the stars of the Big Dipper and identified with Alcor).	22	32
B52b In B52 family	Concealing the earth.	The character regurgitates the earth hidden (usually in his mouth), thereby creating mountains, swamps, and other inconveniences. See motif B52.	26	32
C35	The cosmic marriage will not take place.	It becomes known that if characters representing natural phenomena and parts of the universe marry, it will lead to disaster. The marriage is broken off.	18	32
D11	Food was heated on the body.	Before fire was known, food was prepared by warming it with the body (usually under the armpit); fire is kept under the character's armpit.	18	32
E17	The origin of ornamentation.	People get the idea of ornamentation of vessels, baskets, bodies, etc., or of a sign system after someone manages to see a pattern on the body of a zoomorphic or supernatural creature or make an imprint of it.	21	32
E33	People from grains.	People arise from grains, seeds, dough.	16	32
F42	Men leave.	Feeling wronged, men leave their wives or sisters.	20	32
F51b In F51 family	Finds by the thread.	To find out the nature or location of a character's locus, another person secretly attaches a long thread to it and follows it.	23	32
F53	The ugly husband.	An unattractive man marries, but hides his face. When he is seen, the marriage is dissolved.	26	32
F6	Hollowed-out vagina.	(The first) woman does not have a vagina at first. Usually, it is made for her by a bird, animal, fish, etc.	23	32
G1	The stolen child.	In order to acquire or regain values (land, soil, cultivated plants, sun, fire, shamanic knowledge, luck), people lure or steal the son or daughter of a certain character.	22	32
G8a In G8 family	Cutting down a tree to make a boat.	A man cuts down a tree to make a boat or something else from the trunk (Yap: a board for building a house; one of the texts from Ulithi: a wooden bird), goes away to rest, and upon returning finds the tree intact again. Usually, the character who restored the tree in the man's absence then cuts down the tree himself and makes what the hero needs.	21	32
H36hh In H36 family	The frog betrays the man.	The frog or toad is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal.	25	32
H56	The forbidden fruit: people become mortal, C621.	After eating certain food, the first humans become mortal or lose their human nature. Cf. motif F97 (humans become sexually mature).	30	32
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
I22b In I22 family	Birds on their way to another world.	Migratory birds (or shamans in the form of birds) fly from our world to another; the path lies through a narrow opening between jutting rocks, or the sky strikes the earth, crushing those who fly through; and/or at the passage to the other world there is a character who feeds on birds; and/or in the world on the other side of the pulsating barrier there is the mistress of the birds.	32	32
K114	Brothers leave after the birth of their sister (ATU 451).	Several brothers leave home immediately after or shortly before their mother gives birth to a girl (usually they want a brother and wait for news about who their mother has given birth to, but accidentally or maliciously a signal is given that a boy has been born). The girl grows up and goes in search of her brothers.	27	32
K154a In K154 family	Men in the harem.	By solving a riddle, a boy or young man (rarely a girl) exposes the daughter, wife or assistants of an authoritative character: the daughter or wife has a lover; the assistant is plotting a conspiracy.	24	32
K181	The horse from the dungeon.	The hero finds a suitable horse in the dungeon (in the basement, in an empty castle, in deep mud, etc.), where it has stood for many years.	19	32
K42	Bird woman kills men.	A young bird woman energetically searches among a group of men for one she likes, takes him by force and makes him her husband; she turns into a monster, pursues and kills men, but is ultimately killed herself.	15	32
K56a8 In K56 family	An animal mistakenly taken for a groom.	A girl marries an animal (brings it with her), and it turns into a handsome man. Another girl tries to do the same, but dies or suffers harm.	22	32
K72a In K72 family	Prohibition on lighting fires.	The king notices that his prohibition on lighting fires at night has been violated.	21	32
L15c In L15 family	Who is afraid of what (hero and adversary).	A dangerous character asks the hero how he can be killed, what he is afraid of. The hero lies, saying that the named object does not harm him.	28	32
L58	The stingy man.	A man refuses to give food to his closest relatives or spouse; as punishment, he or his food changes its nature.	28	32
L81b In L81 family	The hero's severed legs.	The hero's rivals abandon him, cutting off his legs (usually leaving a sword at the entrance to his tent, and when the hero rushes out, the blade wounds him).	22	32
L85a In L85 family	The half-child.	The character is born as half a person or becomes one as a result of an accident. He or she does not belong to a special category of mythical half-beings and usually regains physical completeness. See motif L85, cf. motif L112.	41	32
M137	A weak predator imitates a strong one, ATU 47D.	A weaker predator tries to imitate a stronger one, but cannot perform the actions that the strong one performs easily.	36	32
M141	Animals in a pit, ATU 20A.	Several animals of different species find themselves in a pit from which they cannot escape. They devour each other, and the last one manages to escape.	29	32
M179	Bark and ice huts, ATU 43.	Two zoomorphic characters live nearby, one's house is destroyed, he asks the other to shelter him. Usually he breaks in and drives out the owner, strong animals fear the invader, while weak or small ones drive him away.	16	32
M29z In M29 family	Beardless (Aldarkose)	hero of the story is a character named “Beardless” or Aldar-Kose (Aldar is a “deceiver”, a braid is “beardless”).	31	32
M38b In M38 family	Silly wives imitate a sorceress, ATU 898	The first wife, rejected or taken later than others, performs certain actions with the help of magic. Other wives try to imitate her but are killed, maimed, or disgraced.	35	32
M42b In M42 family	Resin eyes	After losing his eyes, the character makes new ones out of resin or wax, sees again (often this is an episode on the way to finding good eyes, while tar eyes do not see well).	26	32
M57d2 In M57 family	The tree makes wishes come true	The man was about to cut down a tree. It himself, or the creature living on it or in it, asks not to do so and fulfills the person's wishes.	25	32
M94b In M94 family	The wolf under the mill wheel	The character is lured to look under the mill wheel, he dies or is maimed.	17	32
N3	Hungry fingers	One finger says he's hungry and/or offers to steal something. The rest of the fingers express their opinion on this matter.	27	32
A22c In A22 family	Sacrifice to the Sun.	In order for the sun to rise, move to the right distance from the earth, or follow its heavenly path, a human being must be sacrificed.	19	33
A38b In A38 family	A mouse gnaws through a snare.	The sun gets caught in a trap. Only a mouse or other small animal manages to gnaw through the trap and free the sun.	22	33
B47	The Pleiades and cold.	The Pleiades or another group of stars once appeared or regularly cause severe cold. (The heliacal setting of the Pleiades occurs in May-June; in the Northern Hemisphere, they are best seen in winter).	24	33
B56A In B56 family	Crocodile without a tongue.	The reptile's tongue is cut off or mutilated (no association with fire). See motif B56.	24	33

Showing 2,051–2,100 of 3,494 · Page 42 of 70

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