The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual
Visible sun and/or moon are the Sun's and/or the Moon's eyes. If these eyes were not injured, light and heat would be more intense
The Sun or the Moon is one-eyed (usually another eye was knocked or sucked out but sometimes this defect is not explained
After passing half of the its way across the sky (in the day time) or in the underworld (in the night time), the Sun stops to have a rest
The sun and/or the moon are inanimate objects thrown up to the sky or fixed in the sky
To make the Sun rise above the horizon, to send him to the right distance from the earth, to make him move across the sky, etc. a person has to be sacrificed
Person comes to the sun, attempts to fulfill the sun's duty but intentionally or because of a lack of skill does it wrong and the earth suffers from heat etc.
(Cf. Earth burned because the bearer of the sun came too low, Boas 2002: 664)
The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
The male Sky (the Sun, the Thunder, the creator of the sky) marries the female Earth (or its female creator) or the female Sky marries the male Earth
The earth or the world as a whole is a male person (alone or together with a female person)
Original earth was small and later increased in size or the fertile soil grew from a small amount of original substance
Children conflict with their parents who do not pay them enough attention, condemn their sexual behavior, do not give them enough food, clothes, etc.; the children abandon their parents and become birds, bats, atmospheric phenomena, or stars (usually the Pleiades)
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
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
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 flood birds or animals escape to some place (mountain, tree, boat, sky). Tips of their tails or other body parts get covered with water or foam and acquire their present color and form
Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before
Coyote or fox bring people the fire, the daylight or the Sun
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
Certain person is made of improper material and proves to be short-lived or unfit for fulfilling his functions
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
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
First people or people made by Creator's rival were imperfect, not completely anthropomorphic (often: had webbed fingers)
An anthropomorphic male or an androgyne is the only possessor or leader of women
The women and the men of the primeval community quarrel and abandon each other
There are (or were) women who live apart from men in their own village or villages
Person changes his or (rare) her guise to marry his or her close relative in descending or (rare) ascending line
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
Person or creature is transformed. Separate parts of its (his, her) body give origin to different objects or creatures (only etiological narratives are considered)
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
Wife dies, husband comes after her or he kills his untrue wife. The dead wife turns into monster and pursues him
Person comes to the land of the dead and brings back somebody who has recently died or brings his remains. The dead one becomes alive and lives normal life (for some time)
Game animals were concentrated in one single place. Certain person lets them disperse in the world
Raven hides or scares game animals preventing hunters to kill them. People outwit him
Container with valuables or with dangerous creatures is opened (before time). Its content goes out of control or disappear
Person opens a bag with stars which ascend to sky in disorder
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
The sky or the earth rests upon four or five (cardinal points and the center) supports of any kind (poles, mountains, giants)
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
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)
It to point at the rainbow, pointing finger or entire arm will rot, wither or become crooked
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
Birds, first of all vultures and eagles, live in the sky, usually at one or more layers of the upper world
Milky Way is the backbone of the sky or of all the world
One of constellations represents a hand with fingers
Spider person raises the hero to the sky, helps him or her to return back to earth or otherwise helps to overcome the borderlines between worlds
Spider-woman (rare: spider-man) is a patron of the hero who lives in her house and marries her daughter
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
Two sisters (if more, only two play a significant role in the plot) travel and meet an unpleasant suitor or get to an ogre
Person perishes because being forced to clean ogre's or animal’s head infected with insects, refuses to bite the insects, spits in disgust or is suspected to do it
Instead of lice, there are other (bigger or dangerous) creatures in the hair of some persons or he or she pretends that his or her hair is infested with them
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
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
Before the hero destroys the antagonists or escapes from them, he finds or receives the remains or possessions that belonged to the antagonists' victim
A youth or two siblings live in a house of an old man or woman. To produce a reaction from this older person, they kill a person or animal and stuff its skin with insects, worms, ashes, grass or blow it up
After killing their enemy, heroes have fun frightening their (grand)mother or father with its dummy
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
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
Twin heroes' parent dies or is killed, an attempt to revive him or her fails
A person (usually zoomorphic and female) treacherously kills her (his) companion. The victim's children revenge on the murderer killing her own children
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
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)
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
Twin heroes (or one boy) come to their divine father. He puts them under trials to get know if they are really his children and possess supernatural power
A virgin girl is impregnated by the Sun and gives birth to a son or twin boys. When her son (or the twins) grows up, he (they) comes to his father
A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
A tree or vine quickly grows up near the rock or in the bottom of a pit where the hero was marooned. He gets to the ground climbing down (or up) this tree (vine)
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 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)
Person or animal gets into another being through its anus
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
A boy is born whose father or (rare) mother is unknown. He himself points at his parent who as a rule occupies the lowest social position. Usually many men (women) come together and everyone hopes that the boy points at him (her)
Women 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) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a man hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him
An ordeal: to smoke a huge or poisonous pipe or to remain alive in poisonous smoke
An ordeal: to remain alive after contact with sharp points or blades
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
Hero and his adversary play hide-and-seek. The hero finds his adversary but the adversary cannot find him
An imposter pretends to be the hero to take his position and/or to marry or to violate his woman
Person is temporary transformed into animal (usually into a dog or coyote or into donkey, ox, etc.). When he acquires his human guise again, the antagonist suffers similar transformation. In some texts only the hero or only the antagonist is transformed
People abandon a boy, a girl, brother and sister, a group of children, or a young family without fire and food. A compassionate person conceals hot coals for the outlaws in the abandoned camp
A man disguised as a woman comes to his enemy and kills him at night (usually cuts off and carries away his head)
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
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.)
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
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
Person has killed an animal. A trickster attempts to appropriate all the meat. The person gets to carry the meat to the top of a tree and helps the trickster (or trickster's child) to get there too to share their meal. After eating, the trickster wishes to defecate or (rare) to drink. The person points to the tip of a thin branch as a right place for doing it. The trickster climbs there, falls and dies
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 a comb (a brush) that turns into mighty obstacle (usually a thicket) on the way of the pursuer. (In South America the motif is probably of European origin)
A demonic person or animal is killed but revives or can revive if a small piece of its flesh or blood goes out of control
Person sets off in search of fire and finds it in the house of a demon. The demon makes harm to the person
A woman turns into demon and pursues her children
Dangerous cannibal or bush spirit who abducts children, attacks people, etc. is associated with an owl
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
Being in a situation when his life depends on a good will of a demon or animal, person either resists or does not resist the temptation to insult or to beat, bite, etc. the latter
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
Person pursued by an enemy asks somebody whom he meets to help him. The helper hides him
A long-necked bird living near water (stork, heron, bittern, swan) saves person from dangerous pursuer
Acquiring possibility to fly, person ultimately falls to the ground or remains in a faraway place being unable to fly any more
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a porcupine
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
Person or person's head is split with the blow of an axe. Person remains (or must remain if the procedure is realized in correct way) uninjured
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
Person is sent to receive something of relatively low value. He asks to give him quite different object (to provide a service) and asks one who had sent him to confirm the demand. Usually a person or animal comes to a wife or a son of a powerful one and tells her or him that her (his) husband or father tells to give him food, to make love to him, to marry him, etc.
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 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
Porcupine asks other animal to ferry him across river, rejects different places to sit, occupies a place where he can easily kill the animal after crossing the river and really kills him
Person joins dancers but then understands that these are trees or reeds moved by the wind
Person, animal, fish or (rare) a fruit is eaten up and then revived, usually after all bones (all seeds) being put together
A bird stands with one leg tucked under it, putting its head under its wing; turtle draws its head and limbs under its shell. Person decides that the bird has one leg, no head, turtle has neither head nor limbs, asks to cut him his head and limbs off
Person asks another how her or his children got their pretty colors. Another answers that she or he put them into the fire. roasted, etc. The first person believes, kills his or her children
Animal person promises to take care of another animal's children but do not fulfill obligations and usually eats the young ones
A man marries a woman who initially has guise of an ungulate animal (buffalo, elk, derr, etc.)
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
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 the Sun, Moon, Thunder, or Wind (Cloud, Rain)
One (animal) person refuses to use different body parts of another besides the only one the use of which causes another’s death
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
Birds first give their feathers to a certain person to make him be able to fly or to make him beautiful and then take them back
The only vulnerable spot is near the surface of person’s or creature’s body and not in his inner organs
Stars are children of the Moon and/or the Sun
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the fox, jackal or coyote suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Female person is incarnation of wind, mother of winds, etc.
Fire is personified as an (elder) woman, alone or with her husband, master of fire
The fire is personified as an elder man (alone or with his wife, mistress of fire)
Lightning emerges from eyes or mouth of the being who is thought to produce thunderstorms
Person who got into the place of a deity responsible for atmospheric phenomena breaks certain taboo or instructions producing excessive thunderstorm, rain, snowfall or wind
Morning and Evening stars are opposed as a man and a woman or vice versa
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
Rivers (lakes) of blood (also of puss, bones, sweat or water used for washing of corpses) are mentioned in narratives (in different context)
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
A mouse, a small bird, a porcupine or other animal (rare: person) of a small size gets inside a big ungulate (elk, deer, buffalo, tapir) to kill (and then usually to eat) him
Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
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
Another sun, usually less benevolent and/or powerful, existed before the present one
Severed human heads are compared with balls or used as balls
Person who is the incarnation of fertility and life first disappears and then (reriodically) returns
A woman gives birth to a son after being impregnated by the sun(shine) or sun(beam)
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
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
The bear (lion) takes a woman for sexual partner or the she-bear takes a man. They have children who look like humans or bear cubs. More rare the woman gives birth to her son in the bear den because being abducted by the bear she was pregnant
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.
The zenith and/or nadir are described together with four cardinal directions as the fifth (and the sixth) ones
Persons avenge the death of their father, mother or other relatives who are one (rare two) generations older than they