Water is the original element, the dry earth appears later
Original earth was small and later increased in size or the fertile soil grew from a small amount of original substance
In the beginning there are only air and water. 1) Person descends from the sky, creates the dry land or a hard support created for her or him grows into the earth. 2) The earth is sent or dropped from the sky, put on the surface of the water. 3) The earth is brought from somewhere (not from the underworld) and put on the water
Islands or continent are fished out of the ocean or pulled to their present place by rope
First people or inhabitants of a distant country cook food in the sun; or fire owner lies that he or she cooks food in the sun
Certain person is made of improper material and proves to be short-lived or unfit for fulfilling his functions
Certain person is made of human excrement or carrion
Man takes or attempts to take a wife who is connected with the underwater world (fish, crab, snake, water animal and the like)
For different reasons, sexual contact with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man
A deep notch in the tree (or in the sky support) is magically restored as soon as persons or creatures who cut or gnaw it stop working
To make some object (usually a canoe), person cuts a tree, goes away, returns, finds the tree intact. Usually another person who was restoring the tree by magic fells it down himself and makes a canoe for the hero
The alive person comes to the land of the dead to bring back somebody who has recently died (besides stories about shamans who journey to the other world to bring back the soul of a sick person) or, having no particular aim, goes there in company of somebody who had recently died or following his or her tracks
Person comes to the land of the dead and brings back somebody who has recently died or brings his remains. The dead one becomes alive and lives normal life (for some time)
Heroes avenge the murder or captivity of the male relatives: (grand)father, uncles, or the elder relatives in general, the loss of the males being the most traumatic
People (elder brothers, elder siblings, elder sister) disappear (one by one). A lonely woman has a baby or finds a baby or she becomes pregnant magically and gives birth to a boy or twins. The boy grows up, exterminates the antagonists, usually revives and releases those who had disappeared
A virgin girl is impregnated by the Sun and gives birth to a son or twin boys. When her son (or the twins) grows up, he (they) comes to his father
Person (often an animal-person) gets into the belly of anthropomorphic being. He kills it from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
Women who possess supernatural power and usually come from a non-human world (from sky, from under the water, they are winged beings, bird- or animal-persons) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a man hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
Finding a hole in the ground or making it, person gets to see below another world. Usually the earth is seen from the sky
A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
Maternal uncle or father (or grandfather if he replaces father who is not mentioned) of the young man is his rival or enemy and tries to kill him
Hero is asked to climb into a hole or pit. When he does it, they fill it with soil or throw down a post, a stone, etc. The hero demonstrates his magic capacities coming back uninjured
The hero and his companion or companions live together. Every morning one stays at home while another or others go to hunt, etc. A demonic person comes, eats up all the food and beats the cook. Or the man who remained at home comes to the demon himself in search of fire and is maltreated by him. The hero kills or neutralizes the demon
An ogre or ogress catches a person and carries his or her prey home but the person escapes on the way or immediately after reaching the ogre's house
One-sided people have one leg and/or also one arm, one half of a head, etc. The second leg is not cut or burned off, preserved as a stump but is absent completely
Person is born as half of a child or loses his or her half in an accident. The person does not belong to any category of supernatural beings and usually turns into normal girl or young man
Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay
A girl (rejects suitors for a long time but at last) falls in love with a handsome man who proves to be a demon or animal. Usually she eventually escapes from him
Small animals ride a canoe, it sinks, all try to save their lives in their own way
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a rat
A man travels and comes to two or several blind (usually old) persons
An animal person who can climb trees (usually a monkey) suggests another (a turtle, a crab) to harvest bananas. He climbs the banana, throws down but peels, rotten fruits and the like. His companion revenges on him
Getting to the sky or (rare) to the lower world a man comes across one or two blind persons, then returns to the earth. Usually he cures their eyes
A man comes across (often in the sky) one or two blind persons and cures their eyes
Magic wife abandons her mortal husband when she finds her clothes (often, her feathers if she is a bird-woman), makes herself the new clothes, receives them from her kin or her husband gives her her clothing believing that she will not abandon him. (Versions with magic wife abandoning her husband because she feels herself offended is not alternative to the “found clothes but in most of the texts these motifs are not combined)
Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero and/or person who demands the fulfillment of certain conditions from those who want to marry his daughter is a prominent figure in social hierarchy. He is a head of the socio-political unit of community or super-community level and is neither a member of the hero’s household nor a mythical being
A powerful person coverts a beautiful bride or wife of a man and gives him impossible tasks to get rid of him
Person has only one leg (and one arm) but has no problems with moving. Unlike motif L85 (one-sided people), the person’s body is complete
Person is suggested to fulfill tasks that are mortally dangerous or cannot be fulfilled without supernatural helpers or capacities. The person fulfills the tasks and remains alive. A contest between persons has form of a competition or game in which the loser is deprived of his status or life
An ogre brings the hero to his house to feast on him together with other ogres. When the guests get to know that the hero has escaped, they devour the host
A young man and a woman (Konkani: a young girl and a man) marry and later get to know that they commited incest
Husband notices imprints of finger-nails on his wife’s face and assembles all the men to recongize the culprit
An animal (often the rat) who cannot swim well is brought to the shore by another one but pays him with ingratitude
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
Beings (any besides birds) with even but not more than ten number of heads are described in tales or represented in art. Beings that with even number of heads named in a row with other multi-headed beings and the highest number is even or bigger than ten are not considered
All humans, members of a particular ethnic or social group or a ruling dynasty are believed to descend from a mortal man and a woman of supernatural origin
Man marries a seal, dolphin or porpous who takes guise of a woman and lives with her in the human world
Woman is dangerous because biting or stinging animal or animals is (are) inside her genitals (and not only the head of such an animal)
People (elder brothers, elder siblings, elder sister) disappear (one by one). A lonely woman has a baby or finds a baby or she becomes pregnant magically and gives birth to a boy. The boy grows up, exterminates the antagonists, usually revives and releases those who had disappeared
Persons avenge the death of their father, mother or other relatives who are one (rare two) generations older than they