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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
| Ref ▲ | Title | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A15 | Crossing paths. | An eclipse or the appearance of spots on the lunar disc is explained by the fact that the moon or sun turns onto the wrong path or the paths of the luminaries intersect. See motif A14. | 16 | 20 |
| A16 | Dangers on the path of the sun. | Every night, the sun passes by creatures or objects that try to swallow or destroy it. | 33 | 37 |
| A17 | Midday rest of the sun. | Having travelled halfway across the sky or the underworld, the Sun stops to rest. | 53 | 58 |
| A18 | The Sun Boat. | The sun and/or moon make their daily and/or nightly (underground, in the land beyond the horizon, behind the mountain) journey in a boat. | 33 | 49 |
| A19 | Heliophores. | Anthropomorphic or zoomorphic creatures help the luminary move across the sky (and the underworld). See motif A17: zoomorphic creatures are helmsmen or rowers in the sun boat. | 32 | 39 |
| 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 |
| A19b In A19 family | In summer on a snail, in winter on a bird. | Moving across the sky, the sun changes its mounts depending on the season – in summer it rides on a slow animal, in winter – on a fast one. Or in winter the sun is carried by a young man, and in summer – by an old man. | 8 | 6 |
| A19c In A19 family | The Sun Horse. | The sun is associated with a horseman or rides in a carriage drawn by horses (equidae). | 24 | 42 |
| A19c1 In A19 family | The Sun Chariot. | The sun or moon travels across the sky in a chariot or sleigh. | 23 | 36 |
| A19D In A19 family | One carries the Sun, the other the Moon. | Two characters carry the luminaries across the sky – one carries the sun, the other the moon. | 4 | 4 |
| A19E In A19 family | Summer and winter suns. | The summer and winter suns are two different characters. | 2 | 2 |
| A20 | Childhood and youth of the Sun and Moon. | The Sun and the Moon (less often the Sun and a star, the Moon and a star) are brothers (sisters, brother and sister) who initially live on earth, but at the end of the story, as teenagers or young adults, ascend to the sky and become celestial bodies. | 56 | 79 |
| A21 | Luminaries thrown into the sky, A700.I, A714, A741. | The sun and/or moon were objects that were thrown or placed into the sky. | 95 | 175 |
| 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 |
| A22 | Into the sky from the bonfire. | One or two people fall into fire or boiling water and ascend to the sky, turning into the sun and/or the moon. | 34 | 64 |
| A22a In A22 family | The Hot Sun and its Companion. | Two characters burn; one turns into the present sun, and the other into a less significant celestial object. See motif A22. | 14 | 2 |
| A22b In A22 family | Hot fire and cold embers. | The sun and its companion burn up. The companion burns in a less intense fire (is thrown into the ashes, etc.); therefore, the moon (or star) is cold. See motif A22. | 6 | 1 |
| 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 |
| A22d In A22 family | The burned person turns into a constellation. | The burned character turns into a constellation or a dark spot on the Milky Way. | 4 | 4 |
| A23 | Who will become the sun? | The first ancestors come together to choose who will become the sun, to raise the sun to the sky, to see the sun rise for the first time, and to name the sun correctly. See motif A22. | 38 | 64 |
| A23a In A23 family | Who will be the first to see the sun? ATU 120, | Arguing about superiority or seniority, the characters agree to decide in favour of the one who first sees the rising sun (the beginning of the year). The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely. (In Uther 2004(1), No. 120: 87, the definition of the motif includes the detail that the winner looks not to the east but to the west and sees the tops of trees illuminated by rays of light. In Europe, in most cases (except for the Scots) that have been verified, this detail is indeed present. However, it is absent in American and some Asian traditions). | 48 | 60 |
| A23b In A23 family | First rays on mountains and trees, (ATU 120). | Two characters argue about who will be the first to see the rising sun. The winner is the one who first notices not the sun itself, but its reflection or the trees and mountains illuminated by its first rays. | 35 | 38 |
| A23c In A23 family | Who will fly higher? ATU 221A | Birds argue about which of them will fly higher or arrive first. The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely (he hides in the feathers of a strong bird and flies away with it). | 39 | 54 |
| A23d In A23 family | Who is first in the calendar? | Animals argue about which of them should start the cycle of 12 months or years. The mouse wins the primacy. | 15 | 21 |
| A23E In A23 family | The first to rise has the best voice. | Two birds argue about who will get up first, or agree to consider the one who gets up first to be the better singer. The bird that sings the most melodious trills wins, and the one with a shrill or hoarse voice loses. | 3 | 2 |
| A24 | First sunrise. | The first ancestors live in twilight. When they first find themselves in the rays of the sun, they (spontaneously or by someone's will) perish, turning into animals, spirits, or stones. | 38 | 56 |
| A24a In A24 family | First day or night: transformation into spirits. | At the moment of the first day or the first night, people transform into supernatural characters. | 8 | 6 |
| A25 | Getting used to light. | When coming out onto the earth (for the first time or after a global catastrophe) or witnessing the first sunrise, people should not look directly at the light. | 9 | 26 |
| A26 | The sun bird. | The bird embodies the sun, daylight; it can be caught, released, killed. | 3 | 18 |
| A27 | Crowns of the sun and moon. | The light and/or heat of the sun and/or moon is contained in their crowns, necklaces or clothing (made of feathers or animal teeth). | 48 | 57 |
| A28 | The Sun and the Moon: smart and dumb. | The clever sun-man involves the foolish moon in various tricks that the latter is incapable of devising himself. Trying to repeat the sun's actions, the moon suffers a fiasco. Cf. motif B1F. | 22 | 43 |
| A29 | The sun and the demon compete for the hero. | A character associated with the upper world and a character associated with the earth or the lower world each strive to possess a human being and pull him towards themselves. One or both rivals are women. The character of the upper world and/or the one for whom the struggle is being waged is associated with the luminaries – the sun, the moon, Venus. | 18 | 34 |
| A29a In A29 family | Torn apart by two women. | Heavenly and earthly women (demons) pull a man in different directions. As a result, he (or his half) turns into a heavenly object. | 10 | 7 |
| A29b In A29 family | The Broken Moon. | A character associated with the upper world and a character associated with the earth or the lower world each seek to possess the hero or heroine who is associated with the Moon. | 12 | 22 |
| A30 | The corpse-eating moon. | The moon descends to earth to eat children, corpses or the bones of the dead. | 11 | 19 |
| A31 | The Moon in Love. | As a result of intimate contact or romantic conflict, the night light takes on its current appearance – rising from the earth to the sky and/or spots appearing on it, which are now visible. | 107 | 172 |
| A31a In A31 family | Severed breast. | Upon learning that her husband or lover has committed an act incompatible with accepted norms, a woman cuts off her breast and shows it to him. | 11 | 15 |
| A32 | Figure on the surface of the Moon, A751. | A figure or imprint of some creature or object is visible on the lunar (Moon) surface. Statistical calculations also include motifs A32A – A32J (a rabbit, frog, predatory animal, human, tree, etc. are visible on the moon). | 29 | 35 |
| A32a In A32 family | Moon Rabbit, A751.2. | The figure or imprint of a rabbit or hare is visible on the lunar disc. | 66 | 107 |
| A32b In A32 family | Moon toad, A751.3. | The figure or imprint of a toad or frog is visible on the lunar disc; the moon is associated with this animal. | 45 | 56 |
| A32b1 In A32 family | Jumps on the face of the Moon. | A woman sits (jumps) on the face (back) of the Moon Man and is now visible in the silhouette of the moon spots. | 13 | 14 |
| A32c In A32 family | Dog and man on the moon. | The figures of a man and a dog are visible (or should have been visible) on the lunar disc. | 23 | 29 |
| A32c1 In A32 family | Predatory beast on the moon. | The figure or imprint of a predatory mammal (fox, wolf, dog, coyote, jaguar, lion) is visible on the lunar disc. Either this animal is associated with the moon, belongs to it. See motif A34. | 33 | 34 |
| A32d In A32 family | Man on the moon, A751. | The figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic creature is visible on the lunar disc. | 265 | 658 |
| A32d1 In A32 family | Cain and Abel on the moon. | Cain and Abel are associated with the moon, usually distinguishable (both or only Cain) in the silhouette of lunar spots. | 21 | 45 |
| 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 |
| A32dd In A32 family | Man with brushwood on the moon. | The lunar disc shows the figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic character carrying a bundle of wood or brushwood. | 24 | 76 |
| A32de In A32 family | Headless man on the moon. | A headless man is visible on the lunar disc. | 10 | 6 |
| A32e In A32 family | Character with an object in their hands. | On the lunar (rarely: solar) disc, a character holding an object or animal is visible. See motif A32D. | 154 | 256 |
| A32f In A32 family | Moon water carrier. | On the lunar disc, a character is visible who has gone to fetch water and/or is holding a vessel for liquid in his hands. See motif A32D. | 87 | 182 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.