| 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 |
| a12b | Eclipses: a frog or toad | During an eclipse or at the sunset the Sun or the Moon are attacked by a frog or toad |
| 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) |
| a32b | The Moon toad | Frog or toad are seen in the moon or the Moon is associated with them |
| a32h | The Moon plant | A tree or bush is seen in the moon |
| a36 | The immortal Moon | The Moon, unlike people, revives or rejuvenates every month; or those who live in the Moon are immortal; or the Moon makes decision if people should die forever or regularly revive |
| a36a | The immortal Sun | The Sun, unlike people, is immortal; is responsible for the mortal nature of humans |
| a4 | Female sun | The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female |
| a4b | The Sun is afraid of the night | Being afraid of the night, the Sun decided to travel across the sky only at the day time |
| b1 | Two male creators | Two male anthropomorphic creators compete in producing things. One of them is or becomes master of the underworld and/or spirits while another is associated with humans |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| b2a | The female earth | The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman |
| 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 |
| b40 | Rabbit as deer’s proxy | Hare or rabbit is a false deer or it was deer in the past or a close kin of the deer or had horns or antlers or missed opportunity to get them, its ears are the false horns |
| b40a | Missed opportunity to have horns | Animal who has no horns now had them before or missed opportunity to get them |
| 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
|
| b77 | Primeval sky close to earth | Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up |
| c14 | Monsters destroy people | During or before the world catastrophe (deluge, darkness) wild beasts and monsters attack and destroy people |
| c19 | Acquisition of the sun | The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again) |
| 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) |
| d4a | Theft of fire | Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before |
| d4e1 | The dog and the fire | Dog obtains fire, daylight or the Sun or steals them |
| e23 | Fleas make person move | A handful of fleas or lice is thrown into people or into particular person. It was the only way to make him, her or them move and live |
| 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 |
| f10 | Vaginal teeth knocked out | 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 |
| 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 |
| f38 | Women and sacred knowledge | Women were possessors of the sacred knowledge, sanctuaries or ritual objects which are now taboo for them or they made attempts to acquire such a knowledge or objects |
| 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 |
| f59 | Man to woman: modified body | To make believe that he is a female, a trickster transforms particular objects or creatures into female body parts or into a baby child |
| 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 |
| f64a | Describes future husband | Going away or pretending to die, a person bids his or her relative to marry another person who resembles him (her) or has some special traits; or he describes a man who should be met as a dear guest; person comes himself unrecognized and is taken for one whom he had described |
| 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 |
| f82 | Incest with mother-in-law | 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 |
| f9 | A dangerous woman | For different reasons, sexual contact with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man |
| f9a | Vagina dentata | 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) |
| g5 | Food tree | Fruits and shoots of different cultivated plants grow on the branches of one tree (on one vine) or certain plant has a tree form that is alien to it in nature |
| 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 |
| h24 | Container opened too early | Container with valuables or with dangerous creatures is opened (before time). Its content goes out of control or disappear |
| h24a | A bag with stars | Person opens a bag with stars which ascend to sky in disorder |
| h27 | Mosquitoes let lose | Stinging insects (rare diseases) had been inside a container or some enclosure. They escaped to the world when the container or enclosure was foolishly opened |
| h33 | Walking babies | Children walked or could walk from the very birth but this ability was lost or never obtained |
| 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 |
| h36gg | Death and the coyote | Coyote is responsible for introduction of permanent death |
| h36j | Death and the lark | Lark 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 |
| i33 | Tree of the dead | The ultimate aim of the afterlife journey is to reach certain tree |
| i36 | Thunder and lightning are relatives, spouses or in-laws | Thunder and lightning (two thunders, two lightings) are close relatives, spouses or in-laws |
| i39 | Rainbow road or bridge | Rainbow is a road, a bridge or a ladder |
| i45b | Not to point at the rainbow | It to point at the rainbow, pointing finger or entire arm will rot, wither or become crooked |
| i45c | Not to count stars | Person who counts stars will suffer diseases and misfortunes |
| i47 | Rainbow is filth | Rainbow is a flatulence of a demon, a spray of a skunk, is associated with spit, urine, feces, genitals, etc., causes skin diseases, is associated with death |
| i62 | Milky Way is a river | Milky Way is a sky river, water body, chain of beings that swim |
| 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 |
| i7 | The cloud serpent | A flying reptile produces rain, thunderstorm |
| i72 | Stars are people | Stars are people, ghosts, anthropomorphic beings (interpretations of unique star objects like Venus or Polaris as persons not considered) |
| i8c | The suspended earth | The earth does not fall down or swing because it is suspended to ropes |
| i8i | Original earth unstable | Originally the earth was unstable and swung, then it was fixed up |
| 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 |
| j23 | A late son kills monsters | 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 |
| j23c | Youngest brother kills monsters | 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 |
| j30 | Parents’ remains | Before the hero destroys the antagonists or escapes from them, he finds or receives the remains or possessions that belonged to the antagonists' victim |
| j40b | Avenged prisoners | After the hero comes back after a long absence and finds his parents enslaved, he tells them to demonstrate openly a lack of respect to their masters and punishes those who were cruel with them |
| 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 |
| j4b | Revenge inside the family | Children (son, sons, son and daughter) of the murdered woman or man revenge on persons who have marital or close kin relations with the victom |
| j50 | An attempt to revive the victim | Twin heroes' parent dies or is killed, an attempt to revive him or her fails |
| j50b | Father more dead than alive | An attempt to revive the killed father (and uncle) is only partly successful because the revived person is unable to be among the living (to be a warrior). The hero decides to abandon him (in the other world) or to let him die forever |
| 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) |
| j53a | To involve in a game and to kill | A child suggests another to play. The one who has been invited follows the rules but the initiator does not do it and kills the other |
| j53a1 | A way of the revenge: to lure into the smoke and fire | The victim’s children kill the murderer’s children luring them in a place where the die of smoke or heath |
| j53b | The killed mother’s breasts | Two women live together, each one has children. When they are outdoors, one of them kills another and brings home her flesh. The victim’s children gets to see their mother’s breasts (in California: eyes or liver) or their mother’s breasts speak with them |
| 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 |
| j55 | Unrecognized hero comes across enemies | Hero comes across different creatures or persons who do not recognize him. Everyone tells that he is waiting for the Hero to kill him. The hero easily kills or transforms them himself |
| j66 | The gnawed through bow-strings | Hero or his helpers cut or gnaw through bow- and other strings of the enemies, make holes in their canoes in order to forestall pursuit |
| k10 | Fight with the monstrous bird | Monstrous bird (giant bat) predates on humans. Heroes fight with it |
| 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 |
| k19b | Star-husband | A woman maries a star-man |
| k19g | Two stars of different color and brightness | 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.) |
| k1h | Imprisoned in the tree-hollow | Person is imprisoned in a tree-hollow or inside a rock and is released by somebody who makes a hole from outside |
| 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 |
| k21a | Woman returns from the sky | A sky-dweller marries a woman. Being eager to return home, she secretly descends to 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 |
| k27e | Eating or drinking contest | Person or animal must eat (drink) enormous quantity of food (beverage) or eat or drink poisonous beverage or food |
| 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) |
| 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) |
| l103 | Obstacle flight (Atalanta type) | Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| l1b1 | Demonic woman and her brothers | A woman gets into conflict with her brothers and turns into dangerous demon |
| l36 | Woman attacks man who climbs a tree | When a man climbs a tree (escaping from persecutor; to get bird nestlings, honey, fruits, etc.), his wife (rare: her brother) kills, injures him or turns into demonic creature who pursues him |
| 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 |
| l43 | Dangerous persons eat filth | Persons who are dangerous for the hero (demons, robbers, merchants) take for something pleasant and edible those objects, creatures or matters (excrements, snakes, insects, etc.) that are disgusting (not edible) |
| 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. |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| l65 | Demonic baby | A baby or small child proves to be a demon, devours or injures people |
| l83 | Incomplete body turns into thunder | A rolling head or a man who has burned off his foot turns into or produces thunder or lightning |
| l85 | One-sided people | One-sided people have one leg and/or also one arm, one half of a head, etc. The second leg is not cut or burned off, preserved as a stump but is absent completely |
| l85e | One-leg people | Person has only one leg (and one arm) but has no problems with moving. Unlike motif L85 (one-sided people), the person’s body is complete |
| l87 | Taste of blood | Unintentionally, person gets to taste his or her own blood or flesh, likes the taste, turns into a cannibal |
| l98 | Cannibal owl | Dangerous cannibal or bush spirit who abducts children, attacks people, etc. is associated with an owl |
| m122 | Advisers inside | In a difficult situation animal person asks for advice his tail, anus or some beings that are inside him (excrements, parasites, his "sisters", etc.) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| m36 | Dismantles himself to crawl through an opening | Person is imprisoned inside a tree, stone, a ball of ice, etc. He or somebody else makes the opening but it is too narrow. The person puts himself to pieces (or turns into fog), inserts them into the opening, outside puts the pieces together again |
| 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 |
| m42b | Eyes of gum | Person loses his eyes, makes new ones of gum and is able to see again (though usually not well) |
| m52 | Butchered carcass | A small animal (not a predator) or a weak person kills a big game. He asks another (animal-)person to skin or butcher the carcass. The latter is willing but takes or tries to take all the meat for himself |
| 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 |
| m59 | Treacherous rider kills ferry animal | A small animal asks bigger one to bring him across the stream, rejects one by one all possible places to sit; finds the position that lets him kill the big animal after crossing the stream |
| m8 | Breaking the obstacle | Non-human persons work hard to destroy a strong and durable obstacle that blocks access to some place or object |
| 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 |