The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
Some creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, summer and winter, lunar phases) or irregularly (solar and lunar eclipses, eschatological events) attack the luminaries or shade their light
Human being or imprint of human being is seen in the moon
The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
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
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
Raven or other carrion-eating bird of dark color and a similar size was originally white
Catastropic displacement of layers of the univers in the past or in the future is mentioned. Among variants (sometimes combined):
the sky fell on the earth; the earth (the underworld) and the sky interchanged their positions; the earth turned upside down; the layers of the universe collapsed in one after another; they will change their place during the future cataclysm
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 turtle or a frog (toad) brings the desired object from the bottom of the water body or 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)
The destiny of creation depends on a person (usually an old woman) who is cooking soup somewhere outside of our world (in the sky, in the Moon, etc.)
In the sky, on the Moon (rare: on the Sun), i.e. somewhere outside of our world certain person is spinning, weaving, plaiting, or embroidering
The first people (or only the first men or the first women) are not created but come to earth from the underworld (from a cave) or from a small enclosure under the earth or on its surface (tree trunk, rock, gourd, etc.). Many people of both sexes and of different ages or people and different species of animals come out together
Child is born from a tumor or swelling on person's body (on thigh, knee, finger, etc.) or is temporarily placed there or child grows from blood that flew out from a cut
For different reasons, sexual contact with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man
There are teeth, blades or sharp stones in woman’s genitals, vagina is the biting mouth. (Only texts that are believed to correspond to reality are considered but not anecdotes and jokes)
Woman has another toothed mouth (usually in vagina) or biting animals in vagina. Man inserts there a stone, bone, stick, etc. breaking or knocking out the teeth or extracting from there dangerous animals
Penis is so long that he can turn it round his waist or send into a woman who is at a long distance from him. (Only texts considered to describe real events and beings and not anecdotes are included)
Person feeds another with the meat of his or her sexual partner who cooks or eats it without knowing whose meat it is
An (ostensibly) sick (ugly, weak, poorly clad) person remains at home when others go to the feast. The person comes by himself or herself looking like a handsome man or beautiful girl. The man (woman) does not recognize him (her) and feels against her (him) sexual interestю (All texts with motif k57, Chinderella, are also included into f62)
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 man uses a trick to have opportunity to make love to his mother-in-law or woman uses a trick to make love to her son-in-law. Usually a man takes with him on a hunt not his wife but her mother
Person or creature is transformed. Separate parts of its (his, her) body give origin to different objects or creatures (only etiological narratives are considered)
Demonic person turns into or consists of different household objects or tools (and into elements of a landscape)
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
Raven hides or scares game animals preventing hunters to kill them. People outwit him
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
Four cardinal directions and/or some objects associated with them are associated with different colors
Giant water-chthonic or sky serpent or dragon has horns or antlers on its head
Game animals live inside a mountain, in a cave or in the underworld where they often look like humans and have a master
Person who points at the Moon or a star or looks intently at them will get sick or die or his pointing finger will rot or wither
It to point at the rainbow, pointing finger or entire arm will rot, wither or become crooked
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)
Before present world, several (two or more) other worlds or races of people existed
One of constellations represents a hand with fingers
A boat is a fish, a living creature with a mouth, it can swallow people
Two or several brothers or friends are killed by antagonists. One of them is the father of the young hero who avenges their death or all of them are his uncles
A woman who is pregnant or has a small child falls from the sky. She or a daughter born by her dies but her (grand)son is grown up
A demonic creature has a form of two women half merged like Siamese twins
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
Antagonist perishes falling into the water or trying to cross a water body
Person is marooned on an islet or on another side of a sea or wide river
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
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
Two stars are men, an old and a young ones. They look different as about their color or brightness but these characteristics do not correlate (the bright star can prove to be an old man and vice versa. Usually two girls wish these stars for husbands and express different preferences (one prefers bright blue star, another wants small and red one, etc.)
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
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
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
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
Flying person or creature abducts a woman but is ultimately killed or the woman escapes from him
A young woman is transformed into an animal, pushed into the water, into the underworld or she herself has to plunge into water (acquire animal form). Her connection with the human world is not completely lost, however, and usually she is helped to return to the people
An imposter pretends to be the hero to take his position and/or to marry or to violate his woman
To return or to get his or her son, wife, husband, domestic animal or (rare) object, person must recognize her, him or it among several identical persons, animals or objects
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
A woman who is transformed into animal or driven out of the human world returns to her baby to feed and to care for him
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
Small objects and animals (rare: animals alone but including those who really are harmless) revenge on a powerful enemy making attack on him in succession (usually they hide in his or her house); the enemy is badly injured, runs away or dies
Because a small child is ignored or punished by its parents (usually it cries late in the evening), bush spirit or animal carries it away
Rolling head is a dangerous mobster (pursues celestial bodies, people etc.)
A monster kills victims with his or her sharp or stinging tail or protrusion on his or her back
Dangerous person tells simple-heartedly what he is afraid of giving the hero a good opportunity to scare him
Person who have eaten a prohibited meat or fish turns into monstrous snake or fish
People against their will must follow an object, a creature, or a person (usually stick to it) who/which leads or carries them far away, usually into the water or to the sky
Trickster takes off an object (often a blanket) that lies on or near a rock or other seemingly inanimate object and that has been presented to it. The object pursues or otherwise punishes the stealer
Rolling rock kills people, hero destroys it
Trickster takes a blanket or decorations which are a property of Rock or other seemingly inanimate object (usually the same trickster presented this blanket to Rock before)
A monstrous being is killed or neutralized by (burning hot) stones (pieces of metal, heavy fruits, etc.) thrown into its maw or anus or the being retreats when they menace to throw a stone into its maw
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)
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
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws objects that turn into mighty obstacles on the way of the pursuer. One of the thrown objects is a whetstone which turns into a mountain
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
A woman turns into demon and pursues her children
Person or creature pretends to be afraid of a particular sort of treatment that really cannot do him any harm
Turtle goes to war, kills people (usually a woman), is caught and killed but continues to live in its animal guise
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
Trickster asks an animal to transform him but breaks condition of transformation and acquires his original guise. Usually he asks a big horned animal (buffalo, elk) to turn him into buffalo (elk) too. Animal charges, trickster is scared. Next time he remains on the place, turns into buffalo but trying to transform the same way another person, turns back into his own self
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
Trickster suggests water fowl to dance around him with their eyes shut, kills them one by one. He warns that eyes of a bird who would open them become red. In some versions, the bird who opened its eyes got them really red
Trickster cooks meat that he got by deception but is unexpectedly jammed between trees or stuck to a stone. An animal (usually fox, wolf or coyote) steals all the meat
Trees squeak in the wind. Trickster hears a noise, climbs up the tree and is caught between limbs
Person kills game (usually by deception), gets to see how thieves carry it away but is unable to intervene
Somebody claims that he has been born before present world came into being. His opponent claims the same, and they argue who of them is the older
Every main star of the Big Dipper is interpreted as a particular person or animal
A man marries a woman who initially has guise of an ungulate animal (buffalo, elk, derr, etc.)
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
Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero is associated with an animal, a bird or a fish
A group of young men live apart. A girl comes to them or is born magically. The men keep her as their sister. After some time she is separated from them and is in danger but ultimately she is rescued
Dangerous person tells simple-heartedly what he is afraid of or what particular object is the receptacle of his life giving the hero a good opportunity to scare or to kill him
The only vulnerable spot is near the surface of person’s or creature’s body and not in his inner organs
Being smart and persistent, the turtle (toad, frog) overcomes strong adversaries
Each of several men (male animals of different species) surpasses all others in some kind of activity. They get to the place of their adversaries and thanks to their special qualities win different competitions and survive in dangerous situations. The tale is not related to the quest of a marriage partner
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
Person attracts and catches the carrion-eaters (usually some birds) and thanks to this obtains valuables retrieves valuables (fire, woman, animals, etc.)
Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
Hero is sent to bring a nestling of a dangerous bird
A woman who had changed into demon pursues her own children
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
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
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
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
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. 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