| Motif | Name | Description |
| a14a | The conflict between the Sun and the Moon | The Sun and the Moon are or were enemies, either permanently or in particular situations |
| a20 | Childhood and youth of the Sun and Moon | 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 |
| a31 | The incestuous Moon | 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 |
| a35 | Spots on the lunar disc | Dark spots on the lunar disc are dirt, blood, paint, traces of beating, burning, scratching, etc. on the Moon person's body or face (Kiliwa: spots on the Sun) and do not form any particular figure |
| a4 | Female sun | The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female |
| a7 | The sun pursues the moon | 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 |
| a7a | Torches in hands of celestial bodies | Light of the Sun (Moon, Venus) is a torch in hands of the celestial body |
| 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 |
| b27 | Variants of transformations | Persons ponders over what object, feature, or creature it would be appropriate for him or her to turn into. When the choice is made, the persons transforms himself or herself |
| b27a | Transformation into thunder and lightning | Persons ponders over what object, feature, or creature it would be appropriate for them to turn. When the choice is made, persons turn into thunder and/or lightning |
| b31 | Women turn into water mammal | A woman (usually after a conflict with a man or remaining alone) or a man and a woman (married couple, lovers, brother and sister) turn into water mammals |
| b36a | Two creatures decorate each other | Two zoomorphic personages decorates each other or somebody decorates each of them |
| b38 | The ruined painting | Person paints birds or animals or they paint each other. Some of them are not satisfied with the result |
| b38a | Two birds decorate each other | Two birds decorate each other, one becomes worse than it was before |
| b38c | Raven and loon paint each other | Raven and loon paint each other |
| b42 | Cosmic hunt | Certain stars or constellations are interpreted as hunters, their dogs and game that the hunters pursue |
| b42c | Sky hunters pursue a bear | In the cosmic hunt tale the game pursued by the hunters is a bear |
| b42f | Ursa major is an ungulate | Ursa major (seven stars or only four stars of a dipper) is identified with an ungulate (elk, deer, mountain sheep, etc.) |
| b42k | Cosmic hunt and the Pleiades | In the cosmic hunt tale either hunters or game is identified with the Pleiades |
| b42n | Orion is one person | Constellation of Orion or the Belt of Orion is identified with only one male person, usually with a warrior or hunter |
| b42t | Ursa major is a big mammal | Seven main stars of Ursa major are interpreted as a figure of a mammal: bear, deer, mountain sheep, camel, dog |
| b44a | Council on seasons: units of time | Animals (Melanesia: persons) discuss the number of discrete units of time that should be in a certain calendar period or in the night |
| 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. |
| b48 | Predators become herbivorous | Weak or herbivorous animals were dangerous predators but have been transformed |
| b54 | Chips turn into fish | Chips of wood, branches or pieces of bark thrown or fallen into the water turn into fish and/or aquatic animals |
| b71 | Aurora borealis | Aurora borealis is spirits (of the dead) who run holding burning torches, play or fight with each other |
| b75a | Sounds of the time of creation: voice of a person | Voice of a person who lived in the bygone times is still heard (most often it is an echo) |
| b78 | Shaking bed makes snowfall | When person or creature shakes himself or itself, shakes his or her bed, clothes, plucks birds, etc., snow falls down to earth |
| b82 | The white raven | Raven or other carrion-eating bird of dark color and a similar size was originally white |
| b85b | Bag of winds | Wind was or is in a particular enclosure (bag, cave, etc.). It was released from it or comes out from time to time |
| b87 | Alcor | Alcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object |
| d13h | The dead should not laugh | Person should not laugh in the world of the dead |
| e5aa | People grew like a grass | The first people grew or crawled out of the earth like a grass, mushrooms, worms, etc. |
| e9 | The mysterious housekeeper | 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 |
| e9a | Fox-wife | Man maries fox-woman |
| e9aa | Fox-wife in animals’ den | 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 |
| e9i3 | Goose-wife | A man marries supernatural woman who is a goose |
| 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) |
| f45 | The Amazons | There are (or were) women who live apart from men in their own village or villages |
| f49 | The abnormal birth | Cesarean operation upon a woman at childbirth as a custom |
| f51 | The clandestine lover | 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) |
| h28 | Plagues from the body of a person or creature | Killed and destroyed (often burned) person or creature (usually ogre, fierce animal, powerful shaman) turns into a multitude of biting insects or into other small molesting creatures |
| h29 | Origin of foreigners | A woman is impregnated by an animal, usually by a snake. People of hostile nation originate or receive their culture from her progeny or from her paramour's relatives |
| h54 | The eyelids of Viy | Eyelids (eyelashes, eyebrows) of personage hang long down over his eyes. To make the eyes widely opened, the eyelids (eyelashes, eyebrows) should be propped up with poles, folks, sticks, etc. (rare: cut off) |
| i100b | The Pleiades are a group of people | The Pleiades are any people (of any ages and sex, combined data of i99-i100a) |
| i123 | Altair is the Sun’s messenger | Altair or Vega with a weak nearby star are believed to appear on the sky immediately after winter solstice though really it is not so |
| i14 | No-anus people | Person or creature has no anus opening |
| 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 |
| i22 | Objects in permanent movement | 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) |
| i22g | Clapping rocks | There are mountains or rocks which permanently collide and separate again from each other or a crack (jaws) in a vertical cliff which is opening and closing |
| i23 | Snapping door | The door of a house is opening and closing by itself crashing persons who attempt to come in or out |
| i28 | Animals in the underworld | Game animals live inside a mountain, in a cave or in the underworld where they often look like humans and have a master |
| i35 | Dragging a hide produces thunder | Thunder is produced by dragging behind a dry animal skin or (rare) a person (rare) or by shaking clothes |
| i36 | Thunder and lightning are relatives, spouses or in-laws | Thunder and lightning (two thunders, two lightings) are close relatives, spouses or in-laws |
| i55 | Stars are openings | Stars are openings in the firmament; holes in dwelling's covering are thought to be stars |
| i72 | Stars are people | Stars are people, ghosts, anthropomorphic beings (interpretations of unique star objects like Venus or Polaris as persons not considered) |
| i99 | The Pleiades are boys or men | The Pleiades are a group of boys or men, or a group of different people but predominantly males |
| k12 | Woman is lost and returned | By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back |
| k176 | A man in search of the woman | A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife |
| k24 | Stolen clothes of supernatural woman | Women (rare: men) 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; rare: a girl of higher social status than the hero) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a person hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him (rare: her) |
| k25 | Magic wife | A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world |
| k25a3 | The picked up feathers | Magic bird-wife flies away after she had picked up many feathers and made of them her new bird-clothes |
| k27x | Former husband of magic wife | A man marries a non-human woman. In her world, she has another husband or suitor. She returns to her world, human husband follows her. He stands tests and/or fights with local inhabitants, gets his wife back |
| k30 | Flying enemy abducts woman | Flying person or creature abducts a woman but is ultimately killed or the woman escapes from him |
| 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 |
| k45 | Sedna (fingers cut off) | A man rides away from a woman or girl in a boat (on raft, sledge). When she tries to snatch a border of the boat (raft, sledge), he cuts her fingers off |
| k45a | Fingers turn into water animals | A man rides away from a woman or girl in a boat (on raft). When she tries to snatch a border of the boat (raft), he cuts her fingers off. The fingers turn into water animals |
| k45b | Woman turns into water animal | A man and a woman of different generations (the father and the daughter, the son and the mother) get into conflict which results in the woman's transformation into the sea mammal. the sovereign of the sea mammals or into the frog (toad) |
| 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 |
| k8a | Jonah: swallowed by monster | 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) |
| 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) |
| l101 | Pieces of clothes thrown to pursuer | Pursued by demonic creature (usually a whale or walrus), people throw behind piece by piece children’s or woman’s clothes. These attract the pursuer’s attention, he loses time, the runaways escape |
| l102 | Escape from animal husband | Seriously of for fun, a girl or a woman names an animal or remains of an animal as her husband or steps on the animal’s bones. The animal (revives and) carries her away. Her human husband or brother comes after her and they run away. The animal husband pursues them but abandons the chase or dies |
| l103 | Obstacle flight (Atalanta type) | Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay |
| l135 | The Traveller | 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) |
| 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 |
| l42a | Ogre steals corpses | An ogre steals fresh corpses from graves and devours them |
| l73 | Ogre tries to drink a river dry and bursts | The antagonist tries to drink a river or sea and bursts |
| m123 | Raven marries goose | A bird of prey or a carrion-eater (raven, owl, hawk; coyote) marries or tries to marry goose-person or other water bird. This marriage is not realized or is a short one |
| m123c | Unlucky flight with migratory birds | A bird-person who usually does not fly away in the autumn makes attempt to fly with migratory birds but is unable to reach destination |
| 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 |
| m17a | (Grand-)mother deceives her blind (grand-)son | (Grand-)mother of a blind man or boy secretly eats meat or fish (usually acquired by her son or grandson) but tells him that there is no food in their house |
| 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) |
| m29b3 | The fox (jackal, coyote) is a failure | Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the fox, jackal or coyote suffers a reverse, is injured or dies |
| m29i | Trickster-hawk | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is hawk |
| 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 |
| m53a | Raven and seals | Raven tricks seals or other water mammals to gather around him and kills them by deception |
| m87 | Invisible ghosts | Person enters a seemingly empty house and attempts to take certain things. Invisible beings prevent him from doing it or objects themselves hurt him |