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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.

46,221 motifs

Page 183 of 185 · 250 per page
Thompson reference ▲ Description
X1244.1 Lie: goat carries one hundred cartloads of grease. (First ed. X961.13.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1244.2 Lie: goats heat oven. (First ed. X961.21.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1244.3 The great he-goat. (First ed. X1021.2.) BP II 515.
X1250 Lies about birds.
X1252 Lies about crows. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1252.1 Lie: crows mow meadow. (First ed. X961.14.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1256 Lies about doves. U.S.: Baughman.
X1256.1 Lie: doves tear up wolf. (First ed. X961.37.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1258 Lies about geese. U.S.: Baughman.
X1258.1 Lie: man carried through air by geese. (First ed. X916.) Type 1881; Japanese: Ikeda.
X1258.2 Lie: the tough goose. U.S.: Baughman.
X1261 Remarkable ducks. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1267 Remarkable hawk.
X1267.1 Hawk flies away with geese on a line. They have been tied together as a protection. (First ed. X912.) *Type 1876; BP III 337.
X1267.2 Lie: hawk swims. (First ed. X961.11.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1280 Lies about insects.
X1280.1 Lies about crossbreeding of insects. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1280.1.1 Bumblebees imported to rout mosquitoes; the two insects crossbreed and have stingers on both ends. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1280.2 Lies about ferocious insects.
X1280.2.1 Insects eat team of horses or mules, pitch horseshoes to see who gets what is left. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1282 Lies about bees. Ireland, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1282.1 Lie: the great bee. Liar says that in a certain place bees are as big as sheep.—And the bee-hives?—The same as ours.—How do the bees get in? (Various answers.) (First ed. X1021.3.) BP II 515; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 219.
X1285 Lies about fleas. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1286 Remarkable mosquitoes.
X1286.1 Lie: the large mosquito. North Carolina: Brown Collection I 703.
X1286.1.1 Lie: wingspread of large mosquito. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1286.1.2 Lie: weight of large mosquito. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1286.1.3 Lie: mosquito's long bill. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1286.1.4 Large mosquitoes fly off with kettle. They have drilled through kettle. Their bills are clinched inside like nails. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1286.1.5 Large mosquitoes carry off prey. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1286.1.6 Big mosquito with golden palace in his mouth. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1286.1.7 Large mosquitoes—miscellaneous. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1286.2 Lies about ferocious mosquitoes. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1287 Lie: extraordinary fireflies. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1288 Lies about grasshoppers. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1291 Lies about bedbugs. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1294 Lies about flies.
X1294.1 Lie: flies build bridge. (First ed. X961.15.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1295 Lies about gnats.
X1295.1 The tragic death of the three gnats. One of them meets his death between the horns of two struggling oxen, another because of two restless stallions, the third during a tussle between two giants. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 291* (X1021.9).
X1296 Lies about lice.
X1296.1 Rag so full of lice it can move. Irish myth: *Cross (X1049.1).
X1300 Lies about fish. (Cf. X1150.)
X1301 Lie: the great fish. (First ed. X1021.7.) Type 1960B; England, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1303 Lie: remarkable actions of big fish.
X1303.1 Big fish pulls man or boat. (Cf. B551.1.) U.S.: *Baughman.
X1306 Lie: tamed fish lives on dry land. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1316 Dogfish act like dogs. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1317 Crowded fish. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1320 Lies about reptiles.
X1321 Lies about snakes.
X1321.1 Lie: the great snake.
X1321.1.1 Lie: remarkably long snake. England, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1321.1.2 Lie: great snake is thought to be a log. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1321.2 Lie: large number of snakes. England, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1321.3 Lies about remarkable kinds of snakes.
X1321.3.1 Lie: hoop snake. Snake takes its tail in its mouth and rolls like a hoop toward its victim. (Cf. B765.1.) U.S.: *Baughman.
X1340 Lie: extraordinary amphibia and other animals.
X1342 Lies about frogs.
X1342.1 Lie: the big frog. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1342.1.1 The great frog. Eaten by one larger and this in turn by crow. (First ed. X1021.5.) *BP II 515.
X1342.2 Ferocious frog. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1342.3 Lie: frog eats plowshare. (First ed. X961.25.) (Cf. J1531.2.) Type 1930; BP III 258.
X1344 Lies about crabs. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1344.1 Lie: crab hunts hare. (First ed. X961.34.) Type 1930; BP III 258.
X1345 Lies about snails. U.S.: Baughman.
X1345.1 Lie: snail kills lion. (First ed. X961.35.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1346 Lies about worms. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1370 Lies about imaginary animals.
X1381 Lie: the side-hill beast. Animal with two short legs on one side for convenience in living on hillsides. It can walk around the hill in only one direction. U.S.: *Baughman; North Carolina: Brown Collection I 703.
X1396 Lie: imaginary snakes. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1396.1 Lie: seaserpent. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1400 Lies about plants, fruits, vegetables, and trees.
X1401 Lie: the great vegetable.
X1401.1 Lie: animals live inside great vegetable, usually feeding from it. Ireland, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1401.2 Lie: harvesting great vegetable. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1401.3 Lie: hole from which great vegetable is removed. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1402 Lie about the fast-growing plants.
X1405 Lie: plants produce fruit in remarkably short time after planting. (Cf. F815.1, F811.13, F971.7.) U.S.: Baughman.
X1410 Lies about fruits. (Cf. X1402.1, X1405.)
X1411 Lie: the large fruit. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1411.1 Lie: the great melon. (First ed. X1024.2.) *BP II 516.
X1411.1.1 Lie: large watermelon. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1411.2 Lies about large pumpkins. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1411.3 Lie: large pumpkin vine. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1411.4 Lie: the great pear. (First ed. X1025.1.) Hdwb. d. Märchens I 256a n. 18.
X1420 Lies about vegetables.
X1423 Lies about cabbages. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1423.1 Lie: the great cabbage. (Usually matched by tale of great pot to put cabbage in.) (First ed. X1024.1.) *Type 1960D; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 220 No. 454; Italian Novella: Rotunda.
X1424 The great mushroom. (First ed. X1024.3.) Type 852; *BP II 516.
X1431 Lies about turnips. Type 1920A.
X1431.1 Lies about big turnips. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1435 Lies about potatoes. U.S.: Baughman.
X1435.1 Lie: large potatoes. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1450 Lies about field crops.
X1455 Lies about corn (maise).
X1455.1 Lie: remarkable cornstalks. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1455.2 Lie: remarkable yield of corn. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1470 Lies about trees.
X1471 Lies about large trees. (Cf. F811.14.) U.S.: *Baughman.
X1472 Lie: tree bears unusual fruit.
X1472.1 Lie: pancakes growing on lime-tree. (First ed. X961.27.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1480 Lies about flowers.
X1481 Lie: remarkable lilies. U.S.: Baughman.
X1490 Lie: miscellaneous plant motifs. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1495 Lie: man raises eggs from eggplant. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1500 Lies about geography and topography.
X1503 Schlaraffenland. (Land of Cockaygne.) Land in which impossible things happen. (First ed. X950.) (Cf. X1712.) *Type 1930; *BP III 244ff.; Boccaccio Decameron VIII No. 3 (Lee 254); Irish myth: Cross; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys.
X1503.1 Land in which highest praise parents can earn is that they marry their children when they are babies. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1503.2 Blind town, its king fourfold blind. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1503.3 Lie: land where all things are sold for the same price. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1503.4 Mountain of grain to be eaten through on way to Schlaraffenland. (First ed. X950.2.) (Cf. X1712.) BP III 250.
X1505 Topsy-turvy land. Land where all is opposite from the usual. (First ed. X952.) BP III 244ff., *254ff.; Wienert FFC LVI 44ff.
X1505.1 House where omens go by contraries. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1506 The extraordinary names. A place where animals and things are designated by senseless names. (First ed. X951.) (Cf. Z32.2.1.) Type 1940; BP IV 183; Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. XXVII 135; Wisser ibid. XXVIII 135; West Indies: Flowers 585.
X1510 Lies about land features.
X1520 Lies about mountains and hills.
X1521 Remarkably narrow valleys. U.S.: Baughman.
X1523 Lies about steep slopes of mountains. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1523.1 Lie: country so steep that people look up chimney to see when the cows come home. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1523.2 Lies about farming on steep mountain. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1526 Lies about mountain roads. U.S.: Baughman.
X1526.1 Crooked railroads in mountains or hills. (Cf. X1815.) U.S.: *Baughman.
X1528 Mountain of unusual material.
X1528.1 Lie: mountain of cheese. (First ed. X961.5.) Type 1930; BP III 258.
X1530 Lies about remarkable soil.
X1532 Rich soil produces remarkable crop. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1532.1 Rich land: corn grows so fast that it pulls up its own roots. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1540 Lies about water features.
X1543 Lies about hot springs. U.S.: Baughman.
X1545 Lies about remarkable underground channels.
X1545.1 Water passage through the earth. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1546 Remarkable pond.
X1546.1 Lie: fish pond supplies both fresh fish and cooked. Italian Novella: Rotunda (X925.1).
X1547 Lie: remarkable river.
X1547.1 Lie: round river: runs in circle without outlet. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1547.2 Lie: river of honey. (First ed. X961.1). Type 852; BP II 515.
X1547.2.1 Lie: honey flows up high mountain. (First ed. X961.9.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1550 Geography and topography—miscellaneous motifs.
X1551 Remarkable road.
X1551.1 Roads go over roofs of houses. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1560 Lies about cities.
X1561 Lie: Rome hanging by thread. (First ed. X961.8.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1563 City into which only married and mothers may enter. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1564 Village where rubies sell for four pice apiece. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1600 Lies about weather and climate.
X1602 Lie: year with two summers and no winter. Canada: Baughman.
X1603 Lie: year with two winters and no summer. It is winter all summer and in fall it gets colder. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1605 Lie: mixed weather: summer in one spot and winter in another nearby. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1606 Lies about changes in weather.
X1606.1 Lies about quick change from cold to warm. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1606.2 Lies about quick change in weather from warm to cold. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1606.2.1 Man freezes to saddle. Must be thawed out by the stove. (First ed. X924.) Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 746.
X1610 Lies about winds and storms.
X1611 Lies about the wind. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1611.1 Lies about big wind (cyclone, tornado). Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1620 Lies about cold weather. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623 Lies about freezing. (Cf. X1606.2.1.) U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623.1 Lie: shadow freezes. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623.2 Lie: words freeze. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623.2.1 Lie: frozen words thaw out in the spring. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623.3 Lie: flame freezes: startling results. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1630 Lies about hot weather. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1633 Lie: effect of heat on animals.
X1633.1 Lie: weather so hot that corn pops in fields, animals freeze to death thinking it has snowed. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1640 Lies about dry weather.
X1642 Lie: clouds beaten by man until they promise to water his crops thrice daily. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1643 Lie: how dry weather affects animals. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1643.1 Lie: bullfrogs several years old cannot swim — have never had water to learn in. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1650 Lies about precipitation and dampness.
X1651 Lies about fog. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1651.1 Lie: shingling the fog. Man shingling building during thick fog shingles several feet of fog when he gets beyond the roof line. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1651.2 Ship sails on thick fog. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1653 Lies about snow.
X1653.1 Lie: fast-melting snow leaves horse dangling in air. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1653.2 Lie: blue snow. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1653.3 The man who sold dried snow for salt. (First ed. X944.) Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 747.
X1654 Lies about rain.
X1654.1 Lie: dry rain. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1654.2 Lie: extraordinary floods produced by heavy rain. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1654.2.1 Lie: heavy rain of boiling water melts palace. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1655 Lies about extraordinary mud. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1655.1 Lie: the man under the hat, which is the only thing seen above the mud. England, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1660 Lies about climate.
X1663 Lies about healthy atmosphere.
X1663.1 Lie: air from healthy climate revives dying person. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1663.2 Lie: place so healthful that residents shoot man to start cemetery. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1700 Lies: logical absurdities. (Cf. J2200.)
X1710 Lies about numbers.
X1712 Schlaraffenland lies three miles beyond Christmas. (First ed. X950.1.) BP III 250.
X1720 Absurd disregard of anatomy. (Cf. X1202, X1203, X1204.)
X1721 Lies about surgical operations.
X1721.1 New backbone for the horse made from a stick. (First ed. X935.) Type 1911**.
X1721.2 Lie: man's organs replaced with animal's. (Cf. E782.) He acts like animal. Type 660; U.S.: *Baughman.
X1723 Lies about swallowing. (Cf. F910.)
X1723.1 Swallowed person is discovered in animal's stomach still alive. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1723.1.1 Fish swallows a gourd fruit where people have taken refuge during rain; hawk swallows fish. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1723.1.2 Lie: man swallowed by fish and later rescued alive. (First ed. X921.10.) Wesselski Bebel II 137 No. 113.
X1723.2 Falcon and heron eaten by wild boar recovered alive from his body. (First ed. X921.9.) Wesselski Bebel II 138 No. 116.
X1723.3 Person enters animal's body. U.S.: Baughman.
X1723.3.1 Man crawls into body of animal (after killing it) to escape cold. The animal freezes back together; man must eat his way out. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1724 Seeing without eyes. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1725 Digging without hands. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1726 Man cuts off own head.
X1726.1 Lie: man cuts off own head and eats it. (First ed. X927.) Africa (Vai): Ellis 239 No. 46.
X1726.2 Man cuts off own head, picks it up and replaces it. (First ed. X927.1.) (Cf. E783.) Type 852; BP II 514; Missouri French: Carrière.
X1727 Absurd stories about beards.
X1727.1 Lie: barber shaves wife's beard. (First ed. X961.17.) Type 1930; BP III 244ff.
X1731 Lies about falling.
X1731.1 Person falls from great height without injury. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1731.2 Man falls from height, goes into solid rock up to knees. Ireland, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1731.2.1 Man falls and is buried in earth: goes for spade and digs self out. (First ed. X917.) *Type 1882; Köhler-Bolte I 323; Gardner JAFL XXVII 305; U.S.: *Baughman.
X1733 Lies about sinking.
X1733.1 Lie: man lifts heavy load, sinks into solid rock. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1737 Man stays under water for long time.
X1737.1 Man falls through ice, has to swim two miles to come out at an air hole. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1737.1.1 Man under the ice. Falls through ice with his horse, wanders around on the river bottom, pushes his spear through ice from below and rises to the surface. (First ed. X918.) *Wesselski Bebel I 171 No. 8.
X1739 Absurd disregard of anatomy—miscellaneous. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1739.1 Person swallows pin or needle; it later emerges through skin of relative. England, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1739.2 Lie: man makes drinking water from his own skull. (First ed. X961.29.) Type 852; BP II 514.
X1740 Absurd disregard of natural laws.
X1741 Lies about gravitation.
X1741.1 Person or animal rises into the air in defiance of gravity. (Cf. D2135.0.1.) U.S.: *Baughman.
X1741.2 Person or animal jumps back to starting place (from midair). U.S.: *Baughman.
X1741.3 Law of gravity is petrified in petrified forest. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1741.4 Lie: anvil swims river. (First ed. X961.24.) Type 1930; BP III 258.
X1743 Lies about occupying space.
X1743.1 Giants go through small hole where plant has been torn from earth. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1743.2 Lie: two bullocks go where one cannot. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1743.3 Lie: 900,000 roofs on point of needle. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1750 Absurd disregard of the nature of objects. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1755 Lies about watches.
X1755.1 Watch continues to run indefinitely when lost (swallowed). Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1756 Disregard of nature of basketry.
X1756.1 Lie: people carry wine in baskets. Italian Novella: Rotunda (X961.38).
X1757 Rope of sand (chaff). (First ed. X961.2.) (Cf. F843.) Type 852; BP II 513; Missouri French: Carrière.
X1757.1 Rope of dry dust. India: *Thompson-Balys.
X1760 Absurd disregard of the nature of non-material things.
X1761 Absurd disregard of the nature of holes. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1761.1 Person pulls up old oil wells and sells them for post holes after sawing them up into short lengths. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1761.2 Lie: people eat the bungholes from barrels. Italian Novella: Rotunda (X961.39).
X1780 Absurdity based on the nature of the object.
X1781 Lies about boats with light draft. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1781.1 Boat sailing over dry river bed (rice water). India: *Thompson-Balys.
X1785 Lies about stretching or shrinking. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1785.1 Lie: the stretching and shrinking harness. Man driving team with wagon uphill in rain finds on arrival at the top of the hill that the tugs of rawhide or buckskin have stretched and that the loaded wagon is still at the bottom of the hill. He unhitches the horses and throws the harness across a stump. Sometime later, or the next morning, the sun comes out and shrinks the tugs, drawing the load to the top of the hill. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1787 Man cures rheumatism: puts mosquito milk in a cat's horn, stirs it with duck's crotch. U.S.: Baughman.
X1788 Lie: the realistic painting. (Cf. H504.1.) U.S.: *Baughman.
X1790 Other logical absurdities. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1791 Lie: deaf, dumb, blind, and lame men catch hare. (First ed. X961.33.) Type 1930; BP III 116, 258.