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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 |
| M57a In M57 family | Beads are like body secretions | Instead of the usual secretions from the human body, beads, flowers, gold and other valuables pour in. | 143 | 284 |
| E5a In E5 family | People from the underworld, A1234. | The first humans (or only the first men or first women) were not created by a demiurge, but emerged from under the ground (from a cave) or from a small object on its surface (a tree, stone, pumpkin, etc.). There are many emerging humans (or humans and animals). Cf. motif E5B: first ancestors from the underworld. | 144 | 323 |
| F7 | Woman from the underwater world. | A man catches, grabs, meets, or receives a woman associated with the aquatic-chthonic world (a fish, mermaid, snake, crab, seal, etc.) and takes her as his wife. Cf. motifs E26 and K25. | 145 | 224 |
| H5 | People and snakes. | Reptiles or invertebrates possess a life-giving agent; they are contrasted with humans as immortal mortals and/or responsible for the fact that humans die and are not reborn; the dead turn into snakes. See motif H4. (The first death comes from a snake bite (centipede), but snakes are not opposed to humans as immortals to mortals.) | 145 | 181 |
| I8D In I8 family | Pillars of the world: pillars, mountains. | The earth or sky is supported by mountains, pillars, nails, trees. | 146 | 185 |
| L110 | The Devourer, (ATU 2028), Th F911.6. | A character swallows many people and/or animals. In the end, his stomach is cut open, and those who were swallowed unharmed come out or are extracted and revived. Cf. motif K8a. | 146 | 220 |
| L41 | The hero runs away. | After catching a person, the cannibal carries his prey home, but the captive escapes on the road or at the cannibal's house. See motif L38 (a person falls into a demon's trap). | 146 | 206 |
| G6 | The first tree. | One of the trees is the main, original tree, which is very different from the others (it was the first to appear; the progenitor of trees; the progenitor of wild or cultivated plants; the sea and rivers within it; the world axis; higher than the others; obscuring the sky). | 148 | 279 |
| I82a In I82 family | Male Venus. | The Morning and/or Evening Star – a male character. | 148 | 218 |
| K38f In K38 family | The dragon slayer, ATU 300. | A reptilian monster demands human sacrifices (devours people; kidnaps a girl; blocks water sources). The hero kills it. The monster's victims do not play an active role in the action. | 148 | 287 |
| M38a In M38 family | Inept imitation: visiting, Th J2425 | On a visit, the character sees how the owner acts with magic or techniques that suit his nature (in Africa, too, deception). He imitates their actions but fails. Actions are not tests or competitions and are not related to performing feats. This is mainly getting or preparing food. | 150 | 265 |
| M91c1 In M91 family | The herd from the bottom | The character (pretends to) take possession of someone's property (usually setting the owner to be killed instead of him), says that he got everything at the bottom of the river, in the abyss, etc., to him they believe. | 150 | 236 |
| L65b In L65 family | Dogs as saviours. | A demonic woman, less often her lover or another monster, is ready to kill or kills the hero. Dogs (or animals and birds that replace them – lions, bears, eagles, etc.) come running (flying), rescue the hero and kill the demon. | 151 | 251 |
| L94 | Promised to the demon. | A demon or animal helps a person or agrees to let them go, but in return takes a promise to give them a daughter or son. | 151 | 328 |
| I41 | Rainbow serpent, A791.2. | A rainbow is a reptile (usually a snake), less often a fish or snake-like, usually dangerous, object (snake tongue, scorpion tail). | 152 | 363 |
| B42 | Cosmic hunting, F59.2. | Hunters, their dogs, fleeing or killed animals are visible in the sky in the form of stars and constellations. | 153 | 299 |
| J1A In J1 family | The myth of the avengers with a full plot | 153 | 297 | |
| L5 | Rolling head. | Describes or depicts a creature in the form of a skull or head without a body. | 153 | 254 |
| A32e In A32 family | Character with an object in their hands. | On the lunar (rarely: solar) disc, a character holding an object or animal is visible. See motif A32D. | 154 | 256 |
| 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 |
| M157 | Impossible births, (ATU 875E). | The character claims that a man, male animal or object gave birth (or had a period), or that an animal of one species gave birth to a young of another species, or that a woman gave birth to an animal or inanimate object. | 154 | 234 |
| F34b In F34 family | Lover of non-human nature. | A girl, woman or group of women voluntarily take as their lover a penis that exists as a special creature, snake, moray eel, lizard, worm, crab, large aquatic animal or aquatic monster, or large terrestrial mammal. People kill or maim the lover, the woman and/or her offspring, or she herself loses her human nature. The woman's behaviour is condemned. | 156 | 315 |
| F45 | Amazons. | There are or were settlements where only women lived or live (cf. motifs F8, F45C). | 156 | 256 |
| H28 | Creature turns into reptiles, A2034. | A creature that has been killed and destroyed (often burned) (usually a cannibal, a ferocious animal, or a powerful shaman) turns into stinging insects or other harmful, unpleasant, or dangerous creatures. | 157 | 286 |
| K66 | Bogatyrs with different abilities, ATU 513, 653, F601. | Each of several companions or brothers excels others in some way (sees, hears, runs, etc. better than anyone else). Cf. motif K2B, "Gorynya and Dubyna". | 162 | 287 |
| K73a In K73 family | Child substitution. | Malicious women replace the newborn with an animal or an inanimate object (they tell the baby's father that his wife gave birth to an animal or an object). See motif K73. | 162 | 318 |
| L93a In L93 family | The fox as helper. | The fox, jackal or coyote, resorting to cunning, helps the hero, heroine or people in general, saving them. | 162 | 324 |
| M29b1 In M29 family | The wolf is a loser and a loser | As a result of his stupidity or antisocial behavior, the wolf dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. | 162 | 168 |
| C2 | Flood and fire. | The inhabitants of the middle world (in part) are destroyed (or will be destroyed) once by fire or drought, another time by a flood, or the world is flooded with a stream of fire and boiling water. | 163 | 319 |
| K76 | The Strange Son, ATU 425A, 441. | A boy who is born or found has a strange or ugly appearance (ball, nut, sack, half-human, dwarf, animal), but then demonstrates magical powers and turns out to be handsome (usually getting a bride of high status). The princess's magical spouse initially has a non-human or ugly appearance. | 163 | 284 |
| E1 | The creation of man. | The first human being was created, made by a certain character, and did not exist initially (on earth, underground, in the sky, in a small container) and did not arise spontaneously. Only variants that specify the material from which humans were created, or that refer separately to the creation of the human figure and its ensoulment, rather than simply to the fact of "creation" itself, are taken into account. | 164 | 311 |
| 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 |
| L37b In L37 family | Overheard conversation, ATU 613, N451.1. | By accidentally overhearing a conversation between animals or spirits, a person learns how to help themselves and others. | 167 | 285 |
| M156 | The Ungrateful One is Punished, ATU 155. | A dangerous animal (rarely: a spirit) is about to kill a human or another animal – usually the one who freed it from a trap. A third character acts as a judge and saves the human – most often by luring the ungrateful back into the trap. | 169 | 250 |
| I82b In I82 family | Venus-woman. | The Morning and/or Evening Star – a female character. | 170 | 234 |
| M21 | The fugitive hides with his protector. | The character runs away from his pursuer. The person, animal or object that the character asks for help hides him (and kills the pursuer). | 170 | 258 |
| M91c2 In M91 family | Seated in a bag | character is placed in a bag or chest, locked in a cage, tied, etc., to drown, burn, etc. When left for a while, the character pretends to be in the bag voluntarily or because he does not want to become a chief, marry, etc.; the other agrees to take his place. See M91c1 motif. | 170 | 236 |
| K1f In K1 family | Conflict over a woman. | One man traps another, driven by jealousy or the desire to possess his rival's wife. See motifs K1A, K1E, K2A. | 172 | 93 |
| M29k In M29 family | The turtle (toad, frog) is a cunning winner | A turtle (toad, frog) defeats strong opponents by cunning or perseverance. See the motives in square brackets. The character is named if it is a toad or frog; otherwise, a turtle. | 172 | 83 |
| B82 | White Raven, A2411.1.1.6. | The raven (less often another bird of prey, or another black bird the size of a raven) was first white, and then turned black. | 175 | 244 |
| K29a In K29 family | Unharmed by fire. | The hero demonstrates his magical abilities or cunning by remaining alive in a hot bath, oven, fire, or among burning vegetation. | 176 | 258 |
| 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 |
| F35a In F35 family | Feeding meat from a relative. | The character, unaware of this, eats or prepares meat (slowly kills) a member of his household (a relative, rarely a servant or spouse) or feeds it to his acquaintances, or uses its bones for household needs. | 182 | 295 |
| H7 | Personification of death. | Death (as well as illness and old age) is a special character, distinct from the lord of the underworld. It takes away a person's soul or otherwise causes their death. | 183 | 370 |
| I1 | Thunderbirds, A284.2. | Creatures that cause or embody rain and/or thunderstorms are birds or winged anthropomorphic characters. {Traditions in which birds are associated with thunderstorms and rain, but Thunder itself is not a bird, are marked with an asterisk (*). | 183 | 303 |
| M29b2 In M29 family | The bear is a loser and a loser | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the bear dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. | 183 | 131 |
| J46 | The enemy drowns. | Antagonists perish by falling into water or attempting to cross a water barrier. See motifs J42, J44. | 184 | 226 |
| 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 |
| K56 | The worthy are rewarded, the unworthy are punished, ATU 480, 480D*. | One of the girls, young women or young girls (wives of one man) meets a character who is able to reward and punish. She behaves correctly and receives a reward. Another (others) tries to repeat everything, but behaves incorrectly and is punished (rarely: not rewarded). | 187 | 449 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.