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Aarne–Thompson–Uther index
About this index and how to read it
The ATU index classifies international folktales by type. Each row gives the type number, its title and summary, followed by the references it inherits: Arne Thompson is the earlier Aarne–Thompson type number, and Thompson lists the motif references from Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature associated with that type.
Cross-references inside a summary open the relevant tale-type or motif record. Thompson motif references in the final column are linked directly to the corresponding entry in the Stith Thompson Motif Index when that reference exists in the database. Any column heading can be clicked to sort by it, and clicking again reverses the order. Following a type number opens that type on its own page.
| ATU | Title | Summary ▲ | Arne Thompson | Thompson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 853 | Contest in Repartee | Takes along a dead crow and other objects which he has found. I. The Contest. A princess is offered in marriage to the youth who outwits her in repartee. II. The Clues. On the way to the contest the hero picks up a dead crow, an egg, and other… | , 853, 853A | H507.1., H507.1.0.1., K1331. |
| 945 | Luck and Intelligence. Which is More Powerful? | Test: peasant who has intelligence in his head is brought to court. Luck saves trim. I. Introduction. (a) Intelligence end Luck dispute as to which is the more powerful. (b) As a test a gardener is endowed with intelligence. II. The Wooden Doll. (a)… | , 945 | D435.1.1., F1023., F954.2.1., H343., H621., N141., Z16.1. |
| 927 | Out-riddling the judge | The accused is set free when the judge cannot solve the riddles propounded to him. The riddles: (a) what has seven tongues in one head? (bird's nest with seven young found in a horse's head); (b) formerly I was a daughter, now I am a mother; (c) or… | , 927 | H542., H792., H793., H804., H805., H806., H807. |
| 1029 | The woman as cuckoo in the tree | The anger-bargain is to cease when the cuckoo crows. The ogre's wife climbs into the tree and imitates the cuckoo. She is shot down. [K1691]. | 1029 | K1691. |
| 210 | The Traveling Animals and the Wicked Man | The animals and objects hide themselves in various parts of a house. They punish with their characteristic powers the owner of the house and finally kill him. Cf. Type 130. | 210 | K1161. |
| 206 | Straw Threshed a second Time | The animals eating at night say they have good food because the straw has not been well threshed. The master hears and threshes it a second time. They grow hungry. (Animals' voices imitated in telling story.) Cf. Types 106, 2075. | 206 | J2362. |
| 52 | The Ass without a Heart | The ass as toll-gatherer is killed by the lion for asking for toll. The fox eats the ass's heart. When the lion asks for it, the fox replies that the ass could have had no heart since he was such a fool as to ask the lion for toll. | 52 | K402.3. |
| 51 | The Lion's share | The ass divides booty equally between himself, the fox, and the lion. The lion eats the ass. The fox then divides: gives the lion meat and keeps bones. | 51 | J811.1. |
| 1214 | The Persuavive Auctioner | The auctioneer praises the man's worthless cow so much in his speech that the man takes her back himself [J2087]. | 1214 | J2087. |
| 2 | How the bear lost his tail | The bear (wolf) is persuaded to fish with his tail through a hole in the ice. His tail freezes fast. When he is attacked and tries to escape, he loses his tail. | 2, 2A, 2B, 64 | K1021, K1021.1., K1021.2. |
| 8 | "Painting" on the Haycock | The bear (wolf) wants to be painted like the birds. The fox persuades him to lie on a haycock and sets fire to it. | 8, 8A | K1013., K1013.2 |
| 7 | The calling of three tree names | The bear and the fox wager as to which can name three trees first. The bear names different varieties of the same tree. The fox wins the wager. | 7 | N51 |
| 1161 | The Bear Trainer and His Cat | The bear drives the ogre from the room. »Is the big cat still living?» Cf. Type 957. A man with a bear passes the night in a place frequented by ogres. The ogres come, discover the bear, think it is a cat, and try to feed it. The bear chases them… | 1161 | K1728. |
| 116 | The Bear on the Hay-Wagon | The bear on the hay-wagon (or on the horse) is mistaken for the preacher . | ||
| 957 | The Bear Chases the Robbers | The bear-keeper end his bears overnight in the stable when the robbers come. [K335.1.9]. Cf. Types 177, 1161. | ||
| 1052 | A Contest in Carrying a Tree | The boastful trickster (fox) has the ogre (bear) carry the branches of the tree while he carries the trunk. He rides on the trunk. [K71]. Cf. Type 1640. | 1052 | K71. |
| 1051 | Springing with a Bent Tree | The boastful trickster bends down a tree, but when he pauses to catch his breath the tree shoots him into the sky. [K1112]. | 1051 | K1112. |
| 1049 | The heavy axe | The boastful trickster told to cut wood with an axe or get water in a bucket demands one large enough to bring in the whole well (cut the whole forest). The ogre is frightened. [K1741.1, K1741.3]. | , 1049 | K1741.1., K1741.3. |
| 1610 | To Divide Presents and Strokes | The boy (peasant) promises the soldier what the king has promised to give him. The soldier receives a beating in place of the boy. [K187]. Cf. Types 1642, 1689. | 1610 | K187. |
| 1611 | Contest in Climbing the Mast | The boy falls from the mast and lodges in the rigging: »You do the same thing!» The sailors are persuaded that he is an expert sailor. [K1762]. | 1611 | K1762. |
| 450 | Brother and Sister | The boy is turned into a roe by the cruel stepmother. Lives with his sister in the forest. The king marries the sister. Her stepmother usurps her place as wife. Disclosure, punishment, and reunion. Cf. Types 403, 480, 533. I. Cruel Stepmother. A… | , 450 | D114.1.1., D150., D555., D688., H13., K1911.1.2., N711.1., P253.2., S31. |
| 725 | The Dream | The boy refuses to tell his dream to his father, and even to the king. Various adventures. Conquers enemies, wins the princess. Thus the dream is fulfilled. The boy dreams that his parents shall serve him and that the king shall pour water on his… | , 725 | D1812.3.3., H551., L425., M312.0.1. |
| 720 | From the Juniper Tree | The boy's bones transformed into a bird. The bird lets the millstone fall on the mother. Becomes boy again. I. The Murder. (a) The little boy is slain by his cruel stepmother, who closes the lid of a chest on him. (b) She cooks him and serves him to… | , 720 | E607.1., E610.1.1., G61., Q412., S121. |
| 1736 | The stingy parson | The boys do no mowing the whole day. »May the grass grow up again! May the gold in the purse turn to wasps!» A parson is known for being unusually stingy. He sends his boys to the meadow to mow, and they do nothing. On the way home one of them… | ||
| 885 | The Poor Boy Betrothed to the Maiden | The bride stolen. The girl's parents coerce her into pledging herself to the preacher. The hero comes in disguise to the wedding. The preacher in jest trusts him with the girl. [K1371.1]. He reveals himself. | ||
| 363 | The Vampire | The bridegroom eats corpses in three churches [E251.3.1, G20]. He appears to his bride in the form of her father, her mother, etc. [D40, D610] and when she tells about his habit he devours her. | 363 | G20. |
| 976 | Which was the Noblest Act? | The bridegroom, the robber, and the lover. A bridegroom permits his bride to fulfill a promise to visit her lover on her wedding night. On the way she meets robbers. When he hears her story one of the robbers conducts her to her lover. On hearing her… | 976 | H1552.1. |
| 780 | The Singing Bone | The brother kills his brother (sister) and buries him in the earth. From the bones a shepherd makes a flute which brings the secret to light. In different versions the murder is revealed in several different ways [N271]: (a) an instrument (harp,… | , 780 | D1610.34., E632., N271. |
| 312 | The Bluebeard | The brother rescues his sisters. See analysis of Type 311 (I a, b, c; II; III a) for introduction.The youngest sister threatened with death for disobedience asks respite for prayer. Her brother with the aid of animals kills the ogre (cf. Type 300)… | , 312, 312D | C611., C920., F611.1.1., G551.1.1., K555., T511.3.3. |
| 1600 | The fool as murderer | The brothers put a he-goat in place of the body and thus save their brother. [H472.1, K661.1]. Cf. Type 1381B, C, E. | 1600 | NA |
| 1270 | The Drying of the Candle | The candle is laid in the stove to dry; melts [J2122]. | 1270 | J2122. |
| 1281 | Burning the Barn to Destroy an Unknown Animal | The cat (owl) is bought. Eats many mice. To kill it they set the house on fire. [J2101]. Cf. Type 1651. | 1281, 1281A | J1815., J2101. |
| 2034 | The Mouse Regains its Tail | The cat bites off the mouse's tail and will return it in exchange for milk. The mouse goes to the cow for milk, the farmer for hay, the butcher for meat, the baker for bread. Other persons mentioned are the locksmith and the miner. [Z41.4]. | ||
| 105 | The fox and the cat | The cat has only one trick and saves herself in a tree. The fox who knows a hundred tricks is captured. | 105, 105* | J1662., K522. |
| 103 | War between Wild Animals and Domestic Animals | The cat shrieks; the bear falls out of the tree and breaks his backbone. | 103, 103A, 103A*, 104 | B262., B281.9.1., NA |
| 920 | The son of the king (Solomon) and of the smith | The children are exchanged. In the children's play Solomon acts as king. Shows his cleverness. I. Expulsion of the Prince. (a) The prince is expelled from home because (a1) he reports from his mother's womb her scandalous conduct. (b) He is ordered… | , 920B, 920C | H486.2., J412.1., L13. |
| 315 | The Treacherous Sister | The children promised to the water-spirit. The maiden wife of the water-spirit (devil). At his advice she feigns sickness and sends her brother for a remedy (or the like) [K2212.0.2]. Imprisoned animals break loose and save the boy. See analysis… | , 315, 315A | B524.1.1.1.1., F615., G346., K2212.0.2.0.2., L161., R111.1.1., R251. |
| 1725 | The foolish parson in the trunk | The clever rascal gets ready to throw the trunk into the water; see Type 1535, incidents III b, c, 1358. | ||
| 295 | The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean | The coal burns the straw in two and falls into the water. The bean laughs till it splits. | 295 | F1025.1. |
| 801 | Master Pfriem | The cobbler who was never satisfied is expelled from heaven [Q312.1]. He is admitted by St. Peter, [A661.0.1.2] but warned against fault-finding [F13]. He sees men carrying a beam crosswise [F171.6.3]. But when he sees the horses hitched in front and… | , 801 | A661.0.1.2., F13., F171.6.3., F171.6.4., H1023.2., Q312.1. |
| 280 | The Ant Carries a Load as Large as Himself | The contest of the raven (or other bird) with the ant. | 280, 280A | A2251.1., J711.1. |
| 1537 | The corpse killed five times | The corpse on the horse, in the sleigh, in the boat [K2151, K2152]. Cf. Type 1536A. | , 1537 | K2151., K2152. |
| 1004 | Hogs in the mud; sheep in the air | The cows driven away, the hogs' tails in the mud, the bell-wether on the tree. I. Pigs' Tails. Left to guard the pigs, the trickster kills and sells them and leaves their tails sticking in the ground. The owner pulls the tails out and is convinced… | , 1004 | K404.1., K404.2., K404.3. |
| 60 | The Fox and the Crane Invites Each Other | The crane (heron) has his food in a deep dish, the fox his on a flat plate. The crane injures his beak. | 60 | J1565.1. |
| 76 | The Wolf and the Crane | The crane pulls a bone from the wolf's windpipe. When he asks for payment the wolf says, "That you were allowed to take your beak from my throat is payment enough." | 76 | W154.3. |
| 470 | Friends in Life and Death | The deceased friend followed into the other world. Cf. Type 471. I. The Visit to the Other World. (a) Two friends pledge themselves never to part. One of them dies. (b) The living friend invites the dead to visit him on Christmas and goes with him… | , 470, 470*, 470A | C13., D2011., E238., F116., F171.1., F171.2., M253. |
| 239 | The Crow Helps the Deer Escape from the Snare | The deer aids the jackal, but when the deer is caught in a snare the jackal refuses to help him. On the advice of the crow the deer feigns death. When the hunter releases him, he bounds away. | ||
| 711 | The Twin Sisters | The deformed maiden disenchanted. A queen is childless and gets from a witch advice how to have a child, but she breaks a condition connected with the advice, and has two girls, a very beautiful one and one deformed (with an animal's head). The ugly… | , 711 | C152., D1860., D732., L145.1., T548.2., T551.3. |
| 1188 | "Come Tomorrow." | The devil keeps calling daily until the gate with the inscription rots. He then claims his debtor. [K231.12.1]. Cf. Type 332D*. | ||
| 825 | The Devil in Noah's Ark | The devil wants to know what Noah is doing when he is building the ark. He persuades Noah's wife to give him a drink. Noah forbids the wife to go into ark until the devil has also been invited. [K485]. I. Secret Building of Ark and its Destruction by… | , 825 | A1015., A1021., A1853.1., A2001., A2031.2., A2145.2., A2214.3., A2232.4., C12.5.1., F531.5.9., G303.14.1.1., K2213.4.2. |
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