| Motif | Name | Description |
| a12 | Eclipses: monster’s attack | 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 |
| a12a | Eclipses: a predator animal | During an eclipse or at other circumstances the Sun or the Moon are attacked by a predator animal (a bear, a feline, a canine, a racoon) |
| a27 | Crowns of the Sun and Moon | Light and/or heat of the Sun and/or Moon originate from their crowns, necklaces or clothes (of feathers, of animal teeth) |
| a38 | The Sun caught in snare | 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. |
| a38b | Mouse gnaws snare open | After the Sun is caught into snare only mouse, shrew or other small animal is able to cut it open |
| a5 | The Sun and the Moon are males | The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual |
| b17 | Night in container | Darkness is a particular object that can be carried (usually brought from its original owner in a container) |
| 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. |
| b29 | Eschatological feast | People turn into animals, birds or stones at a feast, after the feast, after performing a ritual or after a victory over dangerous enemy |
| 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 |
| b50 | Whose blood is sweeter? | An insect feeds on human blood (flesh). Dangerous person asks it where it had sucked blood or whose blood (flesh) is the most delicious. Usually the insect lies or cannot answer (its tongue is cut off) and thanks to this dangerous person attacks certain plants or animals and not people |
| b51 | Mosquito and thunder | Thanks to intentional misinformation, Thunder did not get know that
bloodsucking insect has sucked human blood
|
| b53 | Creatures or objects from cut off genitals | Supernaturally big genitals are cut off and turn into snakes or other creatures and objects |
| b61 | The mole’s paw | Mole had to support the sky or the Sun that had fallen down. Usually its paw (hand) remained crooked after this |
| b7a | The spit out water | Somebody is the only possessor of water or certain beverage. Another person drinks it, escapes and spits out making it available for the people |
| b8 | Frog hides the water | Frog hides all the water but other person makes it available for everybody |
| b86 | Babylonian tower | To reach the sky (the Sun, Moon, particular star), people build a ladder or tower that consists of separate modules (bricks, logs, sticks, etc.). This construction collapses |
| c19 | Acquisition of the sun | The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again) |
| c2 | Deluge and conflagration combined | Inhabitans of the Middle World are (partly) destroyed (or will be destoyed) once by fire or draught, another time by a flood or the world is destroyed with a flood of fire or boiling water |
| c25b | A spinner in the Moon | 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 |
| c5a | Bird-scouts | 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 |
| 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) |
| c6a | The diver is turtle or frog | A turtle or a frog (toad) brings the desired object from the bottom of the water body or from the lower world |
| 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) |
| d10 | Fire sticks are two persons | A male and a female persons personify fire-sticks |
| d1b | Male spirit of fire | The fire is personified as an elder man (alone or with his wife, mistress of fire) |
| d4a | Theft of fire | Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before |
| d4e | Coyote or fox obtain fire | Coyote or fox bring people the fire, the daylight or the Sun |
| d4m | Fire owners dance | Person comes to the owners of fire or light. They feast and dance. He joins them and in a proper moment carries away the valuables |
| d5 | Woman as the owner of the fire | Female person is the owner or inventor (but not the personification) of the fire |
| d7 | Fire and toad | Frog or toad possesses the fire, steals it from original owner, tries to extinguish or to save it |
| e29 | Lizard gives proper hands | Two persons (usually Coyote and Lizard) argue if people's hand has to be like a paw or people should have fingers |
| e37 | Peoples from sticks | Creator takes many small sticks, transforms them into people of both sexes and all ages |
| e4 | Creation from dirt of the skin | Supernatural person creates the entire earth, human or other beings of dirt taken from his or her skin, from under the nails, etc. |
| f18c | Girls at the opposite bank | Seeing a girl on the opposite bank of a river, person uses tricks to have sex with her: sends his long penis, transforms his penis into a bridge or a dam, dives and copulates with a girl from under the water |
| f35a | Feeding with the kin’s meat | 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 |
| f42a | Men turn into birds | Young men and boys turn into birds or bats, fly away |
| f52 | Pubic hair for a bird’s crest | A bird person gets his crest putting on his head a pubic hair of a woman or part of her genitals |
| f56 | Watching vagina triggers incest | A man or boy thinks about incest when he gets to see his daughter(-in-law)'s, sister's, or mother(in-law)'s vagina |
| f58 | Trickster and women | A man cohabits with a group of women (or with several women in succession) concealing his identity and/or intentions. He is either eventually exposed and punished by women or escapes to continue his tricks |
| f60 | Trickster cures maiden | A girl gets sick. A man comes to cure her but only copulates with her or makes an attempt to do so |
| f61 | Trickster rapes a woman who carries him on her back | A man pretends to be weak, ill or injured, asks a woman to carry him on her back. When she agrees, he makes attempt to copulate with her |
| f62 | Incognito at the feast | 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) |
| f64 | The lecherous parent | Person changes his or (rare) her guise to marry his or her close relative in descending or (rare) ascending line |
| f65 | The false burial | 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 |
| f66 | The false house | Person’s father, grandson, brother, or sister pretends to be a stranger to commit incest (accordingly with the daughter, grandmother, sister, or brother), or a husband shams to be his wife’s brother because he wants to be taken by her as her blood relative. To realize his or her stratagem, the hero imperceptibly runs to another house where the object of his or her interest later comes and takes him or her for a stranger |
| f69 | Obscene invitation | A woman's husband or male relative asks her (grand)children to invite her to make love with him. The invitation is expressed in an allegoric form. She understands, comes to him |
| g2 | The return of Persephone | Person who is the incarnation of fertility and life first disappears and then (reriodically) returns |
| h17 | Ring of defenders around the chief | Ancestors surround their (dead) chief trying to defend him or his corpse. A trickster gets to go through the ring, kills the chief or steals and devours his heart |
| h1a | The originator of death the first sufferer | One person wants man to live forever, another wants man to be mortal. When somebody dear to the latter one dies, he or she is eager to accept the suggestion of his or her opponent but the original decision cannot be changed |
| h1b | Death of a neighbor’s child | Person does something that makes death inevitable because the death of a child or a woman beloved by another person is indifferent or desirable for him or her |
| 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 |
| h32a | Superfertility lost: a maltreated wife | Supernatural woman comes to live with humans. Thanks to that, food becomes easily available. She is maltreated, goes away, temporal superfertility is lost forever |
| h34a | Controversy over conditions of life | 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 |
| h34e | The edible snow | Snow was edible or something edible was falling from the sky instead of the snow |
| h34f | Walking baskets | Baskets carried loads by themselves |
| h36gg | Death and the coyote | Coyote is responsible for introduction of permanent death |
| h5 | People and snakes | Reptiles or invertebrates possess the medicine of immortality; are contrasted with men as immortal with mortals and/or are responsible for originating of death; or a snake's bite inflicts the first 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 |
| i11 | Cosmic turtle or toad | A turtle, toad, or frog supports the earth (sky) or is its embodiment |
| i11a | The earth was put on the back of a turtle (frog) | It is described how the earth was obtained and put on the back of a turtle or frog |
| i13a | The horned serpent | Giant water-chthonic or sky serpent or dragon has horns or antlers on its head |
| 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) |
| i22f | Clashing trees | Person must go beyond relatively small objects (trees, logs, blades) which are incessantly clashing and parting, rising and falling |
| i36 | Thunder and lightning are relatives, spouses or in-laws | Thunder and lightning (two thunders, two lightings) are close relatives, spouses or in-laws |
| i45b | Not to point at the rainbow | It to point at the rainbow, pointing finger or entire arm will rot, wither or become crooked |
| i49 | The running earthquake | Earthquake is a person. Whenever he or she runs or walks, the earth trembles |
| i65 | Milky Way of the dead | Milky Way is the path over which souls travel to the beyond or a path of the funeral procession |
| i66 | Ashes on Milky Way | Milky Way is ashes or smoldering coals |
| i75 | World ages | Before present world, several (two or more) other worlds or races of people existed |
| j1 | The vengeful heroes | Persons avenge the death of their father, mother or other relatives who are one (rare two) generations older than they |
| j12 | Travelling girl walks across suitors | A girl (or two sisters) travel, usually in search of a proper marriage partner who lives far away or who has gone away. On her way or after reaching the place of destination the girl gets to some unpleasant suitors |
| j12d | Imposter kills his rival | After a girl marries a valuable suitor, a rejected imposter or his relations kill him |
| 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 |
| j22a | Two men from one | Two men or a man and a woman appear from two halves of the cut in two anthropomorphic body or embryo; or another man appears from part of the body of the first one or from his body discharge |
| j31 | Father’s weapon | A young hero obtains and uses weapons or other powerful objects which belonged to his murdered father |
| 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 |
| j45 | The stretched out leg (crane bridge) | Person stretches his or her leg or neck as a bridge across water body. The fugitives or those who walk ahead cross the bridge; the persecutor or those who are behind usually fall because the person takes his bridge off |
| j46 | Enemy drowns | Antagonist perishes falling into the water or trying to cross a water body |
| j4a | Revenge for the death of the mother | A woman is murdered. Her son or children (rare: grandchildren, nephews) revenge for her death |
| j52 | Two animal persons and their children | A person (usually zoomorphic and female) treacherously kills her (his) companion. The victim's children revenge on the murderer killing her own children |
| j52a | Bear as antagonist | A bear-person (usually Bear-woman) kills her or his female companion who is associated with a weaker animal – not a predator or a weaker predator. The victim's children revenge on the antagonist killing her own children and / or run away and escape |
| j53 | The fawns and the cubs | Children of the ungulate animal person (deer, doe, antelope) become the enemies of a predator or bigger ungulate animal person. They kill her (him) and (or) successively escape from her (him) |
| j53c | One of two female companions kills another | Two co-wives of female companions live together, both have children. Once when they go to work outdoors (usually to gather wild plants), one of them kills and devours another. The victim's children escape |
| k136a1 | Youth’s hair picked up from a river | A woman finds the youth’s hair that was carried by water and decides to marry its owner |
| k177 | The travelling heroine | A girl or young woman sets off to find or return her fience or her husband or she escapes from a fanger and ultimately marries happily |
| k2 | The destroyed ladder | 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) |
| k25c | Baby under a tussock | Digging roots or gathering sea food on a beach, a woman finds baby-boy. Usually her mother warns her not to dig a certain bulb or not to do it in a certain way. Breaking taboo, the woman finds or conceives baby-boy |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| k27b | Ordeal: to smoke a pipe | An ordeal: to smoke a huge or poisonous pipe or to remain alive in poisonous smoke |
| k27n | Difficult tasks of the in-laws | A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage |
| k27n3a | Task-giver is the Sun, Moon, Thunder, or Wind | Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero is associated with the Sun, Moon, Thunder, or Wind (Cloud, Rain) |
| 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 |
| k27t | Climbing contest | A contest: to climb a pole or tree |
| k29a | Surviving in a fire | Hero demonstrates his supernatural abilities remaining alive in a burning hot chamber, stove, bonfire, among burning vegetation |
| k3 | Tree or rock grows taller | Hero climbs up a tree or rock to get eggs, nestlings, fruits, honey, etc. Another person makes the tree (rock) grow higher or thicker and the hero is unable to descend back |
| k34 | Fatal swing | Person kills others inviting them to sit on a swing and launching them into water, on rocks, etc. |
| k4 | The bird nester | 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 |
| k42 | Bird-woman kills men (The loon-woman) | Bird-woman is energetically searching a man whom she likes, takes him by force for her husband. Turning into a monster, she kills men but is ultimately destroyed |
| k75 | The youngest daughter is willing (The loathsome bridegroom) | 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 |
| k87 | Marriage with an animal creates problems | A woman becomes the wife of an animal (rare: other non-human being). Her husband cares for her but ultimately the animal, the woman, her children or her relations are killed, she turns into an animal herself, animals and humans become enemies, etc. |
| l15a | Vulnerable place on the body | The only vulnerable spot is near the surface of person’s or creature’s body and not in his inner organs |
| l15a1 | Achilles' heel | Vulnerable place on the body of a person or creature is on his or her foot (toe, heel, sole, ankle) |
| l1b1 | Demonic woman and her brothers | A woman gets into conflict with her brothers and turns into dangerous demon |
| l24 | Monsters suffocated | Demons (or one of them) attack people and return to their den (usually a cave or tree hollow). People make suffocating fire around the den killing most or all of the demons |
| l29 | Fish from a forest pool | Person catches fish in a place where it ought not live, i.e. in a forest pond or in a tree hollow isolated from other water bodies. After eating he dies, is transformed and/or attacked by monsters |
| l38a | A sticky trap | Person sticks to an object, usually touching it one by one with his body members. The object is a trap of demonic creature or is a non human creature itself |
| l41 | Hero escapes on the way | An ogre or ogress catches a person and carries his or her prey home but the person escapes on the way or immediately after reaching the ogre's house |
| l50 | Cliff ogre | A person kills those who are passing by him. Usually he does not attack them all of a sudden but first distracts their attention. Usually he throws down his victims into a precipice, lake, etc. |
| l53 | Stones into the maw | 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 |
| l5c | Rolling head is a dangerous monster | Rolling head is a dangerous mobster (pursues celestial bodies, people etc.) |
| l61 | Endocannibal | Person devours his or her own flesh or disembowels himself or herself |
| l70 | Fruit falls and kills | Person or animal is killed or injured with a heavy object dropped from a tree (or rock, etc.). The person or the animal knows that the objects will fall but has falls ideas about its character and weight |
| l87 | Taste of blood | Unintentionally, person gets to taste his or her own blood or flesh, likes the taste, turns into a cannibal |
| m11 | The unclean food | Person feeds others a food that is extracted from his, hers or somebody else’ body or is polluted by body extractions not informing about the source of the food |
| m11c | Person gets lard from his body | A male person cuts or roasts his own body to extract meat, lard or blood, cooks it and serves to his guest without injuring himself. Such a food is not considered to be unclean |
| m12 | The unlucky hunter | 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 |
| m22 | Helpful stock | A long-necked bird living near water (stork, heron, bittern, swan) saves person from dangerous pursuer |
| 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 |
| m29b | Trickster-fox, jackal or coyote | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote |
| m29b2 | The bear is a failure/enemy | Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies |
| m29g | Trickster-hare or rabbit | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is hare or rabbit |
| 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 |
| m32 | Anus opened | Food or liquid that person swallows are immediately pouring out from his bottom part |
| m38 | Stupid imitation (all versions) | Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food |
| m38a | The bungling host | Being on a visit to other people or (more often) animals, an (animal)-person sees them act using magic or according to their animal nature. Back at home, he imitates their actions and gets in trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and mostly refer to providing and cooking food |
| m49 | Man in a skin of another | 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 |
| m51 | Meat in a tree | One of two animal-persons kills game. In the absence of the stronger one, the weaker one hides the meat to eat it alone later |
| 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 |
| m53c | Red eyes | 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 |
| m57a | Beads discharged from the body | Instead of common body discharges a man or a woman urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular person |
| m57a2 | Male person is the producer of valuables | Instead of common body discharges a a man urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular male person. See motif m57a |
| m58 | Plant or trail saves from fire | World is ablaze, fire pursues a person. Some objects or elements do not resist the heat and cannot hide him. The last named gives protection. Earth becomes cool, person continues his travel |
| m8 | Breaking the obstacle | Non-human persons work hard to destroy a strong and durable obstacle that blocks access to some place or object |
| m89 | Melted wax | Person dies or is humiliated after some object that he or she made of wax, resin, excrements and/or took for something worthy are melted down |
| m8a | Birds peck a rock to release prisoners | Birds and sometimes also animals work hard to break from the outside or from the inside a rock, a tree truck, bonds, etc. to release some beings or themselves from confinement in a small enclosure or trap |