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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J30 | Remains of parents. | Before the heroes defeat their antagonists or flee from them, they find or receive the remains or property of the victim. | 78 | 108 |
| M197c In M197 family | Remedy against fleas, ATU 1862A. | A man sells sand, dust, etc. as a remedy against fleas, mice, etc. He explains that you need to catch a flea and pour sand into its eyes. The buyer replies that you can crush a caught flea. The seller: that's even easier. | 16 | 12 |
| F80a In F80 family | Removable genitals. | Genitals exist independently of people; they can be left behind, attached to the body, etc. | 33 | 33 |
| L64 | Removable head. | A certain character removes, takes out a part of his body (head, scalp, lungs), takes it in his hands, puts it back. | 46 | 53 |
| B86B In B86 family | Remove the bottom brick. | When building a tower, there are not enough prepared modules (bricks, logs). The character removes the bottom one to put it on top, and the structure collapses. | 3 | 7 |
| C30b In C30 family | Remove traces from the field. | In response to the claims of an animal or spirit, a person offers to remove their traces from the field or to walk without leaving any traces. The spirit is unable to do so. | 4 | 4 |
| M11c In M11 family | Removes fat from the body. | Without harming himself, a male character cuts off, pierces, roasts, holds over a fire, etc. a part of his body (or his wife's body). The character cooks the meat, fat, etc. obtained in this way and treats his guest to it. This food is not perceived as unclean (cf. motifs M11B and M38). | 82 | 126 |
| C39 | Repairing the sky. | When the sky split or partially collapsed, it was repaired. | 4 | 13 |
| K33h1 In K33 family | Replace the old ring with a new one. | The hero's wife (mother, servant) is unaware of the magical properties of an object kept in the house and exchanges it for something more attractive, but in reality incomparable in value. | 35 | 30 |
| I70 | Reptile with trees on its back. | Trees or reeds grow on the back or head of a reptile. | 6 | 9 |
| A12c In A12 family | Reptiles or fish eclipse the sun. | Eclipses of the sun, moon or their setting (marked*) are caused by a snake, lizard, dragon, fish or crocodile; these creatures attack the luminaries now or attacked them at the beginning of time. See motif A12. | 76 | 92 |
| I111 | Reptilian Earth. | The earth as a whole or a mountain range is the body of a crocodile, dragon, or snake (eel). | 11 | 16 |
| K25a4a In K25 family | Rescue from the underwater world (broken chain). | A young woman finds herself in the power of a water creature, and when she comes ashore, she is chained. To free the woman, the chain must be broken. | 8 | 14 |
| L65b3 In L65 family | Rescue on a tree. | A character who climbs a tree manages to escape from a demon (who usually tries to knock the tree down). | 154 | 261 |
| K10e In K10 family | Rescued people. | In the bird's habitat, the hero finds the people it has kidnapped and helps them return home. | 12 | 15 |
| E31c In E31 family | Rescuers of the Abducted Maiden, ATU 513A, ATU 653. | Several men, each possessing a unique skill, bring a (kidnapped) girl from a distant country. | 66 | 65 |
| 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 |
| D4b In D4 family | Retribution for fire. | Those who stole or asked for fire and/or those who received fire are punished by the deity. | 7 | 15 |
| C6f In C6 family | Retrieving a drowned person. | The characters attempt to retrieve a living creature or part of its body that has sunk to the bottom of the water. See motif C6. | 12 | 13 |
| K27x9 In K27 family | Retrieving an object from the bottom of the sea. | The hero must retrieve a small object (often a ring or signet ring) thrown into deep water (often the sea). Cf. motif C6 ("The Diver"). | 47 | 68 |
| M173a In M173 family | Returning for the second boot (ATU 1525D). | A character throws one of a pair of objects onto the path of another. The traveller passes by, but when the deceiver throws the second object, he leaves his belongings and returns for the first. At this time, the deceiver steals the belongings. | 38 | 39 |
| L95 | Returning for toys. | A person (usually a child or teenager) returns to a previous location for a forgotten item (often a toy) and finds a demon there, from which they struggle to escape. | 30 | 31 |
| M27 | Returning from Heaven | The tree or staircase that people took to heaven collapses; on the way back, people fall down. Usually some stay in the sky forever or longer than others. | 11 | 26 |
| M75a In M75 family | Revenge for falling from heaven | The character lures a veteran to avenge his fall from the sky. Either the (potauatomi) shovel drops the character or leaves him on top to avenge being lured and caught. | 14 | 18 |
| J4a In J4 family | Revenge for the death of a mother. | A woman is killed. Her son or sons (rarely: grandsons, nephews) avenge her. | 142 | 274 |
| J4 | Revenge for the death of male relatives. | The heroes avenge the death (enslavement) of their father, uncle, grandfather, or mother and father, or in general their descendants, with the loss of men being the most painful. | 197 | 428 |
| C11 | Revenge of the insulted father. | A father with magical powers destroys people (all or many) who have insulted or harmed his son. | 13 | 16 |
| F70b In F70 family | Revenge of the rejected. | A woman takes revenge on a man who rejected her love (but does not necessarily pretend that the man tried to force himself on her). | 86 | 107 |
| A12g In A12 family | Revenge on the moon for informing. | The character tries to eclipse the moon for telling on him. | 5 | 5 |
| E23 | Revival by fleas. | A handful of fleas or lice must be thrown at the character; only this will make him or her move, which is necessary for revival or for the existence of people. | 9 | 9 |
| M84 | Revived from bones, E32, E33 | A person, animal, fish, or (rarely) a large fruit is killed and eaten. After a meal, what is eaten revives, usually after the bones (seeds) are put together. Cf. motive C16. | 96 | 142 |
| J59d In J59 family | Reviving the dead by stepping over their bones. | The character steps or jumps over the remains of the slain, and the latter comes back to life. | 5 | 6 |
| J59c In J59 family | Reviving the dead with a whip. | A character strikes the remains of the deceased with a whip or a lash, and the deceased comes back to life. | 7 | 8 |
| K55 | Rewarded chastity. | A powerful character finds out whether his guest has made love to his daughter or wife (if the character is a woman: whether he has attempted to have sexual contact with her). A man who is impotent or (successfully pretends to be) chaste is rewarded (at least not punished). In most cases, the other character engages in sexual contact or is unable to hide what he has done and is punished as a result. | 12 | 15 |
| K27z8 In K27 family | Riddles that cannot be solved, ATU 851, 927. | A person poses a riddle that can only be solved by knowing the circumstances in which he found himself. | 47 | 34 |
| K102b In K102 family | Ride for the last time, B184.1.6. | In order to destroy the hero (heroine), the antagonist must first get rid of his beloved animal (usually a horse). When the animal is about to be slaughtered, the hero (heroine) mounts it, rides away and escapes. | 39 | 43 |
| A4e In A4 family | Rider of the clouds | An anthropomorphic person associated with the thunder and rain rides on the clouds (uses them as a vehicle) | 0 | 0 |
| B87c In B87 family | Rider. | Alcor (the faint star next to the second star of the Big Dipper's handle) – rider, driver, coachman. | 14 | 26 |
| L122 | Riding a rooster. | The character rides on a rooster. | 19 | 25 |
| H17 | Ring of defenders around the leader. | The first ancestors surround the deceased or sick person in a ring, seeking to protect him. The antagonist manages to find a loophole and causes irreparable harm to people. | 13 | 27 |
| F101 | Rival prevents childbirth. | With the help of magic, a rival or the spouse's mother tries to prevent a woman from giving birth. | 4 | 4 |
| L17a2 In L17 family | Rival with an eye on her forehead. | Instead of a beautiful woman, a man takes a devil with an odd number of eyes. | 6 | 4 |
| B15 | River from a woman's body. | The river flows from the organs of a woman's body. | 11 | 13 |
| H16a In H16 family | Rivers of blood, A671.2.2. | The narratives (in various contexts) mention rivers (lakes) of blood (as well as water used to wash the dead, pus, bones, sweat). Cf. motifs H16, K33F, N34. | 73 | 80 |
| H16 | Rivers of tears. | In another world, there are rivers of tears. Tears shed on earth fill large containers there. Cf. motifs K33F, N34, N35. | 29 | 31 |
| M14a In M14 family | Roasted alive. | To take revenge on his wife or her relatives for (allegedly) causing him offence, the husband roasts his wife alive. See motif M14. | 11 | 28 |
| K157 | Robbers killed one by one, ATU 304. | The character lures his opponents out one by one and cuts off each one's head as soon as they appear. Less commonly, a multi-headed opponent sticks out its heads one by one, and the hero cuts them off. | 56 | 66 |
| G3 | Rock of plenty. | Cultivated plants or fertile soil for their cultivation are hidden inside the rock. Birds or thunder gods pierce a hole in the rock. | 16 | 34 |
| L5 | Rolling head. | Describes or depicts a creature in the form of a skull or head without a body. | 153 | 254 |
| M193 | Rolling home. | To avoid predators (suitors) on the way back, the character climbs inside a pumpkin, a round cauldron, etc. and rolls down the road or walks, disguised beyond recognition. | 15 | 20 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.