The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
Person prepares a snare, loop, noose, etc. to catch the Sun and/or the Sun is caught in a snare, tied by a rope, etc.
After the Sun is caught into snare only mouse, shrew or other small animal is able to cut it open
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
Because the dog was spreading some information, altercated with its masters, was talking in a wrong time, etc. it lost the ability to speak
Certain stars or constellations are interpreted as hunters, their dogs and game that the hunters pursue
In the cosmic hunt tale the game pursued by the hunters is an ungulate (elk, deer, mountain sheep, etc.)
In the cosmic hunt tale either hunters or game is identified with the Pleiades
Constellation of Orion or the Belt of Orion is identified with only one male person, usually with a warrior or hunter
A coming of warm (light, abundant, etc.) or cold (dark, barren, etc.) time is related to the marriage of certain person
Every one of the seven main stars of the Ursa mayor is a an adult man
Weak or herbivorous animals were dangerous predators but have been transformed
Some game animals have a piece of human flesh in their body that remained since the time when these animals were anthropomorphic
Raven or other carrion-eating bird of dark color and a similar size was originally white
Alcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object
A weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper (the Tibetans: Small Dipper) is interpreted as a dog
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
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
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
An aquatic bird dives and brings the desired object from the bottom
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)
A horned monster breaks ice on river or lake. Usually people walk across frozen body of water, get to see a horn protruding from the ice and try to cut it off. The monster breaks the ice, many people drown
Warm season is obtained from its original owners
A boy or (among the Kutenai) a woman weeps, asking for an element that is absent, i.e. for summer, fire, or rain
Supernatural person rubs his or her skin, creates the entire earth, human or other beings of dirt (from under his or her nails) and cuticle
When a woman of the child-bearing age tries to come from one world to another (e.g. from sky to earth), the communication between the worlds is blocked or broken forever
To reach their present country, people had to pass (frozen) water body. Part of the migrants remain on the opposite side or is drowned
People obtain sacred knowledge, objects and rituals from ghosts
Initially women and men live apart from each other. Later they meet each other and become to live together
A woman or a girl takes a snake, an eel (i.e. Pacific snake-eel), a lizard, or a worm for husband or paramour. People kill or badly injure him, the woman and/or her progeny or the woman herself is transformed into snake. Cf. motif k76b: the snake-husband becomes and remains a handsome man
Certain woman or a group of women takes for a paramour a big land animal. Husbands, brothers or (adoptive) children kill or maim paramour and (sometimes) the woman
A powerful man kills every baby boy born by his wives or by his sister
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
Woman makes vain overtures to young man and/or falsely accuses him of sexual abuse. Her husband believes that the young man is guilty, kills or tries to kill him
To accuse a man or boy of (sexual) abbuse, a woman tears her clothes, smears or scratches her body pretending to be attacked
A woman revenges on a man who rejected her love but necessary not pretends to be an object of sexual harassment from his part
Person summons with a certain signal a non-human being (usually his or her sexual partner or his or her protégé). Another person spies, uses the same signal or pronounces the same words and kills the being who comes to him (or uses this being sexually himself)
A girl (wife) rejects an ugly youth (her husband). He becomes handsom (usually thanks to the help of a supernatural person). Those who were evil to him are punished
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
Game animals were concentrated in one single place. Certain person lets them disperse in the world
The owner of game animals conceals them underground. One of the ancestors turns into pup, is adopted by owners' children, lets the animals lose
Person has a series of suggestions how to make the world easy for living and free of hard work and death. His companion successively rejects them. Their dialogue forever defines conditions of human life
Wolf takes part in creation and/or is a brother of the creator who wins demons of the lower world. Wolf is the first person who died and/or becomes the master of the dead
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
Lightning emerges from eyes or mouth of the being who is thought to produce thunderstorms
A man helps Thunder who fights with his enemy
Giant water-chthonic or sky serpent or dragon has horns or antlers on its head
Snake, lizard or worm is a bridge or a rope over the river
Way to the place of a certain person is guided by dangerous creatures (which often stand on the both sides of the pathway). Person placates them by gifts or nice talk, and they let him or her go the both ways, sometimes being punished for this by their master
Game animals live inside a mountain, in a cave or in the underworld where they often look like humans and have a master
Milky Way is the path over which souls travel to the beyond or a path of the funeral procession
Stars are people, ghosts, anthropomorphic beings (interpretations of unique star objects like Venus or Polaris as persons not considered)
When husband o brother leaves home to hunt, an evil spirit comes to his wife or sister. The spirit kills her or carries her away. Her baby boys extracted from her womb or born at this time survive
A demonic person visits a woman when she remains alone. He or she claims that needs a particular part of her body to complete a particular act that is against logic and custom. After this the demon kills the woman (extracts a child from her abdomen, pulls out her tongue)
When husband o brother leaves home to hunt, an evil spirit comes to his wife or sister and kills or injures her being able to do it because she has broken taboo to open the door, to look at the guest or to answer him or her
Heroes (usually one or two), being still babies or embryos, escape or are thrown away, often into the water. To bring them back into the human world, they are lured (persuaded) to come out or caught with difficulty
Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
A small boy (several babies) was thrown away, born by the dead woman, lives in the water (in forest, etc.). Another boy lives with his father or mother. Ultimately the first boy comes to live in the locus of the second one. Often (see motif j25, Babies escape and return) during some time the boy who lives in the wilderness meets secretly with his brother (with other children, with pups that had been fed up by his mother) who lives with the people
Antagonist makes a girl or a woman his or her slave. The slave's brothers or sons secretly come to her, kill for her some small game. Woman tries to pursue the antagonist that she herself killed the game
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
A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
Hero climbs up (e.g. to a tree) or down (e.g. into a deep cave) by ladder, rope, from branch to branch, etc. The rope etc. breaks or is intentionally destroyed and the hero cannot return to the ground. (All cases of motif K2A, besides the Koreans, also contain motif K2)
Person climbs up a tree or rock or descends to a cave to get eggs or nestlings from the bird's nest. Another person remains on the ground. They get into conflict and/or the first person is unable to get back to the ground
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)
Person's leg (rare: both legs) is cut, torn, bitten off, injured. He (rare: she) ascends to the sky: to the Moon; turns into the Moon, Sun, star, constellation; blood from the injured leg makes the sky red
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
Different from (common) people inhabitants of a distant land fight from time to time with non-human enemies who periodically attack them
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
Birds attack the inhabitants of a distant land or a man who had got to this land
Person gets to the sky, makes hole through the firmament digging out a root. Usually woman's husband or his kinsmen warn her against digging out a special bulb or tuber; breaking taboo, she gets to see the earth, decides to descend
Finding a hole in the ground or making it, person gets to see below another world. Usually the earth is seen from the sky
An ordeal: to smoke a huge or poisonous pipe or to remain alive in poisonous smoke
Person or animal must eat (drink) enormous quantity of food (beverage) or eat or drink poisonous beverage or food
The hero must kill and bring an animal of special (often unusual) color or form
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
Thunder or giant bird fights against a reptile, big water animal or other big and strong creature who lives in water or under the earth
Abandoned children are tied to a tree. Helpful dog or other animal unfastens them
After having sexual contact with a dog, a woman gives birth to his children. The puppies turn into humans and usually become ancestors of particular groups of people
An old man abused by another (often his son-in-law) brings home a clot of blood, from which a child is born. The blood-clot boy avenges the old man
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 young woman turns into monstrous bear. She kills most of the people besides her younger sister (Ojibwa: younger sister of her former husband). Their brothers return from a hunt, kill the bear or she dies pursuing them
A young woman turns into monstrous bear. She kills most of the people besides her younger sister (Ojibwa: younger sister of her former husband). Their brothers return from a hunt, kill the bear or she dies pursuing them
To escape from a demonic person, a group of men who are relations of a girl ascend to the sky and remain there
Rolling head is a dangerous mobster (pursues celestial bodies, people etc.)
Person's leg is injured intentionally or by chance. The loss of one leg does not bother him. He uses the sharpened bone as a thrust weapon
The only vulnerable spot is near the surface of person’s or creature’s body and not in his inner organs
Person who have eaten a prohibited meat or fish turns into monstrous snake or fish
Person turns into monster at night when he remains alone with his companion in the wilderness
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
A woman turns into demon and pursues her children
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
A demonic being swallows a multitude of people and animals. When it is killed and cut open, the swallowed ones come out alive or are revived
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
A supernatural helper (usually a loon) makes a blind man to regain his eyesight diving with him into water
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
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
Person loses his eyes because of his playfulness or negligence. He makes new eyes of some substance or/and takes eyes of another person
A man runs away from the house of powerful person but in the morning awakens in the same house again
Person is lost or becomes blind. He walks asking different trees their names and makes decisions according to their answers reaching ultimately his destination
Animal person promises to take care of another animal's children but do not fulfill obligations and usually eats the young ones
Every main star of the Big Dipper is interpreted as a particular person or animal
Person whose body is extraordinary hard and invulnerable or (rare) a small object is broken to pieces that turn into flints or other hard stones (the origin of flints)
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
When the elder sister becomes a cannibal, the younger one (temporarily) escapes. Cf. motifs L1B, L65C
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
The Belt of Orion is the animal or three animals, other star (of the Orion or outside of this constellation) is the hunter
To revive the dead, person shoots an arrow into the sky (it is suggested that the dead would be afraid of the arrow falling, jump aside and become alive)
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws entrails or contents of the stomach of an animal creating an obstacle on the way of the pursuer
Killing (injuring, offending) of some cruature (usually related to water) triggers deluge
A demon forces a woman to show him a particular part of her body because certain object should be put only there. He kills the woman pulling this part of her body out. Usually the woman serves or names different places and the demon rejects each one before the the place he wants is opened
Husband follows his dead wife to the other world but is unable to bring her back or succeeds to do it but loses her once again
Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
A woman gets into conflict with her brothers and turns into dangerous demon
Person does not know that he or she eats or cooks the meat of the member of his or her household (blood relation, more rare a spouse or servant) or serves it to his or her friends, or uses her or his bones for everyday needs, or slowly kills him ort her
Body members of a person has the form of cutting or piercing weapon
Wife of a blind man helps him to shoot a game but lies that he missed and secretly eats meat alone
A young woman turns into the bear (in Asia, into the tiger) and attacks her husband or close relatives
A girl (a woman, a group of women) intentionally takes a penis-being, a snake, an eel, a lizard, a worm, a big water animal or water monster or a big terrestrial mammal for paramour. People kill or maim the paramour, the woman and/or her progeny or she is transformed herself into an animal. She is blamed for her behavior
The blind person walks asking different trees their names and thus finds his way to the water
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)
A woman is murdered. Her son or children (rare: grandchildren, nephews) revenge for her death
Persons avenge the death of their father, mother or other relatives who are one (rare two) generations older than they