I4D. The stolen Thunder gun, ATU 1148B. .27.31.
The enemy steals a weapon (usually a musical instrument) that the thunder god uses to cause a thunderstorm. The Thunder or his assistant comes unrecognized to the kidnapper, takes possession of his weapon and kills enemies.
Ancient Greece, Scandinavians, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Finns, Karelians, Estonians, Seto, Livs, Latvians, Lithuanians, Prussians (?).
The Balkans. Ancient Greece [Acts of Dionysus by Nonn of Panopolitan (5th century): While Zeus is lying on a bed with Plutó, the gods soar from above the Nile like birds; Typhon kidnaps Z.'s peruns, which he hid in the cave; "Swarms he roared heavily /He shouted and screamed everything with a cry, only to a decent beast, /For the snake rings of bodies wriggled over the mouth/Leopards, licked terrible lion manes, /Curling into ball, bovine horned muzzles/Double tails; boar mixed with saliva, /The poison emanated from the mouths, flying from the tongues of the sharp-headed!" (hereinafter referred to as transl. Yu.A. Golubets); T. hides the kidnapped peruns in his shelter; pulls many paws to the sky; enough Kinosurida {Little Bear}, Bear {Ursa Major}, Ploughman {Boobas}, Erigeney {Eos}, Aquarius, Capricorn and Aries; the constellation Pisces throws into the sea; wraps around Dragon and Andromeda with snakes; grabs the "world pillars" and Atlanta; takes possession of Poseidon's wagon, throws his horse into the sky; Helium's chariot is hit by paths; T. throws a bull at Selena, torments her with the roar of snakes; Orion, Dog and other constellations fight T.'s snakes; he throws boulders; hardly picks up perun and uses it clumsily; Pan gives Cadmus looks like a shepherd and gives him a flute; Zeus tells K. to play it for T.; K.'s play attracts T.; he leaves the peruns in the cave under the supervision of his mother Gaia; promises K. that he will reward him by placing him on the sky is among the constellations; K. replies that he would sing him by playing the kithara, but her strings are burned by Z.; T. returns to the cave, takes Z.'s tendons obtained during the battle {without details}, and gives them to K.; he hides them in a cave to return Z., and charms T. by playing the flutes; Z. sneaks into the cave, returns the peruns; envelops K. in a cloud; T. is angry, goes to Olympus; on the way he exterminates animals and plants; Zeus hits the clouds, causes thunder; fights T., throws peruns at him, flies on a quadriga; Typhon wounded by Zeus "stretched out all the ridge on Mother Gaia, /And the serpentine dicks stretch out in dust in a circle, /Fire spewing out of his throat"; the constellations return to their places; Z. thanks K. and rises to heaven in a chariot]: Nonn. Dion. I. 142-320, 362-534, II (brief retelling in Frog 2011:87).
Baltoscandia. Scandinavians [giant Holyme stole Thor's hammer. Loki took Freya's feather outfit, flew to the yotuns, and found out that Hold was demanding Freya's hammer to return to his wife. Freya is furious. The people's father Heimdall advised Thor to wear a woman's outfit and pretend to be Freya. Loki, in the form of a maid, goes with him. The hold is surprised that the bride eats so much and her eyes sparkle so much. Loki explains that she hadn't eaten or slept for eight days because she was so eager to see the yotuns. Hrum brings a hammer, Thor kills all giants, men and women with it]: Elder Edda 1963:60-63 (commentary in Frog 2011:87); Swedes, Norwegians, Faroese, Danes [about the same plot in ballads up to the 19th and 20th centuries]: Frog 2011:88; Liungman 1961, No. 1148N [the motif was also known in East Prussia]: 267; Estonians (note, p. 291: "The text was known to Kreutzwald from records by I. Lagos; he redesigned it a little, giving it a more acute social orientation") [the merchant laid a line of soul on the condition that he would work for him for 7 years for free; during a thunderstorm that's scary He is afraid, he agreed with him: the devil will not demand a soul if the merchant helps steal the thunder bagpipes; the devil put the merchant on his shoulders, grew to the clouds; Thunder (Kõu) slept there; the merchant put it on his nose the louse, the Thunder wiped it off with his hand, letting go of the bagpipe; the merchant grabbed it, gave the line; he hid it in the underworld; the merchant repented and asked the sage to send a message to Thunder; When he found out where his bagpipes were, he would get it himself; the sage sent an eagle to Thunder; the thunder took the form of a boy; knowing that the devil was stealing fish from fishermen, he arranged it so that the fisherman also saw it; the fisherman asked the sage enchant the line so that it gets entangled in the net; the devil was beaten for a long time; agreed to take a ransom; the devil brought the fisherman and the boy to hell; the fisherman asked the devil to play the bagpipes, the hell extracted the incomprehensible sounds; fisherman: my boy is playing; taking the bagpipes, the Thunder took its form, stunned the inhabitants of the underworld; promised that during a thunderstorm, fishing nets would be filled with catch; forgave the merchant by taking him employees]: Kreutzwald 1969, No. 13:108-112; Finns, Karelians, Estonians, Seto, Livs, Latvians, Lithuanians [Gromovnik's opponent kidnaps his musical (or other) instrument with which he makes a thunderstorm; he or his assistant comes unrecognized, undertakes to play his instrument (others are unable to do so), hits enemies with thunder and lightning; Lithuanians many details are omitted]: Frog 2011:82-86.