The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female
As a result of some intimate contacts and/or love affair, the Moon acquires its present appearance (often, the stains on his face) and/or ascends to the sky
The Moon-person runs out of the lodge and flies up. He forgets to put his footwear on one foot, or somebody attempts to seize him grasping his foot or cuts the foot off. Now the Moon-person lacks one foot or footwear on one of his (or her) feet
While being transformed into a bird or ascending to the sky a person was in a hurry and put a footwear only on one foot, or somebody attempted to seize him grasping his foot. Now the corresponding bird or a sky-person is believed to have different feet
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
Islands or continent are fished out of the ocean or pulled to their present place by rope
Day light (also warmth, the sun, the moon) is kept as a particular object in a container, under a cover, etc.
Certain constellation is a male person whose back is broken or wounded
Ursa major or Polaris are identified with a middle size animal (ermine, fisher, woodchuck) or with a basically anthropomorphic person (with some animal characteristics) hit with a dart or an arrow
It is discussed if darkness or light, cold or warm periods should exist
In a dispute about should it be dark or light, the fox stands for the light
When some person or animal is killed, blood paints the sky (origin of the sunrise or sunset, of reddish colors of Aurora borealis) or other natural objects (Moon, autumn vegetation)
Waves of the sea petrified and turned into dry land with mountain chains
When a demonic person (usually an ogress pursuing a man) dies, her or his flesh turns into objects that are found on trees, like fungi, pitch, fruits or nuts
Alcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object
Birds or humans later changed to birds are sent to explore the earth (is it dry, are any survivals, to investigate why smoke rises to the sky, etc.) or to bring some soil to make the land that would be good for living
Persons or animals dive or otherwise decend to the lower world to get a desired object and to bring it to earth (besides episodes in the fairytales, cf. motif k27x9)
A muskrat (more rare beaver or otter) brings the desired object from under the water
The dry land (the earth) grows from a small amount of solid substance (sand, clay, dirt and the like) brought from the lower world (usually from the bottom of the ocean)
The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again)
The fire is personified as an elder man (alone or with his wife, mistress of fire)
Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before
Raven or other big dark-feathered bird scavenger is the owner, personification, spouse, obtainer or stealer of fire, daylight, or the Sun
Making people, creator does not reach perfection immediately. First variants of creation are rejected, then proper form and material found
Person observes traces of some activity that takes place in his (rare: her) house in his (her) absence and then takes by surprise the responsible one
In search of his lost fox-wife man comes to a den. Different animal- or bird-women come out and ask him if he would mary them. He refuses and they let him in
People learn from aquatic birds how to make canoes or how to paddle; or the first canoe is a transformed bird or is made of bird bones
Frame of canoe is made according to breast bone of a bird
While man is asleep, birds turn into girls and sew covering of his canoe
For different reasons, sexual contact with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man
The (adoptive) children or grandchildren and not person's spouse or brother kill the paramour of their (step)mother or father
There are (or were) women who live apart from men in their own village or villages
In the beginning of time two or more men (animal people) have only one woman
Cesarean operation upon a woman at childbirth as a custom
Person who conceals his or her identity comes to his or her lover (at night). Next time, the lover puts a mark on the stranger's face, body or clothes doing this intentionally (to recognize him or her) or by chance (that leads to the identification)
To realize his or her secret desire (illicit sex, refusal to share food with relations), person pretends to die and is abandoned at a burial place
Person pretends to die. His or her wife or husband abandons him or her on a burial place. He or she marries his or her paramour
Man pretends to die because he does not want to share food with the others and eats it alone at his burial place
People are mortal because they have been likened to something subject to decay and easy destruction (e.g. to the soft wood and not to the stone)
All the fish or (rare) shellfish) was concentrated in one place. Certain person lets it lose or puts it into the rivers or sea
Objects (animal horns, tree fungi, heartwood) that are now stiff and inedible consisted of fat
Stinging insects (rare diseases) had been inside a container or some enclosure. They escaped to the world when the container or enclosure was foolishly opened
Rivers were flowing or according to the original plan had to flow in both directions; somewhere there is a river that flows in both directions
A man meets a giant bird that brings with it clouds, rain, hail, thunderstorm, etc.
The male and the female birds bring with them different kinds of precipitations (e.g. the male comes with a hail, the female with a rain). Or (Buryats of Mongolia) one and the same bird brings different kinds of precipitations depending on is it angry or not.
There are objects which remaining on the same place are moving permanently or periodically (meet and part. rise and fall down, shut and open, rotate)
Shining sky objects or atmospheric phenomena are excrements of sky dwellers
Stars are fragments of a bigger luminary (usually the Moon); or stars, the sun and the moon are formed from one and the same primeval person or creature
Ursa major is only one anthropomorphic being, not several persons
Instead of lice, there are other (bigger or dangerous) creatures in the hair of some persons or he or she pretends that his or her hair is infested with them
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
After the hero comes back after a long absence and finds his parents enslaved, he tells them to demonstrate openly a lack of respect to their masters and punishes those who were cruel with them
Person or his helper draws his enemies on the unstable bridge and destroys it. The enemies fall into water, into a precipice
Antagonist perishes falling into the water or trying to cross a water body
Persons shoot arrows (darts) which hit each other’s end forming a chain (rope, ladder). Persons climb by this chain to the sky or (rare) across an obstacle
To climb to the sky, person must first to shoot an arrow that reaches the sky and sticks to it
A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
Person gets into the belly of water being or into the belly of giant creature which appearance and living place remain vague. He kills the monster from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
Person gets into the belly of ground animal or bird. He kills it from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
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
Hero substitutes powerful person's weapon or amulet with a fake
Finding a hole in the ground or making it, person gets to see below another world. Usually the earth is seen from the sky
Opening in the firmament is covered with a flat stone. When person puts the stone aside, he or she gets to see the earth
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
Flying person or creature abducts a woman but is ultimately killed or the woman escapes from him
An ugly, old, lazy, etc. woman or (in Chaco) a male trickster comes to man under disguise of his wife or bride who is driven out, confined to the underworld, killed, etc.
Mother-in-law of a man takes the appearance of her daughter to replace her
Person kills others inviting them to sit on a swing and launching them into water, on rocks, etc.
A Man disappears or goes away for long time. His wife sets off, comes to a house where her husband lives now or first sends her son there. She gets to know that he has married another woman
A woman comes to her rival and kills her pushing her head into boiling liquid or pouring it into her ear
Person is lured into a trap being invited to lie in a box or a hole to measure it. Being unable to liberate himself from the box etc., the person remains in power of his enemies
A girl (usually the youngest of several sisters) does not reject but marries a poor, sick, dirty, old, too young, non-human, etc. man who later demonstrates his supernatural qualities
A bodiless head, face, or skull is a woman's husband, suitor or son. He is not dangerous but a good provider, saves people from hunger, etc.
A monster kills victims with his or her sharp or stinging tail or protrusion on his or her back
An ogre or ogress catches a person and brings him to his or her home where he or she plans to cook and eat him. The hero escapes
A monster or a big animal dies when fire is kindled in its belly
A baby or small child proves to be a demon, devours or injures people
A girl marries a powerful benevolent man. His first wife is a monster. The man kills her or is glad that she is killed by his human wife
Animal, fish or person wounded by hero runs or swims away, usually with the man's projectile in his or her body. Local doctors are not able to cure the wound (usually because they do not see the projectile). The hero or his companion comes to the place where the wounded one lives and cures him or her (usually extracting his projectile from the wound)
Crossing a body of water or descending a tree, person steps on an certain part of a body of an animal or on a certain animal that have made a chain (usually despite warning that he should not do it) and falls down or drowns as a result
Not to return home empty-handed, a hunter or (rare) a fisherman cuts off a piece of flesh from his body (usually from his calf) or (more rare) extracts his blood or entrails. Usually he brings his flesh or blood to other people pretending that is a good game or fish; or a woman cuts off a piece of flesh from her calf to feed her husband
Person transforms himself into an object of hunting or fishing, provokes hunters of fishermen to catch or shoot him and carries way the tools that they use (arrows, darts, harpoons, hooks, baits). Or he fishes by turning himself into a hook. Or he is caught but escapes turning back into a person
Person turns into a fish to steal fishing hook or harpoon or he turns into fishing hook to catch a fish
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is raven
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a porcupine
Food or liquid that person swallows are immediately pouring out from his bottom part
Person himself or somebody else stitches up or firmly stops his anus (with wax, clay, grass, etc.)
Person turns into tiny object or creature. Touching or swallowing it, the woman conceives and gives birth to a baby-boy. The boy steals valuables or make love to the woman
Person turns into conifer-needle, a tiny particle, a small insect. Swallowing it by chance, the woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy
A small child cries and becomes satisfied only when he gets a particular object to play with. This object is of high value and is hidden in the house. As soon as the object is given to him, the child or a person related to him carry it away
Hero comes across a (animal-)person from an enemy group and takes his or her appearance, usually dressing himself in a skin of his victim; after this he penetrates the enemy camp
Person invites birds or animals (usually geese and ducks) to dance or stand around him and concentrate their attention on some activity (usually to dance with their eyes shut), kills them, usually one by one. Or (rare) he dances himself with his eyes shut and then kills water fowl who gather around him
Porcupine asks other animal to ferry him across river, rejects different places to sit, occupies a place where he can easily kill the animal after crossing the river and really kills him
Hero wounds dangerous enemy (a monster, a robber) and then, in guise of a doctor, comes to him and kills his patient instead of curing him
An animal or a supernatural creature is wounded but escapes. Local doctors are helpless. The hero or his companion, masked as a doctor, comes to the wounded one and either cures or kills him.
To get valuables (food, fire) concealed by their owner, person pretends that the valuables are already in his possession
A man bereaves vultures of their hunting weapons or amulets
A man travels and comes to two or several blind (usually old) persons
Raven marries or tries to marry a girl pretending to be handsome chief. They notice that somebody is eating carrion. Usually when everybody have to take off there footgear, raven's three-toes feet are exposed. He is driven away or runs away being ashamed
A man gets a woman thanks to a trick, carries her away in his canoe. She asks permission to go to shore to relieve herself, runs away
The beaver ferries the porcupine and usually throws him into water or abandons on an island
Raven (crow) gets the hidden or stolen Sun (daylight)
Raven is going to marry a girl but is rejected after they see that he eats filth
An ogre sends a man to bring him a roasting stick and/or firewood to cook him. The man intentionally does it slowly, brings unfit objects An ogre sends a man to bring a roasting stick and/or firewood to cook him. The man intentionally does it slowly, brings unfit objects or a an animal helps him to escape
Ursus major (seven stars or only four stars of a dipper) is identified with the game animal or anmials (usually pursued by the hunter)
Sideral objects in different parts of the sky are identified with one and the same humanoid figure (parts of its body, decoratioons, etc.).
Persons or objects swallowed by pike become part of its body (bones in its head, liver)
The hero has to come unrecognized to the meeting place of his enemies. He meets an old woman (usually a shaman, a medicine-woman) who goes there, puts on her skin and acquires her appearance
Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
A strip of light or dark feathers or hair on the neck of a bird or animal is its necklace
Anthropomorphic beings satisfy their hunger cooking food and inhaling the odor
Each of calender units (usually the months) that make the year is a separate object or person
Animal person wants to be transported across a body of water or lowered down. Different animals or fish suggest their help. The person accepts the help of the last one, he was waiting for him to eat him
In a dispute about should it be cold (dark) or warm (light), the bear stands for the cold; or the world is dark because the bear hides the sun in his house
Person creates blood-sucking insect to influence the behavior of the (potential) sex-partner
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
Monstrous bird (giant bat) predates on humans. Heroes fight with it
Person attracts and catches the carrion-eaters (usually some birds) and thanks to this obtains valuables retrieves valuables (fire, woman, animals, etc.)
Animal person (mammal, bird, fish) of a small size (less than a fox) gets inside the bear and kills him from the inside (usually eat his meat)
Bodies of the killed ones are put in such a position as if they are in a good mood (smile, laugh, dance)
They (promise to) give a child the Sun (and or the Moon) to play with
Body members of a person has the form of cutting or piercing weapon
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
Person must go beyond relatively small objects (trees, logs, blades) which are incessantly clashing and parting, rising and falling
The sea-gull abducts a girl or a woman but she gets to return to the people
The Sun and the Moon are two persons one of which is pursuing another in the sky or pursued him or her when they were rising to the sky from the earth
The Sun and the Moon (rare: the Sun and a star, the Moon and a star) are two siblings who live on earth and then ascend to the sky being still young persons
The Sun and the Moon are or were enemies, either permanently or in particular situations
In three or more different episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is raven (crow)
Planning to get or to return valuables, person turns into baby or in a small objects that has power to impregnate a woman. The picked up or the born baby steals the valuables and acquires his real guise (including cases according to which the girl herself is the desired valuable)
Male person leaves his home and gets to unfamiliar places. On his way, he comes across different strange creatures. After all, he returns home or leaves the earth for the other world. (Rather often a long string of episodes breaks off or the story lacks the beginning and does not explain why the hero is travelling)
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
Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay
Person pursued by an enemy asks somebody whom he meets to help him. The helper hides him
Children or youths (usually a group of brothers) exchange clothes (headgears, ornaments, blankets, sleeping places) with their enemy’s children. The enemy kills his or her own children by mistake. Usually brothers get to the ogre or ogress and the youngest advices to exchange places (clothes, etc.) with ogre’s daughters). Outside of Europe the actors can be animals
Beings who live in the sky descend to kill people. Usually such a being carries away to its world a person or many people (or person's cut off head or limb). The hero (usually a relation of the perished one) revenges on the dangerous being and/or brings back the victim or victims (his or her head, etc.)
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
The sun and/or the moon are inanimate objects thrown up to the sky or fixed in the sky