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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| K112 | The worker takes revenge on the Sun. | A man accuses the Sun and other characters responsible for the weather, wild animals, etc. of causing him to lose his property; he punishes his offenders. | 23 | 23 |
| K120a2 In K120 family | Not by her mother, but by her mother-in-law. | Family members want to marry their daughter off to a man who is unacceptable to her (usually they want to marry her off to her own brother). The girl refuses to address her father, mother, etc. as close relatives, but calls them in-laws (mother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc.) or enemies; or the relatives themselves demand that the girl address them as in-laws. | 23 | 22 |
| K128a In K128 family | The best apples for the princess, ATU 610. | Each of the three brothers brings the princess (prince) a gift of fruit (less often fish, etc.) and encounters a character who punishes rudeness and rewards politeness. As a result (after additional trials), the youngest brother enters into the desired marriage. | 23 | 21 |
| K1B In K1 family | Trap: abandoned woman. | A woman is lured onto a tree, rock or island and left there. | 23 | 31 |
| 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 |
| K27z7 In K27 family | To learn what the rose of the heart is. | The character promises to fulfil a request if the other person reveals the secret behind someone's strange behaviour. | 23 | 24 |
| K29d In K29 family | Drunken elephants. | To catch an animal or supernatural character, the water in a reservoir is replaced with wine, honey, etc., or containers with alcohol are left in plain sight. The creature, having lost control of itself, is captured. | 23 | 33 |
| K32h In K32 family | Buried alive. | The antagonist is executed by being buried alive. | 23 | 33 |
| k33c6 In k33 family | Only one girl survived. | A young man receives several fruits (eggs, reeds). When he opens the first one, the girl who comes out of it disappears, either because the necessary provisions (usually drinking water) have not been prepared for her, or because the fruit has been cut incorrectly. Only the one who comes out of the last fruit (egg, reed) remains. Cf. motif k33c7. | 23 | 44 |
| K35c3 In K35 family | The ship stopped. | For reasons that are not immediately clear, the ship stops in the middle of the sea (rarely: a horse stops in the middle of the road). | 23 | 28 |
| K50 | An imaginary wife cuts off the head of an enemy. | A man approaches the enemy disguised as a woman and kills him at night (usually cutting off his head and taking it with him). | 23 | 25 |
| K52c In K52 family | Flooding in the home. | Demonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion and that those present also see animals (waterfowl, fish or marine mammals). | 23 | 31 |
| K70 | Two daughters-in-law: a girl and a frog. | One man marries a girl, another (usually the brother of the first) marries a frog or a toad, or the girl and the frog are the wives of one man. Usually, the wives are given certain tests, and the girl is recognised as a worthy wife, while the frog is recognised as worthless. | 23 | 25 |
| L100c In L100 family | The chaste sorceress and seducers, D2006.1.1. | When a man comes to a beautiful woman who lives alone, she asks him to perform a trivial task (close the door, etc.) and uses magic to leave him in an awkward and uncomfortable position (holding the door handle, etc.) for the whole night. The next night, the same thing happens to another (rarely: the same) admirer. Each, ashamed, tells the others that he enjoyed it. | 23 | 28 |
| L129 | Why such big teeth? (Little Red Riding Hood), (ATU 333) | The character is asked why his body parts, organs, and tools are the way they are. He answers (or the questioner gives explanations for him). In the end, one kills or maims the other. | 23 | 27 |
| L131 | Your children are burning (all versions). | To get rid of a demonic creature or make a bird or ladybird fly away, they are told that the place where their home and/or children are located is engulfed in fire. | 23 | 47 |
| L85c In L85 family | Polukurochka, B171.1, ATU 715. | A character with half a body – a hen, a chick. Sometimes it is only a name, and the character's appearance is more anthropomorphic. | 23 | 28 |
| L90a In L90 family | A hut on chicken legs. | Describes a house that stands on the legs or a single leg of a bird or small animal and/or rotates (is capable of turning). | 23 | 70 |
| M112a In M112 family | The turtle catches the thief. | Animals take turns guarding water or food or using water. The deceiver takes what he needs or prevents others from doing so. The turtle, toad or frog proves to be more cunning than the deceiver and catches him. See motif M112. | 23 | 14 |
| M123c In M123 family | Unsuccessful flight south. | A non-migratory bird sets off south with migratory birds, but is unable to reach its destination. | 23 | 27 |
| M153a In M153 family | The Washed Pig, ATU 122G(1). | A predator is about to eat a human or herbivorous animal. The intended victim asks to be allowed to wash first, and as a result is saved. (Among the Transylvanian Saxons, this involves being baptised with water). | 23 | 22 |
| M163b In M163 family | Inheritance brings good luck. | A father leaves his son (each of his sons) something of little value as an inheritance. The son goes to a country where such objects or animals are unknown and sells what he has received for a large sum of money. | 23 | 24 |
| M167a In M167 family | The tiger frightened by Twilight. | A strong predator mistakes an unfamiliar word for the name of a creature that is stronger than him and flees. | 23 | 34 |
| M33 | Sealed anus | The character plugs or seals his anus tightly (with wax, clay, grass, etc.), or someone else does it. See M32 motif. | 23 | 24 |
| M39a7 In M39 family | Misunderstood instructions: washing with boiling water, ATU 1013 | When instructed to wash the old man with warm water, the fool steams him with boiling water. | 23 | 14 |
| N4 | Fused ribs | Fused ribs are a sign of heroic strength. {The motive was highlighted and the material was collected by Kostyantin Rahno}. | 23 | 35 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| A42 | Phaeton (imitator of the Sun), A724.I.I. | The character comes to the Sun, tries to fulfil its role, but deliberately or through incompetence breaks the rules, usually causing disasters on earth. | 24 | 38 |
| B47 | The Pleiades and cold. | The Pleiades or another group of stars once appeared or regularly cause severe cold. (The heliacal setting of the Pleiades occurs in May-June; in the Northern Hemisphere, they are best seen in winter). | 24 | 33 |
| B49 | The animals did not understand the instructions. | Animals of a certain species (in Toraja – humans) hear poorly or misunderstand instructions or questions about their future, or get confused when making requests to deities. This is how they acquire their current characteristics and habits. | 24 | 20 |
| B56A In B56 family | Crocodile without a tongue. | The reptile's tongue is cut off or mutilated (no association with fire). See motif B56. | 24 | 33 |
| B87a In B87 family | Alcor – dog. | A dim star next to the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper (Tibetans: Little Dipper) Ursa Major – dog. | 24 | 29 |
| D4c In D4 family | Obtaining summer. | Characters obtain the warm season from its original owners. | 24 | 36 |
| E9e In E9 family | A puppy received as a reward. | An animal or object received by a young man from supernatural beings as a reward for his kindness, upon the young man's return home (to earth), turns into a girl. | 24 | 34 |
| F29 | A girl sits on the ground. | A girl (woman) sits on the ground and copulates with a snake, worm or eel that crawls out of the ground towards her. This usually happens when she is busy with housework (cooking, weaving, etc.). | 24 | 39 |
| F90 | Tragic incest. | A brother and sister marry. When the children born of this union learn of their origins, the marriage breaks down (the children kill their parents, the father kills or attempts to kill the children, the parents commit suicide, the wife/sister commits suicide after the death of her husband/brother, the wife/sister leaves her husband/brother). | 24 | 33 |
| G23b In G23 family | Ethnic groups from body parts. | People from different ethnic groups arise from parts of the creature's body, or people from different groups receive their names (and characteristics) depending on which parts of the creature's body they have received. | 24 | 39 |
| H20a In H20 family | The mistress of the fish loses it. | A woman or several women keep fish or water in some kind of container; a man releases all the fish into rivers or the sea, releases the water. See motif H20. | 24 | 9 |
| H34e In H34 family | Edible snow. | The snow was edible. | 24 | 25 |
| H35 | Decaying teeth. | Human teeth are made of fragile material. Usually, the motif explains the aetiology of toothache. | 24 | 29 |
| H46a In H46 family | The dog and the ear of corn. | The possibility of using cereals for food is determined by the behaviour of the dog in the era of creation. See motif H46. | 24 | 38 |
| H7d In H7 family | Death and a bundle of firewood, ATU 845. | A man calls Death, and when it comes, asks it to help him lift a bundle of firewood or pull a cart with firewood. | 24 | 21 |
| I120b In I120 family | Taking something out of an animal's ear. | The character takes food, clothing, and other valuables from the ear of an animal (most often a horse or cow). | 24 | 26 |
| I25C In I25 family | Calling blood wine. | On the way to their goal, the character expresses imaginary pleasure when encountering repulsive and dangerous objects and creatures, thereby ensuring their loyalty (on the way back). | 24 | 33 |
| I95c In I95 family | Orion – staff. | Orion's belt – staff, stick, three sticks, rod, crutch, etc. | 24 | 21 |
| I97 | Rainbow horse. | Rainbow – hoofed animal (horse, bull, goat, sheep). | 24 | 24 |
| J32a1 In J32 family | Nocturnal pests – horses. | But at night someone tramples the field, steals hay, etc. The hero learns that it is horses doing this. | 24 | 30 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.