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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M90a4 In M90 family | The jewel tree | A tree is described on which jewelry or ornaments hang instead of fruits; individual parts of the tree are made of different metals or (semi) precious stones. | 33 | 39 |
| K2a2 In K2 family | The kidnapped princess drops her shoe. | A monster rushes past a young man, carrying off the princess. The young man picks up the princess's lost shoe or, after shooting, finds a lock of the princess's hair. He sets off in search of her, descends underground and rescues the kidnapped princess. | 6 | 8 |
| K131c In K131 family | The kidnapped woman runs away while the archers compete. | A woman offers her captors to shoot arrows – she will marry the winner. While they are figuring out whose arrow flew farther, the kidnapped woman runs away. | 2 | 2 |
| K27x3 In K27 family | The king and the hero's wife, ATU 465. | The ruler seeks to take possession of the wife or bride of a man of lower social status and, in order to get rid of him, gives him impossible tasks or secretly kills him. {Both ATU and some regional indexes (e.g., Cardigos 2006: 110) list texts that do not meet the definition of plot 465: the king's desire to take possession of the hero's wife is not explicitly stated as the reason why the king seeks to get rid of the hero}. | 113 | 152 |
| M144 | The King's Drum, ATU 49A. | One character manages to convince another that dangerous and inedible objects are attractive and delicious (a wasp's nest is a drum, a snake is a flute, dung is a delicacy, etc.). | 28 | 41 |
| K121 | The knight at the crossroads. | At the crossroads, it is indicated that one road is safe, another is neutral, and the third is deadly dangerous. There can only be two roads – dangerous and safe. The hero travels along the dangerous road. | 57 | 95 |
| I77 | The lame thunderer. | A powerful character associated with thunderstorms and rain, lame. | 14 | 13 |
| H52 | The Land of Immortality, ATU 470B. | A man finds a land where there is no death. Having decided to visit his native places, he never returns to it. | 29 | 31 |
| M154 | The language of animals and the stubborn wife, ATU 670. | A man who has learned the language of animals laughs when he hears them talking. His wife or mother-in-law (rarely someone else) demands that he explain what is going on. The man is ready to comply with his wife's demand, even though he knows he will die if he reveals the secret. Usually, he hears the domestic animals condemning their master's stupidity and decides not to say anything. | 111 | 124 |
| I137 | The Lapti Constellation. | One of the constellations is associated with footwear, usually with (worn-out) bast shoes. | 4 | 5 |
| H36j In H36 family | The lark betrays man. | The lark is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. | 7 | 9 |
| 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 |
| J54 | The last female escapes. | The heroes of the narrative exterminate animals or demons of a certain species. This species could have disappeared altogether if one or more individuals (often a pregnant female) had not been saved. {This motif does not include aetiological endings, according to which the current creatures of a certain species originate from a dismembered original creature}. | 53 | 69 |
| A2b1 In A2 family | The Last Sun. | Two or more suns shine in the sky. When the extra ones are destroyed, there is a danger that the last one will be destroyed along with them and darkness will ensue. | 24 | 43 |
| J45 | The leg serves as a bridge, R246. | The character extends his leg (dafla: arm; upper tanana: tail) or neck as a bridge across a water barrier. Usually, those being pursued or walking ahead cross such a bridge to the other side, while the pursuer or those walking behind fall into the water because the character removes his bridge. See motif J44. | 67 | 85 |
| L81c In L81 family | The legless, the blind, and the armless. | The legless man lives together with the blind and armless man (or with one of the two). By working together, they are healed. | 28 | 37 |
| M29w1 In M29 family | The leopard is a loser and a loser | As a result of their stupidity or antisocial behavior, the leopard (panther, leopard) dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. | 57 | 46 |
| L15e In L15 family | The life of a hero in a sword, ATU 302B. | The hero's life is in a certain object, usually his weapon. An enemy steals or discards this object, the hero weakens or dies, his friends or brothers return the object, and the hero comes back to life. {In ATU, this is motif 302B; at least some of the references cited by Uther do not contain the motif in our formulation (not found in Japan or Burma); original publications are required}. | 43 | 60 |
| M138 | The lifespan of humans and animals, ATU 173. | At first, everyone was given 20 or 30 years. For animals, this is a long time, but for humans, it is short. Humans received part of the lifespan of animals. | 40 | 31 |
| M152c In M152 family | The lion and the donkey at the ford. | The weak companion of a large predator pretends to be strong and brave. When he is carried away by the river or drowns in a swamp, and the predator pulls him out, the companion pretends to be angry (for preventing him from catching fish, etc.). | 9 | 10 |
| M130c In M130 family | The Lion and the Mouse, ATU 75. | When a lion (tiger, bear, elephant, human) is trapped, a mouse or rat frees it (usually by gnawing through the ropes). | 50 | 33 |
| M145 | The lion in the well, ATU 92. | One character (usually zoomorphic) shows another his reflection in a body of water. The latter believes that a beast resembling him is challenging his seniority, invites him to visit, etc.; usually throws himself into the water and perishes. | 60 | 84 |
| M159 | The Lion's Share, ATU 51. | The strongest character (usually a lion) offers to divide the spoils (harvest). The more cunning character refuses his share, but remains unharmed. Usually a wolf (hyena, jackal) divides the spoils, giving the lion the larger share, but the lion beats him. The third character gives the lion everything. The lion asks who taught him to divide so well and receives the answer: the one whom the lion mauled. | 61 | 64 |
| N40 | The liver drowned and the lungs swam away | The fabulous or epic text ends with a formula stating that the liver has drowned and the lungs have swam away (surfaced, stayed, etc.). | 3 | 5 |
| K61f In K61 family | The Living Doll, ATU 459. | Fearing her husband's wrath, a childless woman pretends to have given birth. Her husband believes that he has a daughter or son, and after some time marries her off (marries him off). During the wedding ceremony, a doll or animal is placed under the veil (in the palanquin), but at the last moment, a supernatural character transforms the supposed bride (groom) into a girl or boy. | 5 | 5 |
| E12 | The living drawing. | A character draws an object or creature on sand, ash, a wall or the surface of water, and it comes to life. | 25 | 30 |
| K33 | The Living Drowned Woman, Th D688, E323.1; ATU 450. | When a malevolent woman pushes another woman into a body of water (a well), the latter drowns or loses her human form, but manages to return to the world of humans. Cf. motif k32m | 167 | 283 |
| H12 | The living go to the dead after someone's death, F81. | The living visit the afterlife to bring back the dead (except for texts about a shaman bringing back the soul of a sick person), or, without a specific goal, go there accompanied by or following in the footsteps of the recently deceased. | 186 | 321 |
| H36c In H36 family | The lizard betrays man. | The lizard is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. See motif H36. | 37 | 31 |
| A47A In A47 family | The lizard finds the sun. | The lizard or iguana is associated with the appearance of the sun. | 3 | 7 |
| E29 | The lizard makes hands for humans, A1311.1. | Two characters (usually a coyote and a lizard) argue about whether human hands should be shaped like paws or end in fingers. | 17 | 24 |
| L91 | The Long Serpent. | Two or four young men go on a journey or return from one. Their path is blocked by a long creature that cannot be bypassed. They burn a passage through it. One eats roasted meat, turns into a snake himself, or dies. See motif L28. | 7 | 1 |
| M114g In M114 family | The long-bearded goat and the tall camel. | Only the boy, the young man, answers the questions of the authoritative character wisely. When he asks why someone older and taller was not sent to him, the boy says that the goat has the longest beard and the camel is taller than everyone else. | 9 | 9 |
| C6c3 In C6 family | The loon – a successful diver. | The loon dives and brings back a piece of earth (grass, etc.), which turns into land (it is the only or the only successful diver). | 23 | 40 |
| K27x7 In K27 family | The lord of the animals summons them and questions them. | On the way to their destination, people meet characters who have power over animals (birds, fish) or demons. They summon the animals (demons) and ask if anyone knows the way to a certain place. Only one person knows, usually the last to appear. | 43 | 69 |
| I30 | The lord of the dead meets women. | In the world of the dead, its master or mistress copulates with all new arrivals. | 4 | 13 |
| B116c In B116 family | The Lost Book. | In the past, the people possessed writing and knowledge, but these were lost, or the people missed the opportunity to acquire them. | 54 | 98 |
| I89 | The lost caravan. | There is a star that brings death and misfortune; it is usually told how people mistake a star or constellation rising at night for the Morning Star, set off on a journey and lose their way. | 27 | 39 |
| L100e In L100 family | The lover, the master and the guest, ATU 1358A, (ATU 1360B). | Before entering, the guest notices the mistress with her lover in the house. When the husband arrives, the guest pretends to be clairvoyant and shows the husband where the lover is hiding and where the food prepared for him is. | 41 | 51 |
| M7a1 In M7 family | The luminaries float above the hero | Person gets to a place from which he is unable to come out. Several (more than two) different celestial bodies rise and move near him or above him. He puts attention to them (and asks their help) | 8 | 12 |
| M178 | The Lying Goat, ATU 212. | The owner successively sends others to graze the goat (herd of goats). The goat eats grass to its heart's content, but each time replies to the owner that it has been kept on a starvation diet. The owner is outraged and kills or drives away the shepherds. Convinced of the goat's deceitfulness, he decides to kill it. Either the owner begins to skin the live goat, or the goat runs away. In most versions, both motifs are combined. | 39 | 36 |
| K35a7 In K35 family | The magical feather. | A character finds a feather, the touch of which brings health and beauty. | 9 | 7 |
| K76h In K76 family | The magical groom threatens disaster. | A young man, temporarily having a strange or monstrous appearance (freak, animal, etc.), woos a princess, but is rejected. Then he causes natural disasters or creates personal troubles for the king, who is forced to give up his daughter. | 10 | 13 |
| E9h In E9 family | The magical wife - the dove. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dove. | 74 | 104 |
| E9a In E9 family | The magical wife - the fox. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a fox. | 13 | 17 |
| E9g In E9 family | The magical wife - the vulture. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture. | 20 | 34 |
| K107d1 In K107 family | The magical wife cannot wake the young man. | Waiting for his magical wife, the young man falls asleep. The wife cannot wake him up and leaves (this episode is often repeated). | 26 | 36 |
| K25a6 In K25 family | The magical wife does not forgive infidelity. | A woman from another world agrees to live with a man in his earthly world, but leaves him when she learns that he has broken a taboo (often his infidelity). Cf. motif F94 (the hero betrays his magical wife in her world); motif K12B (the hero visits his world alone, contrary to the warning of his magical wife). | 23 | 26 |
| E9o In E9 family | The magical wife – a frog or a toad. | A man marries a woman who has the appearance of a frog or toad. | 38 | 48 |
| E9c In E9 family | The magical wife – a hoofed animal. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a large hoofed mammal (buffalo, antelope, moose, etc.). | 31 | 49 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.