| Motif | Name | Description |
| a13a1 | Raven obtains the Sun | Raven (crow) gets the hidden or stolen Sun (daylight) |
| a21 | Luminaries are objects fixed in the sky | The sun and/or the moon are inanimate objects thrown up to the sky or fixed in the sky |
| a32 | Figure on lunar disc | A figure or an imprint of some being or object are seen in the Moon. (For statistical analysis motifs A32A – A32J are also included into A32) |
| a32c | A man and a dog in the Moon | A human being and a dog together are seen in the moon |
| a32d | Man in the Moon | Human being or imprint of human being is seen in the moon |
| a32e | Person with an object in hands | Person who holds some object in his or her hands is seen in the moon (rare: in the sun) |
| a32k | First to the Sun, then to the Moob | Person seen in the Moon initially had to get to the Sun or the Sun and the Moon argue who of them should get the person |
| a43 | Person with a shoe on one foot | 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 |
| a43a | The Moon in one moccasin | 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 |
| a44 | Moon the protector | A person pursued by an enemy or tyrannized by others asks the Moon to take her or him to the sky. The request is granted and the person is now seen in the Moon |
| b125 | Animals exchange their organs | During the time of creation particular species of animals (rare: plants) exchanged certain organs or traits or one animal borrowed an organ from another one but never brought it back. Thence the characteristics of these animals now. In rare cases the back exchange and restoring of the initial situation or the passing of certain organ from one animal to another without compensation are described |
| b125c | Beaver and muskrat exchange tales | The beaver had tail which the muskrat has now and vice versa |
| b18 | Light in container | Day light (also warmth, the sun, the moon) is kept as a particular object in a container, under a cover, etc. |
| b26 | Man joins wild animals | Person who follows the wild animals turns into one of them or into their master |
| b28 | Travelling transformer | The transformer walks along coming across different persons and creatures, transforming them into birds, animals, stones, shrines, etc. (or transforming monstrous animals into present day ones) and introducing cultural norms, landscape features, etc. |
| b36a | Two creatures decorate each other | Two zoomorphic personages decorates each other or somebody decorates each of them |
| b37 | Creatures are made appear as they are now | Person decorates different birds (rare: fish), share fat between anomals. Since then, the corresponding species acquire present characteristics |
| b38 | The ruined painting | Person paints birds or animals or they paint each other. Some of them are not satisfied with the result |
| b38c | Raven and loon paint each other | Raven and loon paint each other |
| b38e | Tail base of the loon | Person kicks loon or other water bird. Since then this bird has flat tail base and it walks on dry land with difficulty |
| b3a | Primeval waters | Water is the original element, the dry earth appears later |
| b3b | Earth grows big | Original earth was small and later increased in size or the fertile soil grew from a small amount of original substance |
| b4 | The fished out earth | Islands or continent are fished out of the ocean or pulled to their present place by rope |
| b42s | Hit with a projectile | 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 |
| b44c | Should warmth and light exist? | It is discussed if darkness or light, cold or warm periods should exist |
| b44e | Dispute of ancestors | The primeval ancestors (usually birds and animals) participate in discussion concerning the desired predominance or wamth/light or cold/darkness, number of the units of time in a tempoi cycle, etc. |
| b44f | Fox stands for day | In a dispute about should it be dark or light, the fox stands for the light |
| b44f1 | Bear stands for night | 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 |
| b57 | Blood reddens world | 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) |
| b82 | The white raven | Raven or other carrion-eating bird of dark color and a similar size was originally white |
| b87 | Alcor | Alcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object |
| b95a | Trickster punishes his anus | Trickster burns his own anus to punish it for improper behavior |
| b97 | Grateful person makes the bird pretty | Grateful person decorates (rare: punishes) a bird who lives near water (kingfisher, loon, goose), thence its appearance (crest, beak, feathers) |
| b97a | The necklace of bird or animal | A strip of light or dark feathers or hair on the neck of a bird or animal is its necklace |
| c16 | Processed objects turn into animals | Against person's will, butchered, dried or cooked meat, tanned hides, etc. turn back into animals or fish and escape. |
| c19 | Acquisition of the sun | The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again) |
| c34 | The deluge because of a wounded creature | Killing (injuring, offending) of some cruature (usually related to water) triggers deluge |
| c5b | Animal-scouts | During the creation of the world or after the world cataclysm animals run around making the earth big, reporting about its condition or they are sent to report the size of the growing earth |
| c6 | Valuables brought from the lower world | 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) |
| c6b | The diver is muskrat (otter, beaver) | A muskrat (more rare beaver or otter) brings the desired object from under the water |
| c6d | The aquisition of the earth from the lower world | 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) |
| d9 | Fire and vulture | Raven or other big dark-feathered bird scavenger is the owner, personification, spouse, obtainer or stealer of fire, daylight, or the Sun |
| e15 | Ducks and canoes | 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 |
| e15a | Breast bone as a canoe | Frame of canoe is made according to breast bone of a bird |
| e15b | Birds sew canoe covering | While man is asleep, birds turn into girls and sew covering of his canoe |
| e1b | Person of unfit materials | Certain person is made of improper material and proves to be short-lived or unfit for fulfilling his functions |
| e1d | Canoes of clay | First canoes were made of unfit materials |
| f1 | First woman is a transformed man | Woman, female supernatural or animal females are created by changing the sex of a man (or male animals) |
| f40b | A man in a village of women | A man gets into the village of women. Usually he has to satisfy every woman against his will or every woman claims him for herself |
| f45 | The Amazons | There are (or were) women who live apart from men in their own village or villages |
| f46 | One for all | In the beginning of time two or more men (animal people) have only one woman |
| f49 | The abnormal birth | Cesarean operation upon a woman at childbirth as a custom |
| f55 | What do you want? | A woman cannot understand what does her partner want. She points at, names or suggests different things. At last she points at, names or exposes her genitals. This is the right answer |
| f80 | Primeval people have no genitals | The first men and/or women have no genitals |
| f80a | Genitals apart from the body | Genitals exist by themselves as separate beings, they can be stuck to the human body, remove, etc. |
| f9 | A dangerous woman | For different reasons, sexual contact with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man |
| f9e | Mice in vagina | There are small mammals with sharp teeth in woman's genitals. |
| f9e1 | Dangerous animal in vagina | Woman is dangerous because biting or stinging animal or animals is (are) inside her genitals (and not only the head of such an animal) |
| h12 | The alive person comes to the land of the dead after somebody’s death | 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 |
| h19 | Raven tries to starve people | Raven hides or scares game animals preventing hunters to kill them. People outwit him |
| h20 | Fish disperse in the world | All the fish or (rare) shellfish) was concentrated in one place. Certain person lets it lose or puts it into the rivers or sea |
| h36ff | Death and the raven | Raven is responsible for introduction of permanent death |
| i1 | The thunderbirds | Creatures that produce rain and/or thunderstorms are birds or anthropomorphic beings with wings; or (rare) some or all birds are connected with thunder, lightning or rain though Thunder is not a bird |
| i117 | Spider ferries from one world to another | Spider person raises the hero to the sky, helps him or her to return back to earth or otherwise helps to overcome the borderlines between worlds |
| i121 | Twin constellations | Two constellations (usually Ursa major and Ursa minor) are interpreted as twin objects of the same type (two animals, two carts, etc.) |
| i133 | Whole-sky constellation | Sideral objects in different parts of the sky are identified with one and the same humanoid figure (parts of its body, decoratioons, etc.). |
| i15 | No-mouth people | Anthropomorphic beings have no mouths |
| i15a | A vertical cut | Mouth of human being was first cut vertically |
| i17 | Body anomalies of inhabitants of a distant land | Beings without mouth, anus, genitals, whose women do not know how to give birth live in the underworld, in the sky, or in a far-away land |
| i18 | A spouse or husband without anus or mouth | Person visits people who have no anus or mouth. He or his sister marries or tries to marry a local dweller |
| i19 | People inhale the odor of food | Anthropomorphic beings satisfy their hunger cooking food and inhaling the odor |
| i2 | Lightning from eyes | Lightning emerges from eyes or mouth of the being who is thought to produce thunderstorms |
| i34 | The dangerous tree | It is necessary to approach a tree which is surrounded with fire, ejects fire, shoots sharp splints, etc. |
| i38 | The dog-heads | Some beings are half-men and half-dogs (usually anthropomorphic with heads of dogs) |
| i6 | Weather birds | A man meets a giant bird that brings with it clouds, rain, hail, thunderstorm, etc. |
| i69 | Star dung | Shining sky objects or atmospheric phenomena are excrements of sky dwellers |
| i6a | Male and female birds: different kinds of precipitation | 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. |
| j13 | Two sisters | Two sisters (if more, only two play a significant role in the plot) travel and meet an unpleasant suitor or get to an ogre |
| j37 | The antagonist is carried away by bird | A man turns into powerful bird or creates it. The bird carries away his enemy |
| j44 | The broken bridge | Person or his helper draws his enemies on the unstable bridge and destroys it. The enemies fall into water, into a precipice |
| j46 | Enemy drowns | Antagonist perishes falling into the water or trying to cross a water body |
| j54 | The last female survives | Animals of particular species that were enemies of the heroes are exterminated besides the only pregnant female (rare a female and a male). Thanks to this, these animals still exist |
| j59 | Following arrow to get to the sky | To climb to the sky, person must first to shoot an arrow that reaches the sky and sticks to it |
| k10 | Fight with the monstrous bird | Monstrous bird (giant bat) predates on humans. Heroes fight with it |
| k102a2 | Conflict between mother and son | Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
|
| k10f | Nestlings turn into eagles | Hero transforms nestlings or monster bird into common eagles or owls |
| k15a | Substituted weapon | Hero substitutes powerful person's weapon or amulet with a fake |
| k19b | Star-husband | A woman maries a star-man |
| k19e | Wolverine under a tree | When a woman or two sisters descend from sky back to earth, they get to the top of a tree. Some animals who walk by cannot help them or do not want to help. Wolverine gets women down because he plans to marry them but they escape from him |
| k20 | Wish for star-husband or wife realized | A human person admires a star or (rare) the Moon in the sky, expresses desire to marry it or (rare) to get a star-object. Star descends to him or to her or takes him or her to the sky |
| k21 | Woman gets to the sky and marries a sky-dweller | Woman gets to the sky and marries a sky-dweller |
| k22b | Man helps inhabitants of other world | Inhabitants of a distant land who have different nature than (normal) human beings struggle from time to time with some non-human enemies. Man helps local dwellers because their enemies are not dangerous for the human beings |
| k26 | A hole in the firmament | Finding a hole in the ground or making it, person gets to see below another world. Usually the earth is seen from the sky |
| k26a | Sky opening covered with a stone | Opening in the firmament is covered with a flat stone. When person puts the stone aside, he or she gets to see the earth |
| k27 (motif is not in the correlation table) | Competitions and difficult tasks | 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 |
| k27n | Difficult tasks of the in-laws | A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage |
| k27n3c | Task-giver is a zoomorphic being | Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero is associated with an animal, a bird or a fish |
| K27n3c2 | The antagonist is father-in-law in guise of a bear | The task-giver is the bear who is the hero’s father-in-law |
| k27p | Antagonist mourns loss of his helpers | The antagonist sends the hero to the place where he is attacked by dangerous creatures. The hero kills them and brings to the antagonist. The creatures are the antagonist's relatives, pets, or helpers, therefore he or she mourns their death or revives them |
| k27p1 | Antagonistic father-in-law acquires guise of an animal | When father-in-law (rare: mother-in-law) asks the hero to killl or to tame a dangerous animal or not to kill certain animal during a hunt, he (she) turns into this animal himself or transforms into it his daughter(s) or wife (husband) |
| k27p2 | Antagonistic father-in-law acquires guise of a bear | When father-in-law (rare: mother-in-law) asks the hero to kill a bear, he (she) turns into the bear himsel or tranfforms into the bear his daughter or wife (husband) |
| k27y | To get material for making bow and arrows | Hero is sent or sets off by his own will to get two or more different materials needed for making bow and arrows (wood or reed for shafts, feathers, tendons for string, flint for points, paint to paint the shafts, gum to stick points to the shafts) |
| k27yy1 | To get feathers of a dangerous bird | Hero brings a feather (feathers) of a dangerous bird |
| k29a | Surviving in a fire | Hero demonstrates his supernatural abilities remaining alive in a burning hot chamber, stove, bonfire, among burning vegetation |
| k32 | The false wife | 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. |
| k32b1 | Mother substitutes her daughter | Mother-in-law of a man takes the appearance of her daughter to replace her |
| k43a | Compassionate person saves fire | People abandon a boy, a girl, brother and sister, a group of children, or a young family without fire and food. A compassionate person conceals hot coals for the outlaws in the abandoned camp |
| k51 | The deceived wife | 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 |
| k51a | Woman pushes her rival into the boiling pot | A woman comes to her rival and kills her pushing her head into boiling liquid or pouring it into her ear |
| k54 | Two giants | A man meets a dangerous giant (or serpent) who proves to be friendly to him. When another giant fights with the first one, the man helps his friend |
| k54a | Cut tendons | A man and a friendly giant live together. The friendly giant fights with another one and asks the man for help. This help proves to be crucial because the man badly injures a foot of another giant |
| k59 | Box for Osiris | One man puts another into a box, closes the lid (or ties him to a board, to canoe, etc.) and puts the box adrift. It floats to another land, man is released there, returns home, revenges on his enemy |
| k60b | Invitation to coffin | 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 |
| k67 | Burned moccasins | Two men spend a night in a forest, take their moccasins or clothes off usually to dry them near the fire. One plans to burn the moccasins or the clothes of another at night. The latter imperceptible interchange their things and the first man burns his own property |
| k8c | Jonah: swallowed by terrestrial animal | 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) |
| k8c5 | Bear dies after swallowing mouse | 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) |
| l10 | Sharp tail | A monster kills victims with his or her sharp or stinging tail or protrusion on his or her back |
| l17a | Eyes on the back of the head | Person or creature has another pair of eyes (or one eye) on the back of his head or (rare) on his back |
| l38 | Demon’s trap | A demon puts a trap to catch people, hero gets into it |
| l40 | Reflection and shadow | Person discovers (rare:still fails to discover) another getting to see his or her shadow or reflection in water |
| l42 | Hero carried to ogre’s home | 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 |
| l54 | Lake coming to boil | To overcome a disaster, hot stones or ashes are thrown into the water |
| l57 | Person gets his body part back | Person loses his organ or body part, it is carried away. He finds its new owner, gets his property back |
| l57a | Hero's body part is returned by his companion | The antagonists acquire person’s organ or body part (his remains) . Another person gets back what has been stolen and the first one revives (becomes strong again) |
| l5c | Rolling head is a dangerous monster | Rolling head is a dangerous mobster (pursues celestial bodies, people etc.) |
| l5e | Wife’s headless body pursues her husband | The beheaded woman pursues her husband while her head pursues her children |
| l5e1 | The demonic woman pursues her children | A woman who had changed into demon pursues her own children |
| l61 | Endocannibal | Person devours his or her own flesh or disembowels himself or herself |
| l65 | Demonic baby | A baby or small child proves to be a demon, devours or injures people |
| l65b3 | The escape on the tree | Persons climbs a tree and thanks to this escapes from a demon (who usually tries to fell the tree) |
| l66 | Tunnel under the monster | A small animal digs an underground hole to the place where the monstrous stag, elk, antelope, or buffalo lies. Hero climbs along the tunnel and kills the monster |
| l67 | Monster’s hair gnawed off | After digging a tunnel under a lying monstrous animal, a small animal (usually a mouse) bites off the monster's hair at a certain place. Hero kills the monster thrusting his spear or arrow through the hairless place into the monster's heart |
| l72 | The obstacle flight | Running away from a dangerous being, person throws small objects behind him or her which turn into mighty obstacles on the way of the pursuer |
| l74 | The returned hand | A bear or other dangerous being tears off and carries away a hand of a person and holds it at his sleeping place. Another person steals the hand, gives it back to the owner |
| l86 | Demonic mother pursues her children | A woman turns into demon and pursues her children |
| l9 | Sharp body members | Body members of a person has the form of cutting or piercing weapon |
| l99 | Bring me a spit to roast you! | 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 |
| m109 | The tail-fisher | Animal person puts his tail (penis) down and waits in hope to get something edible. The tail (penis) is torn or cut off, the person escapes or dies |
| m123a | Three-toed foot | 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 |
| m123b | Trickster tied to a boat | 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 |
| m123d | Raven the filth-eater | Raven is going to marry a girl but is rejected after they see that he eats filth |
| m16 | Ugly or sick one becomes healthy and handsome | A kinfolk (often his mother) or wife (bride) of a sick (ugly, old) man or boy do not care for him. He becomes healthy (and handsome), punishes and/or abandons those who were evil with him |
| m16a | Diving bird’s medicine | A supernatural helper (usually a loon) makes a blind man to regain his eyesight diving with him into water |
| m17 | Woman lies that man missed | A blind man or lad kills an animal. His wife or (grand)mother lies that he has missed, cooks and eats all the meat alone |
| m17b | Wife deceives her blind husband | Wife of a blind man helps him to shoot a game but lies that he missed and secretly eats meat alone |
| m20 | Trickster’s jaw injured | Person commits something that is socially unacceptable. They catch him and injure (cut off) his bill or jaw. Usually he gets his ripped off jaw (bill) back |
| m28 | Icarus (failed attempt to fly on artificial wings) | Acquiring possibility to fly, person ultimately falls to the ground or remains in a faraway place being unable to fly any more |
| m29a | Trickster-raven | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is raven |
| m29a1 | Raven (crow) is the main trickster | In three or more different episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is raven (crow) |
| m29b2 | The bear is a failure/enemy | Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies |
| m29f | Wolverine is a failure | Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolverine suffers a reverse, is injured or dies |
| m30 | Trickster falls down | Person or creature who has no wings or is unable to fly on a long distance attempts to ascend to the sky or to fly far away but falls down or, deprived of his wings, remains in a place from which he is unable to return |
| m41 | The eye-juggler | Person plays throwing his eyes or (Alaska Athabascans) his tooth up or away. Eyes or tooth first come back to eye sockets or mouth but eventually are lost |
| m42 | Eyes: taken out of orbits and lost | Person loses his eyes because of his playfulness or negligence. He makes new eyes of some substance or/and takes eyes of another person |
| m46 | The false baby | 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)
|
| m46b | A stratagem: baby born by woman | 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 |
| m46c | Swallowed conifer-needle | 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 |
| m46d | Child cries for a toy | 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 |
| m53 | Hoodwinked dancers | 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 |
| m53b | Bag with songs | Trickster pretends to have songs in his bag |
| m75 | Valuables taken off the vultures | Person attracts and catches the carrion-eaters (usually some birds) and thanks to this obtains valuables retrieves valuables (fire, woman, animals, etc.) |
| m94 | Sliding downhill | One person or animal suggests another to slide downhill to kill or harm him or her |
| m94a | Sliding downhill: victims of antagonist | A demonic person provokes his victims to slide downhill and kills them |
| m97 | The blind is directed by trees | Person is lost or becomes blind. He walks asking different trees their names and makes decisions according to their answers reaching ultimately his destination |
| m97a1 | The blind person asks trees their names to get the new eyes | The blind person walks asking different trees their names till he finds one that is needed to make (receive) the new eyes |