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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I45b In I45 family | Do not point at a rainbow, C843.1. | If you point your finger or stare intently at a rainbow, you will fall ill, or the finger you pointed with will rot or wither away. | 143 | 177 |
| I45c In I45 family | Prohibition on counting stars. | Those who count stars are destined for misfortune and illness. | 19 | 23 |
| I46 | Rainbow belt. | Rainbow – an ornamented part of clothing, bright fabric, decoration, belt. | 96 | 141 |
| I46a In I46 family | The Old Woman's Rainbow. | The rainbow is associated with a woman, usually an elderly one. | 38 | 52 |
| I46b In I46 family | The rainbow predicts the harvest. | The colour of the rainbow can be used to predict the harvest of individual crops. | 18 | 29 |
| I46c In I46 family | Rainbow rope. | The rainbow is a rope to which cattle are tied. | 9 | 11 |
| I46d In I46 family | Rainbow loop. | Rainbow – a hunting loop, a trap. | 7 | 7 |
| I46e In I46 family | Rainbow sword. | Rainbow - sword, cutting weapon. | 8 | 10 |
| I47 | The rainbow as a stream of secretions. | The rainbow smells disgusting, is associated with foul-smelling animals, is a stream of excretions, is associated with the lower body, causes inflammation or skin diseases, and is associated with death. | 42 | 40 |
| I47a In I47 family | Rainbow – fox wedding. | The rainbow is associated with the wedding of a fox or jackal. | 10 | 16 |
| I48 | Locked in the underworld. | The character is deprived of the ability to move, after which he acquires cosmic dimensions: he supports the earth (sky) or his movements cause earthquakes (less often - storms). | 51 | 82 |
| I48a In I48 family | Those who fell through the earth. | The hero's adversary descends into the underworld. | 36 | 36 |
| I49 | Runner-earthquake. | Earthquake – an anthropomorphic character (or category of characters) that moves around, shaking the earth. | 14 | 15 |
| I50 | Many-legged beast (hoofed animal), B15.6.3. | Describes or depicts a hoofed animal with six or more legs. | 53 | 94 |
| I50a In I50 family | Severed legs of an animal helper. | A demon sequentially tears off the legs of an animal that helps the hero (usually the horse on which the hero rides). | 34 | 49 |
| i50a1 In i50 family | The dog's severed legs. | The character sequentially tears off the dog's legs, but the dog continues to do what it considers necessary. | 3 | 3 |
| I50b In I50 family | Many-legged beast (predator). | Describes or depicts a predatory animal with six or more legs. | 7 | 8 |
| I50c In I50 family | Sharabha (animal with legs on its back). | Describes a hoofed animal with a second set of legs on its back that runs either normally or upside down. This makes it tireless. | 4 | 3 |
| I51a In I51 family | Four-legged animals – the pillars of the earth. | The earth is supported by or has a large mammal at its centre. See motif I8B. | 80 | 125 |
| I51b In I51 family | Earth – animal. | The earth or sky is perceived as a large mammal or created from parts of its body. | 31 | 41 |
| I52 | Fish – the support of the earth. | The world rests on a fish or fish-like creature, or the earth itself is such a creature or originated from a fish. See motif I8B. | 93 | 152 |
| I53 | An insect annoys the support of the earth. | An insect or other small creature bothers the animal that supports the earth, so the animal moves and the earth shakes (or, conversely, the animal is afraid to move because of the insect). | 22 | 24 |
| I54 | Water creature filled with fish. | Inside a snake or other aquatic creature are aquatic animals or live fish; an aquatic monster gives birth to fish, is the master of fish; turns into many fish. | 18 | 31 |
| I55 | Stars – holes. | Stars – holes in the sky; or holes in the canopy, in the roof of a dwelling, appear to be stars. | 65 | 75 |
| I55a In I55 family | Stars – lakes. | Stars – lakes on one of the heavenly tiers. | 5 | 7 |
| I55b In I55 family | The Sun Deer. | The hero chases a deer or elk carrying the sun. | 2 | 3 |
| I56 | Spirits cannot see the living. | Moving between worlds, the same living person is visible to some and invisible to others. | 42 | 63 |
| I56a In I56 family | Man is an evil spirit in the world of spirits. | When a person who has entered another world touches the local inhabitants, they become ill or die. | 29 | 42 |
| I57 | Thunder pursues the enemy. | Thunder's enemies are animals, reptiles, and spirits that live in burrows. They usually hide from him in various objects and items, and Thunder (a god, angel, etc.) strikes his enemies or these objects with lightning. | 88 | 133 |
| I58 | The Milky Way – the path of birds. | The Milky Way is called the bird path and is associated with migratory birds. | 51 | 84 |
| I59 | The Milky Way – scattered straw. | The Milky Way is associated with agriculture and scattered objects – straw, chaff, less commonly flour, hay, peas. | 46 | 95 |
| I59a In I59 family | Thief in the sky. | Astral objects or lunar spots are associated with stories about the theft of various items, the value of which is insignificant (straw, firewood, cabbage, etc.). | 47 | 107 |
| I59b1 In I59 family | The Milky Way – the road to a distant city. | The Milky Way – the road to a distant city, usually with religious significance (Rome, Jerusalem, etc.). | 29 | 52 |
| I59b2 In I59 family | The Milky Way – St. James' Way. | The Milky Way – St. James' Way. | 15 | 19 |
| 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 |
| I60 | The Milky Way – the heavenly seam. | The Milky Way - a seam, a crack between the two halves of the sky. | 13 | 18 |
| I60a In I60 family | Milky Way – a stripe on the belly. | The Milky Way – a stripe associated with a longitudinal stripe on an animal's body. | 4 | 4 |
| I61 | Milk on the Milky Way, A778.5. | The Milky Way is a trail of spilled milk. | 23 | 34 |
| I61a In I61 family | The Milky Way – belt. | The Milky Way – the heavenly belt. | 14 | 11 |
| I62 | Milky Way - river, A778.3. | The Milky Way is a heavenly river, a body of water, a chain of creatures floating in the water. | 110 | 181 |
| I63 | The Milky Way – the tapir's path. | The Milky Way is the tapir's trail; the tapir can be seen on the Milky Way. | 14 | 20 |
| I64 | Animal tracks on the Milky Way. | The Milky Way – traces of animals that walked or ran. | 45 | 61 |
| I64a In I64 family | Race on the Milky Way. | Two different hoofed animals race across the sky. Usually, the Milky Way is the dusty trail they leave behind. | 11 | 13 |
| I65 | Souls of the dead on the Milky Way. | The Milky Way is a path to another world, followed by the souls of the dead and/or shamans, or it is the path of a funeral procession. | 104 | 122 |
| I66 | Ashes on the Milky Way. | The Milky Way is ash or smouldering embers. | 20 | 30 |
| I67 | Emu and nandu in the Milky Way. | The giant figure of an emu (in Australia) or a rhea (in South America) is visible in the Milky Way. | 12 | 31 |
| I68 | Opening of the sky. | At a certain moment, a crack or window opens in the sky (rain pours through it, it is possible to see what is happening in heaven, perhaps communication with the celestials). | 49 | 81 |
| I68a In I68 family | The night of magical water. | Once a year, water briefly acquires unusual properties. | 12 | 14 |
| I68b In I68 family | The night of fulfilled wishes. | On a certain night of the year, any wish that is expressed or conceived will come true. Cf. motif M13. | 39 | 67 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.