Folklore Database · Browse
Stith Thompson Motif Index
About this index and how to read it
Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature classifies recurring narrative elements in folktales, myths, legends, ballads and related traditional narratives. Each entry below gives Thompson's motif reference and the description recorded in the index.
The index is large, so this browser displays 250 entries per page. You can search by motif reference or by words in the description, restrict the results to one of Thompson's main letter categories, and click motif references mentioned inside descriptions to follow cross-references. Individual motif pages also show any ATU tale types whose concordance explicitly cites that Thompson reference.
All
A
Mythological Motifs
B
Animal Motifs
C
Motifs of Tabu
D
Magic
E
The Dead
F
Marvels
G
Ogres
H
Tests
J
The Wise and the Foolish
K
Deceptions
L
Reversals of Fortune
M
Ordaining the Future
N
Chance and Fate
P
Society
Q
Rewards and Punishments
R
Captives and Fugitives
S
Unnatural Cruelty
T
Sex
U
The Nature of Life
V
Religion
W
Traits of Character
X
Humor
Z
Miscellaneous Groups of Motifs
| Thompson reference | Description ▲ |
|---|---|
| G303.4.8.12 | Devil picks up live coals to light pipe. U.S.: Baughman. |
| G303.9.9.5 | Devil piles sand in ocean so that vessels may run aground. Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 17 No. 156. |
| G303.9.8.2 | Devil plays fiddle at wedding. Causes bad luck (kills bridegroom). Finnish: Aarne FFC XXXIII 40 No. 24; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 118 No. 24. |
| G303.9.9.19 | Devil plays marbles in church. England: Baughman. |
| G303.9.2.3 | Devil plows and plants grain for farmer in one day. Wünsche Teufel 50f. |
| G303.16.11.2 | Devil prevented from revenge by pious priest. Wünsche Teufel 45. |
| G303.9.9.1 | Devil prevents moving of little stone by sitting on it. Scala Celi 149b No. 823. |
| G303.22.12 | Devil promises help to mistreated apprentice if youth will meet him by night in lonely spot. Scotch: Campbell Superstitions 293. |
| G303.9.2.1 | Devil pulls up tree to goad his oxen. English: Hunt Popular Romances 230, Baughman. |
| G303.7.3.4 | Devil pursues man from carriage drawn by four white horses. U.S.: Baughman. |
| G303.17.1.2 | Devil rebels and disappears on last day. Jewish: Neuman. |
| G303.22.1 | Devil repays a kindness: returns coat lent him and brings the one who had shown him kindness back home when imprisoned. German: Henne-Am Rhyn (1874) 278. |
| G303.17.2.5 | Devil retreats into hell amid thunder and lightning. Wünsche Teufel 32f. |
| G303.7.2 | Devil rides away on an ass. Angered because God has not invited him to his wedding. Dh I 129. |
| G303.7.8 | Devil rides cow until she goes mad. England: Baughman. |
| G303.7.1.3 | Devil rides horse at night hunting lost souls over the heath. England: Baughman. |
| G303.7.1 | Devil rides horse. U.S.: Baughman; Irish: Beal XXI 322, O'Suilleabhain 55. |
| G303.7.1.1 | Devil rides on black horse. Wesselski Märchen 199; English: Hunt Popular Romances 217, 222, Baughman. |
| G303.7.6 | Devil rides on hog, drives another. Fb III 676b. |
| G303.25.14.2 | Devil roasts a toad. Lithuanian: Balys Legends No. 795. |
| G303.22.13 | Devil saves heretic from fire, until priest brings host. Scala Celi 65a No. 355. |
| G303.2.3 | Devil says his name is "Millearces" (thousand ways to lead men to sin). Scala Celi 165b No. 932. |
| G303.22.10 | Devil serves knight faithfully. Devil saves his life and that of his wife. Wesselski Märchen 242 No. 53. |
| G303.25.7.1 | Devil shot with silver bullet. (Cf. D1385.4.) Lithuanian, Latvian, Livonian, Estonian, Ukrainian, Polish, Rumanian: *Balys Tautosakos Darbai VI 53—83. |
| G303.24.1.1 | Devil shows priest long parchment roll of sins of congregation. Scala Celi 44a No. 249; Crane Vitry 233 No. 239. |
| G303.9.8.3 | Devil sings (dances) on grave. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| G303.4.7 | Devil speaks with voice of a he-goat. Scotch: Campbell Superstitions 301. |
| G303.9.8.1 | Devil spins and knits. English: Hunt Popular Romances 241. |
| G303.9.9.15 | Devil stampedes horses of general. England: Baughman. |
| G303.24.1.4 | Devil stands in church door and writes down names of his own people on a sheepskin. Fb I 266b. |
| G303.9.9.3 | Devil steals knight's cloak. Scala Celi 153a No. 844; Alphabet No. 620. |
| G303.20.4 | Devil strikes man dead with disease. Irish myth: Cross. |
| G303.20.3 | Devil strikes man dead with iron bar. Two men are fighting and devil thus kills one of them. Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 122 No. 44. |
| G303.9.9.4 | Devil takes an unbaptized child out of the cradle and lays a wooden log in its place. Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 14 No. 127; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3295, Legends Nos. 525ff. |
| G303.12.5.7 | Devil takes form of girl's lover and takes advantage of her. She meets lover on way home, learns what has happened, dies. England: Baughman. |
| G303.9.9.16 | Devil takes place of girl man is embracing in private place. The man goes mad. England: Baughman. |
| G303.25.11 | Devil takes place of woman who went to spend night with a priest. Wesselski Mönchslatein 189 No. 147. |
| G303.9.5.8 | Devil takes violinist when he needs a good fiddler in hell. England: Baughman. |
| G303.10.4.3 | Devil teaches a dance-loving maid to dance. Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 10 No. 83. |
| G303.9.4.4 | Devil tempts cleric (hermit). Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 670; Scala Celi 5b, 165a, 166a Nos. 29, 930, 938; Alphabet Nos. 28, 128, 129; Irish myth: *Cross; English: Hunt Popular Romances 232; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 388, II 1059. |
| G303.9.4.7 | Devil tempts girl. Scala Celi 47b No. 267; Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 395f., 399; West Indies: Flowers 447f. |
| G303.9.4.6 | Devil tempts saints. Scala Celi 112a, 154b Nos. 623, 855; Dh I 174.—Irish myth: Cross. |
| G303.9.4.8 | Devil tempts youth to deny Virgin. Promises youth riches. Scala Celi No. 658. |
| G303.7.3.5 | Devil travels in coach drawn by four blood-red horses, the hoofs of which strike fire from the pavement. German: Grimm No. 120. |
| G303.9.4.3 | Devil tries to get man to kill his bride (wife). Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 12 No. 104. |
| G303.9.4.9 | Devil tries to move repentant sinner to despair. Irish myth: Cross. |
| G303.13.3 | Devil tries to wall in too large a piece of ground in a night and fails. Wünsche Teufel 70. |
| G303.24.3 | Devil vexing friars caused to repent by singing "Te sanctum dominum". Scala Celi 3a No. 5. |
| G303.6.2.4 | Devil visible to one who walks in minister's (or minister's wife's) holy shoes (galoshes). Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 10. No. 79. |
| G303.12.4 | Devil visits woman and founds a family. (Cf. G303.11.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| G303.5.2.3 | Devil wears a bright green coat. German: Henne-Am Rhyn 278. |
| G303.4.1.2.1 | Devil with eye in middle of forehead. Type 756B; Fb I 189b, 266b; Andrejev FFC LXIX 62. |
| G303.4.1.2.2 | Devil with glowing eyes. Fb I 189b, 266b, U.S.: Baughman. |
| G303.4.8.7 | Devil with pitchfork. North Carolina: Brown Collection I 688. |
| G303.12.1 | Devil wooes an innkeeper's daughter. Wünsche Teufel 33. |
| G303.12.5.4 | Devil wooes woman; she discovers identity in time to escape with aid of minister who swallows candle after getting devil to promise she could live as long as the candle lasted. (Cf. K551.9.) Scotland: Baughman. |
| G303.13.2 | Devil works backward. Begins building at top of house. Wünsche Teufel 52. |
| G303.24.1.6 | Devil writes down all idle words spoken in church. His parchment is not long enough and he has to stretch it. Crane Vitry 233 No. 239. |
| G303.24.1.3 | Devil writes down names of men on a hide in church. Woman laughs when she sees him. Finnish: FFC XXXIII 44 No. 59; Lithuanian: Balys Legends No. 427; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 126 No. 59; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| G303.24.1.7.2 | Devil writes down names of those who look backwards in church. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| G303.24.1.8 | Devil writes down names of those who whisper in church. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| G303.24.1.2 | Devil writes faults of man on goat skin. Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 306 No. 19. |
| G303.6.1.2.1 | Devil writes into book names of those who call on him. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| G303.24.1.7 | Devil writes names of those who sleep in church. Fb I 266b; Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 11 No. 85. |
| G303 | Devil. (The Devil, Satan, The Bad Man, Old Nick, etc.)1 Not clearly differentiated, especially in German tradition, from the stupid ogre. (See also F531 (Giant), G100—199 and G500—699.)—**Wünsche Teufel; **A Graf The Story of the Devil (tr. E. N. Stone) (London, 1931); **M. J. Rudwin The Devil in Legend and Literature (Chicago 1931); P. Carus History of the Devil (Chicago, 1900); **Toldo II 329ff.; **O. A. Erich Die Darstellung des Teufels in der christlichen Kunst (Berlin, 1931); *De Vooys Middelnederlandse Legenden en Exempelen 159ff.; S. Freud Die Teufelsneurose im 17. Jahrhundert (Wien, 1928).—Irish myth: Cross; North Carolina: Brown Collection I 687; Icelandic: *Boberg; Finnish-Swedish: **P. Danielsson Djävulgestalten i Finlands svenska Folktro (Bidrag till kännedom af Finlands natur och folk LXXXIV pt. 2, [Helsingfors, 1932] 157); Estonian: Loorits Grundzüge I 135—152; Jewish: *Neuman. |
| G303.8.7 | Devil's abode is between hoofs of swine. Fb I 189a. |
| G303.4.1.3 | Devil's beard. |
| G303.25.5 | Devil's chair in hell made from thrown-away nail parings. Olrik Ragnarök (tr. Ranisch) 73f., No. 1. |
| G303.6.3.5 | Devil's coming heralded by piercing whistle. German: Grimm No. 195. |
| G303.8 | Devil's expulsion from heaven and his present haunts. |
| G303.4.1.2 | Devil's eyes. |
| G303.4.1.7.1 | Devil's face is black. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| G303.4.5.3.2 | Devil's footprints without any toes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G303.11.4.2 | Devil's grandmother is bleaching when it snows. Fb I 268a. |
| G303.11.4.1 | Devil's grandmother keeps house for devil. Is an old wrinkled woman with red eyes who locks up hell. Fb I 268a; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| G303.4.1.8.1 | Devil's hair blood-red. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G303.4.1.8 | Devil's hair. Jewish: Neuman. |
| G303.4.8.10 | Devil's hand marks person he touches. England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| G303.7.1.2.1 | Devil's horse has human feet. Finnish: Aarne FFC XXXIII 40 No. 33; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 120 No. 33. |
| G303.7.1.2 | Devil's horses are transformed men. Finnish: Aarne FFC XXXIII 40 No. 33; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 118 Nos. 25, 33; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3304, Legends Nos. 469, 581ff., 585. |
| G303.8.3.3 | Devil's house is visible on the way to hell. Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 121 No. 38. |
| G303.4.5.6 | Devil's knees are backwards. Type 756B; Andrejev FFC LXIX 62; Irish myth: *Cross. |
| G303.21.1 | Devil's money becomes ashes. Fb I 803f.; U.S.: Baughman; Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 426, 428, 432f., 444, 447, 449—53, 577, 736. |
| G303.21.2 | Devil's money becomes manure. U.S.: Baughman. |
| G303.11.3.1 | Devil's mother rides a goat. Fb I 268, 439. |
| G303.4.1.4 | Devil's nose. |
| G303.25.16.1 | Devil's pipe, gun or music. Man is blinded and gets such as gift or exchange from devil. Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 559—563, 569, 575, 590, 815. |
| G303.16.2.3 | Devil's power avoided by blessing. |
| G303.16.3 | Devil's power avoided by the cross. U.S.: Baughman. |
| G303.16.2 | Devil's power over one avoided by prayer. Fb I 267a; Scala Celi 132b, 137a, 149b Nos. 729, 764, 765, 823; Alphabet No. 591; Wünsche Teufel 44, 102; Irish myth: Cross; England: Baughman, Hunt Popular Romances 224; Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 14 No. 126; French: Sébillot France IV 126; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: *Neuman. |
| G303.12.7 | Devil's sexual relations with mortals. Jewish: Neuman. |
| G303.4.5.1.2 | Devil's shoes are empty. Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 350, 654, 657. |
| G303.4.1.5 | Devil's teeth. |
| G303.4.3.2 | Devil's thumb the size of two fists. Wünsche Teufel 44. |
| G303.14 | Devil's unfinished work cannot be completed by human hands. One stone missing in church, etc. Wünsche Teufel 37f., 47, 51—56. |
| G303.10.19 | Devil's well. Argentina: Jijena Sanchez 112. |
| G303.3.1.17 | Devils appear as ladies and gentlemen. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| G303.9.4.5 | Devils appear to knight to try to call him from doing penance. Scala Celi 162a No. 919. |
| G303.1.6 | Devils are created from sinful priests. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| G303.1.4.2 | Devils are created from sparks produced by Satan's striking two stones together. Dh I 60ff.; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3001, Legends Nos. 1, 3. |
| G303.25.17.3 | Devils arrange a wedding feast for a woman who hanged herself. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3277, 3278, Legends Nos. 443—448, 450—459, 461f., 466. |
| G303.8.2 | Devils carry away the sun when they fall from heaven. Dh I 136. |
| G303.16.2.3.3 | Devils disappear when priest blesses bread. Scala Celi 67a No. 370; Irish: Beal XXI 314, O'Suilleabhain 38. |
| G303.13.1 | Devils do not know or understand thoughts of men. Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 329 No. 50. |
| G303.16.3.1 | Devils driven away by cross. Scala Celi Nos. 367, 392. |
| G303.16.2.4 | Devils driven away by hymn (psalm). Irish myth: Cross; Jewish: Neuman. |
| G303.8.14 | Devils dwell in heathen idols, as well as portraits and images. *Loomis White Magic 75. |
| G303.25.2 | Devils fear St. Isaac. Scala Celi 135b No. 592. |
| G303.15.4 | Devils haunt tree. (Cf. G312.3.) |
| G303.4.5.1 | Devils have only one leg. They broke one leg when trying to run away from God's attack to protect himself from them. Dh I 50. |
| G303.9.3.3 | Devils help people at work, but are feared nevertheless. Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 790—794. |
| G303.3.1.0.1 | Devils in guise of human beings require remarkable quantity of food. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G303.8.9 | Devils in woman's train. Scala Celi 141a No. 787; *Loomis White Magic 76. |
| G303.16.15 | Devils leave hermit who turns other cheek when struck. Scala Celi No. 795. |
| G303.16.3.3 | Devils put to flight by cross made of leaves. Scala Celi No. 391. |
| G303.24.2 | Devils worship host. (Cf. G303.16.5.) Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 49; Scala Celi 3a No. 5; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| G363.3 | Diamond-toothed ogre. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G303.9.4.5.2 | Disguised devil as messenger to adulterous people. Irish Myth: Cross. |
| G351.1 | Dog as ogre. Irish myth: Cross; Tonga: Gifford 121, Beckwith Myth 342, 348. |
| G225.6 | Dog as witch's familiar. England: *Baughman; Argentina: Jijena Sanchez 76, 85; German: Grimm No. 85. |
| G351 | Domestic beast as ogre. |
| G353.3 | Duck as ogre. Tonga: Gifford 104. |
| G271.2.6 | Dust from communion table breaks spell. England: Baughman. |
| G353.2 | Eagle as ogre. Fb "ørn" III 1183b; Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| G305 | Earl king. Child-stealing ogre. (Cf. F321.5.) Type 367*. |
| G302.5.2 | Egypt as abode of demons. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| G302.9.7 | Enormous quantities of food eaten by demons. Jewish: Neuman. |
| G276 | Escape from witch. Japanese: Ikeda. |
| G269 | Evil deeds of witches—miscellaneous. |
| G260 | Evil deeds of witches. *Kittredge Witchcraft passim; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3665; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. Nos. 160—171 passim. |
| G346.4 | Evil spirit drinks water supply dry. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G302.1.2 | Evil spirits born of echo in chaos. Jewish: Neuman. |
| G303.9.9.10 | Exchanging things with the devil. The cheat appears later. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3302, Legends Nos. 437, 441, 559—77. |
| G271.4.1 | Exorcism by burning object for sympathetic magic. (Cf. G257.1) Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, U.S., Wales: *Baughman. |
| G271.4.2 | Exorcism by injuring image of witch. Canada. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| G271.8 | Exorcism by means of ghoulish charm. (Cf. D1278.) See Kittredge Witchcraft 141—51; England: Baughman. |
| G271.4 | Exorcism by use of sympathetic magic. (Cf. D1782, D2063.1.1.) |
| G271.5 | Exorcism by violent treatment of the witch in person. England, U.S., Wales: *Baughman. |
| G271.6 | Exorcism of witch by countercharm. England, Ireland, Scotland, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| G271.7 | Exorcism of witch by special burial practice. England: *Baughman. |
| G264.4 | Fairy-like witch marries man and causes him misfortune. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| G519.1.1 | Faithful hound kills ogre's wife. Irish myth: Cross. |
| G455 | Falling into ogre's power through fascination with his daughter. (Cf. G530.2.) Tuamotu: Stimson MS (z-G. 13/152). |
| G450 | Falling into ogre's power—miscellaneous. |
| G225.0.6 | Familiar comes at nightfall and disappears at cockcrow. (Cf. E452.) Argentina: Jijena Sanchez 86f. |
| G225.0.2 | Familiar is given to witch by devil when person becomes witch. England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| G225.0.7 | Familiar to be fed on human meat. Argentina: Jijena Sanchez 88, 90. |
| G225.0.5.1 | Familiar's abode is hearth of magician. Argentina: Jijena Sanchez 84, 92. |
| G225.0.5 | Familiar's abode is magician's cellar. Argentina: Jijena Sanchez 85. |
| G225.0.3 | Familiars do work for witch. England: Baughman. |
| G303.19.2 | Farmer has devil aid in reaping contest, loses his shadow when devil attempts to take hindmost. (Cf. K42.) Scotland: Baughman. |
| G11.0.1.2 | Father of goddess as cannibal. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 141. |
| G75 | Father takes his daughter to cannibal to be eaten. Africa (Basuto): Jacottet 116 No. 27. |
| G84 | Fee-fi-fo-fum. Cannibal returning home smells human flesh and makes exclamation. (Cf. G11.8.1.) *Type 327; *Fb "kristenblod" II 300a.—Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 304 No. 29, 312 No. 67; French Canadian: Barbeau JAFL XXIX 12; Breton: Sébillot "chair"; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas I 230; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham; Korean: Zong in-Sob 89, 168; Philippine (Tinguian): Cole 111, 184; Maori: Clark 39, 100; Tonga: Gifford 168; Tuamotu: Stimson MS (T-G. 3/931, z-G. 3/1276); N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 357 n. 287h; Africa: Werner African 233, (Kaffir): Theal 80, 118, 124, 138, (Zanzibar): Bateman 133, (Ekoi): Talbot 56, 63, (Basuto): Jacottet 4, 206, 218, 234, (Angola): Chatelain 117, (Zulu): Callaway 40. |
| G302.4.5 | Feet of demons. Jewish: Neuman. |
| G21 | Female eater of corpses. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G11.6.1 | Female ogre changes men into tigers and eats women. Chinese: Graham. |
| G264.3 | Female ogre seduces men with charm (words). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G351.3 | Ferocious sow. Greek: Fox 98. |
| G308.1 | Fight with sea (lake) monster. Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| G275.9 | Fighting and wrestling with witch. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| G229.8 | Fire burns up and crackles when wizard passes fireplace. England: Baughman. |
| G304.2.1 | Fire-producing troll. |
| G125 | Fire-spewing giantess. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| G272.4 | Fires burnt in streets to ward off witches. Fb. "heks" I 581a. |
| G303.1.5 | Five devils created by Adam create other devils in the same manner. Adam has created five devils by wetting five fingers with dew and shaking them behind him; God had commanded him to wet one finger. (Cf. G303.1.4.1.) Dh I 49. |
| G312.3 | Flesh-eating spirits live in trees. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G451 | Following witch's fire into her power. *Type 303. |
| G303.8.13.2 | Forest devil the one which fell in the forest when driven from heaven. Dh I 67. |
| G302.3 | Form of demon. |
| G307.2 | Form of jinn. |
| G219 | Form of witch—miscellaneous. |
| G210 | Form of witch. |
| G303.3 | Forms in which the devil appears. *Toldo II 330ff. |
| G303.3.6 | Forms into which the devil cannot change. |
| G303.25.5.1 | From the parings of man's nails devils make little caps for themselves. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3305. |
| G303.2.4 | Gaelic titles given to the devil: the worthless one; the one whom I will not mention; yon one; the one big one; the one from the abyss; the mean mischievous one; the big sorrow; the son of cursing; the big grizzled one; the bad one; the bad spirit; Black Donald. J. G. Campbell Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Glasgow, 1900) 291. |
| G11.13 | Gambling cannibal. Icelandic: Boberg; N. A. Indian (California): Gayton and Newman 69. |
| G369.2 | Genie in form of smoke, taking shape with three wings, one on back. Chauvin V 262 No. 154. |
| G634 | Genie sleeps with eyes open. Chauvin VI 2 No. 181 n. 1. |
| G20 | Ghouls. Persons eat corpses. Type 363; Chauvin VI 198 No. 371; Icelandic: MacCulloch Eddic 276, 281; India: *Thompson-Balys, *Penzer II 202; Eskimo (Greenland): Rasmussen I 104, III 104; Africa (BaRonga): Einstein 262. |
| G11.2.1 | Giant devours any person who fails to do his bidding. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G15.1 | Giant eats men on New Year's Day. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G322.1 | Giant fisherman. Draws in ships with his line. Scotch: Campbell-McKay No. 17. |
| G101 | Giant gambler as ogre. N. A. Indian (Navaho): Alexander N. Am. 163. |
| G154 | Giant hacked so that a staircase is made up his body. Hero climbs up and kills him. Scottish: Campbell-McKay No. 17. |
| G152 | Giant herdsman. Hideous beastlike giant guards a herd of wild fighting animals. Herdsman can seize one of them in such a way as to make rest beg mercy. *Brown Iwain 7ff.; Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| G161 | Giant issues out of tiny vessel. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G512.6 | Giant killed by cutting his foot (feet) off. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| G527 | Giant killed by his own bucket of death water; captive princess tells him to wash. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G512.1.1 | Giant killed with magic knife. Breton: Sébillot Incidents s.v. "géant". |
| G162 | Giant lives in a castle in the air. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G100.1 | Giant ogre (Fomorian). Irish myth: *Cross. |
| G126 | Giant ogre in shape of animal. |
| G126.2 | Giant ogre in shape of horse. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G126.1 | Giant ogre in the shape of a cat. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G131 | Giant ogre never crosses water. French Canadian: Barbeau JAFL XXIX 12. |
| G519.5 | Giant ogre tricked into running round a tree the branches of which catch the strokes of his iron bar, until he falls down dead. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| G100 | Giant ogre. Polyphemus. (For motifs concerning giants who are not malevolent but merely large, see F531.) *Types 304, 311, 312, 313, 314, 314*, 327, 327*, 328, 518, 531, 545A, 1137, 1148*, 1165*; *Hackman Die Polyphemsage; *BP III 375ff.; *Clouston Tales I 133ff.: Arill Polyphemosmotivet i bohuslänsk folkdiktning (Bohuslänska Folkminnen [Uddevalla, 1922] 54); *Chauvin VII 17 No. 373C, VIII 205, IX 93; Saintyves Perrault 281ff.; Dickson 130—135 passim.—English: Wells 17 (Guy of Warwick), 22 (Sir Beues of Hamtoun), 32 (Layamon's Brut), 80 (Sir Tristem), 88 (Roland and Vernagu), 117 (Sir Torrent of Portyngale); Irish myth: *Cross; Breton: Sébillot Incidents s.v. "geant"; Lappish: Qvigstad FFC LX 47 Nos. 69—73; Icelandic: MacCulloch Eddic 275ff.; French Canadian: Barbeau JAFL XXIX 12, 20; India: *Thompson-Balys; Africa (Angola): Chatelain 85 No. 5. |
| G157 | Giant ogre's prodigious speed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G111 | Giant ogres possess castle. *Types 304, 545A; *BP III 113 n. 4; English: Wells 66 (Ywain and Gawain); Irish myth: Cross. |
| G150 | Giant ogres—miscellaneous. |
| G123 | Giant ogress with breasts thrown over her shoulder. Van Gennep Formation des Légendes 47; Finnish: Holmberg Finno-Ugric 183. |
| G530.1.1 | Giant overcome and slain when his wife binds his hair to posts. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| G171 | Giant roasts camels, elephants for food on crater of volcano. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G316 | Giant robber with club. Icelandic: *Boberg; Greek: Fox 98 (labors of Theseus). |
| G152.1 | Giant with tree for herding-stick. German: Dümke Havensagen (Leipzig, 1924) 72 No. 56, Haas Pommersche Sagen (Berlin, 1912) 54 No. 106. |
| G512.6.1 | Giant's (ogre's) arm pulled (cut) off by defender of castle (house). Irish myth: Cross. |
| G112 | Giant's fields fertile; others arid. French Canadian: Barbeau JAFL XXIX 21. |
| G122 | Giant's hair grows into rock. He is thus kept from falling from cliff. N. A. Indian (Navaho): Alexander N. Am. 163. |
| G158 | Giant's shriek heard five miles away. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G582 | Giants appeased by feeding them. *Type 531; French Canadian: Barbeau JAFL XXIX 12. |
| G691.1 | Giants keep corpses on hand to eat. Scottish: Campbell-McKay No. 25. |
| G71.1 | Girl attempts to eat parents but they escape. Eskimo (Smith Sound): Kroeber JAFL XII 179, (Greenland): Holm 53, (Mackenzie Area): Jenness 81, Rasmussen III 159. |
| G61.1.1 | Girl avoids eating her mother's flesh by spilling the meat and the soup in the pen. Chinese: Graham. |
| G72.3 | Girl child fed on infant boys' flesh to make her grow faster. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| G204 | Girl in service of witch. *Types 310, 428; Herrmann Saxo II 485. |
| G303.12.5.1 | Girl married to a devil. Despairing of ever finding herself a husband, the old maid exclaims: "I would marry even the devil, were he to marry me." The devil takes her at her word. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3253, Legends Nos. 367ff. |
| G303.12.5.5 | Girl married to devil escapes with answers to his riddles. Type 812; U.S.: Baughman. |
| G37 | Girl seduced by brother becomes cannibal ogre. N. A. Indian (California): Gayton and Newman 59. |
| G303.12.5.6 | Girl wooed by devil is saved by magic herb she wears. (Cf. D1386.2.) U.S.: Baughman. |
| G73 | Girls eat their sister. Cox Cinderella 499; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G252.2 | Goat's tongue pierced with sharp needle; consequently, witch is sick with pierced tongue. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G303.1.1.3 | God changes an angel into the devil, because he tried to imitate God in creating the world. Dh I 139. |
| G303.1.1.1 | God creates the devil (Satan) from his own shadow. Dh I 44. |
| G303.1.1.4 | God creates the devil by striking a stone with his whip. Dh I 33. |
| G303.1.2.3 | God discovers the devil in a piece of solid foam. Dh I 43. |
| G303.1.2 | God discovers the devil. |
| G303.1.2.1 | God finds the devil sitting under a tree which was made by his throwing his staff into the water. Dh I 35. |
| G303.1.2.2 | God finds the devil under a stone. Dh I 31. |
| G303.8.1.1 | God has Elias drive devils from heaven. They use thunder, lightning, and rain for forty days. Dh I 133f. |
| G279.2.1 | Gold stolen from witch. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G304.3.1.1 | Golden door to troll's castle. Fb "guldport" I 514. |
| G303.15.2 | Granary now haunted because of devil's defeat. Wünsche Teufel 53f. |
| G512.3.3 | Grass as fuel for burning ogre. N. A. Indian (California): Gayton and Newman 79. |
| G272.18 | Grass from new grave protects against witches. England: Baughman. |
| G513.1 | Grateful ogre resuscitates his benefactor. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G361.2 | Great head as ogre. Head detached from body pursues or flies about doing damage. N. A. Indian (Seneca): Curtin-Hewitt RBAE XXXII 262, 291; S. A. Indian (Caviсa, Tumupasa): Métraux BBAE CXLIII (3) 448, (Araucanian): Alexander Lat. Am. 329. |
| G265.8.3.1.1 | Gun bewitched so that it will not hit target. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| G230 | Habitat of witches. |
| G249 | Habits of witches—miscellaneous. |
| G240 | Habits of witches. |
| G11.11.2 | Hairless cannibal. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 344. |
| G18 | Haunts of cannibals. |
| G302.5 | Haunts of demons. |
| G272.2.3 | Hawthorn used as protection against witches. England: Baughman. |
| G223 | Head of beheaded witch mends if rubbed with salt. *Fb "hoved" I 654b. |
| G361.3 | Headless ogre. Penzer IX 88 n. |
| G530.2 | Help from ogre's daughter (or son). (Cf. G455.) *Type 975**; **Aarne FFC XXIII 160f.; Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: MacCulloch Eddic 54, *Boberg; Italian: Basile Pentamerone III No. 9, V No. 4; Greek: Frazer Apollodorus I 109 n. 4; India: *Thompson-Balys; Mono-Alu: Wheeler 8f., 31, 44ff., 48; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 325 n. 171; S. A. Indian (Ceuici): Alexander Lat. Am. 303; Africa (Zulu): Callaway 49, (Ekoi): Talbot 7. |
| G530.4 | Help from ogre's grandmother. *Type 812; India: Thompson-Balys. |
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Please cite the relevant sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including the Folklore Database, Berezkin-Duvakin Catalogue, ATU, Thompson, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed. Please respect copyright and licenses.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-Duvakin derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jonathan Fielder-White.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.