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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B24 | Transformation into wild boars. | People who have entered into conflict or violated a prohibition are transformed into wild boars or peccaries. | 8 | 8 |
| B24a In B24 family | Transformation into wild pigs: a circle of feathers. | After a character surrounds a group of people with a circle of feathers or throws feathers into their dwellings, the people turn into wild pigs or peccaries. | 5 | 5 |
| L23e In L23 family | Transformations of the captured man. | A man captures a male character. Trying to free himself, the latter transforms into various substances or animals. | 14 | 15 |
| L23d In L23 family | Transformations of the captured woman. | A man captures a desirable woman. Trying to free herself, she transforms into various substances, materials, animals or (urarina, setebo) orders various dangerous animals to attack the man who captured her. | 25 | 50 |
| F1 | Transformed man. | The first woman, female deity, or female animals were originally men (males) who then changed their gender. | 41 | 60 |
| N10 | Transparent body | A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described. This transparency is a sign of beauty. | 49 | 100 |
| N10a In N10 family | Transparent bones | A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described - bones are visible through the skin, bone marrow is visible through the bones. This transparency is a sign of beauty. | 17 | 45 |
| N10b In N10 family | Transparent neck | A girl or (rarely) a young man with a transparent neck is described, through which you can see the drinks and/or food that this girl or boy swallows. This neck is a sign of beauty. | 31 | 45 |
| K1A In K1 family | Trap: a young man or man is abandoned. | A young man or man finds himself in a place where he is unable to move, but which is isolated from the ground: the top of a tree, a rock, a cave, a burrow, an island. This happens through someone else's fault: the antagonist lures or traps the hero, or (less often) leaves him no other option but isolation. After some time, the hero either finds a way to salvation himself, or is saved by someone else (often a bird or animal), or (rarely) undergoes a metamorphosis and no longer returns to his normal life. For texts with a fairy-tale episode in which the hero is sent down to the underworld and abandoned there, see motif K2A. | 262 | 490 |
| K1B In K1 family | Trap: abandoned woman. | A woman is lured onto a tree, rock or island and left there. | 23 | 31 |
| M9 | Trapped in a hollow | The character puts his head or hand in a hollow or (rarely) another hole), gets stuck in it, or falls into a hollow. Usually, as a result, the character dies or undergoes a metamorphosis. | 30 | 39 |
| K56d1 In K56 family | Treasures in a pumpkin. | A pumpkin or watermelon (grown from gifted seeds) given to a person turns out to contain treasures. | 12 | 13 |
| M75c In M75 family | Treasures on the mountain, ATU 936 | A person is offered to climb a rock or tree to get treasures. A return descent is not possible. Doomed to death, the hero remains alive. | 50 | 51 |
| I92b In I92 family | Treasures under the rainbow. | Where the ends of the rainbow reach the ground, there is treasure. | 16 | 23 |
| K1i In K1 family | Tree for descending from a cliff. | Near the cliff, at the bottom of the pit, or in the underworld, a tree, reed, or vine grows, which the character uses to descend or climb to the ground. | 19 | 36 |
| J2 | Tree husband. | Husband or lover – tree (temporarily transformed into a human). | 12 | 17 |
| G5 | Tree of abundance. | The fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants or the fruits of various wild plants grow on the branches of a single tree or on a single vine; the cultivated plant has a tree-like form that is not characteristic of it in nature. | 53 | 109 |
| G6a In G6 family | Tree of the year. | The year is described as a tree, the number of branches, twigs, and leaves of which corresponds to the number of seasons, months, days, etc. (or the year is a column with a certain number of objects on it; a building with a certain number of rooms). | 47 | 96 |
| G28 | Tree with fish. | The tree contains a fish in its trunk. | 19 | 28 |
| G12 | Tree – human. | A huge tree bearing various fruits and/or containing water in its trunk grows out of a human body or is a transformed human being. | 5 | 11 |
| B94 | Trees lose the gift of speech. | Trees (and animals) used to talk, asking people not to cut them down or kill them. | 15 | 25 |
| G31 | Trees tied with rope. | A character ties trees with rope and effortlessly knocks them all down at once or pretends to do so. | 35 | 40 |
| J41c In J41 family | Trials before meeting the antagonist. | The character goes to fight a dangerous enemy. Along the way, he is given tasks to complete. This is a sign that he will defeat his enemy. Usually, the same tasks were previously given to another character who was unable to complete them and was defeated by the enemy. | 23 | 25 |
| K156a In K156 family | Trials: girl or boy? | People suspect that the young man is a girl in disguise. Tests are proposed to determine this, but the girl manages to avoid exposure (for a long time). | 28 | 31 |
| M29qq In M29 family | Trickster - Anteater | See the motives in square brackets. | 10 | 5 |
| M29T In M29 family | Trickster - Armadillo | See the motives in square brackets. | 4 | 2 |
| M29x1 In M29 family | Trickster - Badger | See the motives in square brackets. | 9 | 7 |
| M29S In M29 family | Trickster - Crane | See the motives in square brackets. | 3 | 3 |
| M29nn In M29 family | Trickster - Earth Squirrel (Xerus inauris) | See the motives in square brackets. | 8 | 10 |
| M29b In M29 family | Trickster - Fox, Jackal, Coyote | Fox (a), Jackal, Coyote (or Wolf when, apparently, we mean a steppenwolf, i.e. the same coyote). See the motives in square brackets. | 352 | 447 |
| M29g In M29 family | Trickster - Hare, Rabbit | See the motives in square brackets. They include traditions in which the hare/rabbit appears only as a trickster, and another trickster (usually a fox or jackal) often occurs. | 176 | 199 |
| M29g1 In M29 family | Trickster - Hare, Rabbit (main trickster) | In episodes involving deception, ridiculous, obscene, or antisocial behavior, the hare or rabbit is the main trickster. Traditions in which 1) a hare or rabbit occurs only once as a trickster, and another trickster (usually a fox/jackal/coyote) is typical; 2) Mesoamerican traditions in which a small rabbit is associated with a small a set of episodes and a high probability of recent African influences. See the motives in square brackets. | 110 | 146 |
| M29i In M29 family | Trickster - Hawk | See the motives in square brackets. | 13 | 5 |
| M29c In M29 family | Trickster - Jay | See the motives in square brackets. | 10 | 9 |
| M29d In M29 family | Trickster - Mink | See the motives in square brackets. | 12 | 8 |
| M29o In M29 family | Trickster - Monkey | See the motives in square brackets. | 53 | 34 |
| M29n In M29 family | Trickster - Mouse | See the motives in square brackets. | 13 | 8 |
| M29h In M29 family | Trickster - Owl | See the motives in square brackets. | 17 | 11 |
| M29r In M29 family | Trickster - Porcupine | See the motives in square brackets. | 18 | 8 |
| M29l In M29 family | Trickster - Possum | See the motives in square brackets. | 25 | 7 |
| M29q In M29 family | Trickster - Raccoon | See the motives in square brackets. | 11 | 7 |
| M29a In M29 family | Trickster - Raven (a) | See the motives in square brackets. | 80 | 65 |
| M29E In M29 family | Trickster - Skunk | See the motives in square brackets. | 17 | 7 |
| M29y In M29 family | Trickster - Wren | See the motives in square brackets. | 10 | 9 |
| M29p In M29 family | Trickster vs Spider | See the motives in square brackets. | 25 | 37 |
| M29X2 In M29 family | Trickster other creatures | See the motives in square brackets. | 41 | 28 |
| M108a In M108 family | Trickster-adopted child. | A lonely elderly couple adopts a trickster. He steals from them (and runs away). | 17 | 18 |
| M29 | Trickster: identification with birds and animals | trickster is defined as a protagonist in the following characteristic episodes. | 0 | 0 |
| M75b3 In M75 family | Trojan horse: victory over enemies | Enemies are shown a life-size or larger image of a horse or bull. Not realizing that this is a ruse, they bring the figure to their own territory and are defeated as a result. | 7 | 19 |
| M56c In M56 family | Try on a snake | The character promises to bring a snake. The snake agrees to have the character measure its length. He ties the snake to a stick or, while measuring, finds out where to hit it to kill it. | 10 | 11 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.