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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1280 | The Needle (or the like) Falls into the Sea | The man hunts it the next summer. [J1921]. | ||
| 812 | The Mystery of the Devil | The man is saved by solving the riddle propounded by the devil. The solution discovered in the forest. I. Devil's Contract. (a) A man (three men) promises himself to the devil at the end of a certain time if he cannot solve three (seven) riddles… | , 812 | H523., H671., H672., H673., M211. |
| 1171 | A Rabbit in Each Net | The man is to belong to the devil if the latter can catch a rabbit in each of hundred nets set in high trees. [H1024.3]. | ||
| 1170 | The Evil Woman in the Glass Case as Last Commodity | The man is to belong to the ogre as soon as he has sold his goods. If he has any goods that no one will buy, he is to be free. The man puts an evil old woman in a glass case. When the devil sees her he recognizes her: »Whoever knows her will refuse… | 1170 | K216.1. |
| 1184 | The Last Leaf | The man is to pay the devil when the last leaf falls from the oak tree. It never falls. [K222, cf. K221]. | ||
| 1003 | Plowing | The man is told to come home when the dog does. He beats the dog so that it runs home. Then he destroys the horse and harness and goes home. [K1411]. (Cf. Type AT 0650 incident IVc). | 1003 | K1411. |
| 893 | The Unreliable Friends. (The HalfFriend). | The man kills a hog. He tells his friends that he has killed a man and asks where he can hide the body. All of them drive him away and only his father's halffriend remains true to him in his feigned trouble [H1558.1]. | , 893 | H1558.1., R169.6. |
| 1151 | Big Shoes in Front of the Barn | The man makes giant shoes and places them so that the ogre thinks a giant lives there. | 1151 | K1717. |
| 1155 | "A Peck of Grain for Each Stack." | The man makes very small stacks. [K181]. | ||
| 1689 | Thank God They Weren't Peaches | The man plans to take peaches as a present to the king. He is persuaded rather to take figs. They are green and the king has them thrown in his face. He is thankful that they weren't peaches. [J2563]. | 1689, 1689A | J2415.1., J2563. |
| 1525 | The robber brothers | The man pretends to show how the horse can be stolen. Really leads it away. [K341.8]. Cf. Types 1540, 1542. | , 1525, 1525A, 1525D, 1525G, 1525H, 1525J*, 1525M, 1525N, 1525Q, 1525Q*, 1525R | H1151., H1151.2., H1151.3., J1516., K301., K301.1., K306., K307.1., K308., K311., K332., K341.20., K341.21., K341.3., K341.6., K341.7., K362.2., K406.2., L142.1., NA |
| 1091 | Who Can Bring an Unheard-of Riding-Horse | The man sends his naked wife on all fours in tar and feathers. The devil has never seen such a horse and is defeated [K216.2]. | 1091, 1092 | K216.2., K31.1. |
| 1095 | Contest in Scratching Each Other with the Nails | The man sends his wife to meet the ogre with whom he is to have the scratching contest. She tells the devil that her husband has gone to have his nails sharpened. She shows him deep wounds her husband has scratched on her body (obscene). The ogre… | ||
| 1145 | The Ogre Afraid of what Rustles and Rattles | The man sets juniper on fire [K2345]. | 1145 | K2345. |
| 830 | Refusal to Ask God's Blessing | The man shoots a stag but denies that God has given it to him and insists that he shot it himself. [J151.4]. The wounded stag jumps up and flees. | 830C | C454. |
| 1090 | Mowing Contest | The man takes the center of the field. The ogre is given a dull sickle and mows around the outside of the field. Tires himself out. [K42.2]. Cf. Type 820. | 1090 | K42.2. |
| 153 | The Gelding of the Bear and the Fetching of Salve | The man tells the bear that the horse is strong because he is gelded. The bear has the man geld him to make him strong. He is to geld the man the next day. The man substitutes his wife and sends her with salve; the bear in disgust throws the salve into the tree. Cf. Type 1133. | 153 | K1012.1. |
| 1700 | "I don't Know." | The man thinks that »I don't know» is a person's name [J2496]. | 1700 | J2496. |
| 1185 | The First Crop | The man to pay the devil when he harvests his first crop. He plants acorns. | 1185 | K221. |
| 2200 | Catch-tales | The manner of telling forces the hearer to ask a particular question, to which the teller returns a ridiculous answer. [X13]. | ||
| 1527 | The Robbers are Betrayed | The master and servant exchange places for a day. The servant in tar and feathers. Has his former master take him to the robbers' house. They flee in terror and leave their treasure behind. Cf. Types 1525H, 1650, 1653, 1654**. [K335.1, K335.1.8]. | , 1527A | K630., K724. |
| 925 | Tidings Brought to the King: You Said it, not I | The messenger arranges it so that the king says the words in the form of a question [J1675.2.1]. | ||
| 110 | Belling the Cat | The mice buy a bell for the cat but no one dares tie it on her. | 110 | J671.1. |
| 1626 | Dream Bread | The most wonderful dream. Three pilgrims agree that the one who has the most wonderful dream shall eat the last loaf. One eats it. He declares he dreamed the others were dead and would not need it. [K444]. | 1626 | K444. |
| 1696 | What Should I Have Said? | The mother teaches the boy (the man his wife) what he should say (do) in this or that circumstance. He uses the words in the most impossible cases and is always punished. [J2461]. Cf. Types 1681A, 1681B. | , 1696 | J2461., J2461.2. |
| 75 | The Help of the Weak | The mouse gnaws the net and liberates the captured bear (fox, lion). | 75 | B371.1. |
| 111 | The Cat and the Mouse Converse | The mouse tells the cat a tale. The cat answers, »Even so, I eat you up.» | 111, 111A, 111A* | K561.1.1., NA, U31. |
| 85 | The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage | The mouse, the bird, and the sausage keep house together each with appropriate duties. When they exchange roles, all goes ill. | 85 | J512.7. |
| 960 | The Sun Brings All to Light | The murderer repeats as he sees the ray of the sun the last words of the dying man [D1715]. In this way the crime is brought to light [N271.1]. Or the murder is revealed by the unusual names of boys [N271.2]. Cf. Types 883C, 1376C*, 1530*. | , 960, 960A | D1715., N271.1., N271.3. |
| 90 | The Needle, the Glove, and the Squirrel | The needle at first has little success; receives blows from the others. Finally it slips into an elk's stomach andkills the elk. | ||
| 1416 | The mouse in the silver jug. The new Eve | The New Eve. A poor woman laments at Eve's curiosity and says women are no longer so. The king lets them enjoy themselves in castle, but they must not open a certain silver jug [C324]. The woman can not let it alone. There is a mouse in the jug.… | , 1416 | C324., H1554.1. |
| 1541 | For the long winter | The numskull has been told to keep the sausage »for the long winter». When the trickster hears this, he claims to be Long Winter and receives the sausage. [K362.1, cf. also J2355, K1821.1]. | , 1541 | J2460.1., K362.1. |
| 1335 | The Eaten Moon | The numskull sees a cow drink from a pool where the moon is reflected. The moon goes under a cloud. He thinks the cow has eaten the moon and slaughters her to recover it. [J1791.1]. | 1335, 1335*, 1335A | J1791.1., J1791.2., J1806. |
| 1200 | The Sowing of Salt | The numskull sows it like grain and expects it to produce salt [J1932.3], or plants a cow's tail to produce calves [J1932.4.1]. | , 1200 | J1932.1., J1932.2., J1932.3., J1932.4. |
| 770 | The Nun Who Saw the World | The nun leaves the convent with her lover. The Virgin takes her place in the convent during the years of her absence. The nun returns repentant. [K1841.1]. | 770A* | V238. |
| 561 | Aladdin | The object recovered by means of another magic object. For analysis see Type 560 (1 c; II; III; IV b, c). | , 561 | D1131.1., D1421.1.5., D1470.1.15., D1470.1.16., D1662.2., D2136.2., D840., D860., D881. |
| 1180 | Catching Water in a Sieve | The ogre and the girl [H1023.2]. Cf. Type 480. | 1180 | H1023.2. |
| 1050 | Felling trees | The ogre and the trickster are to fell a large tree. The trickster purposely dulls his axe on a stone and then asks the ogre to exchange. Rather than work with the dull axe, the ogre does all the work. [K178, K1421]. Cf. Type 650 IV. | , 1050 | K178., K44. |
| 1163 | The Ogre Teaches the Smith how to Use Sand in Forging Iron | The ogre blames the smith for his stupidity. Since then smiths have used sand. [G651]. | ||
| 1082 | Carrying the Horse | The ogre carries the horse on his back and soon has to stop. The man carries it between his legs, i.e., rides. [K72]. Cf. Type 1640. | 1082 | K72. |
| 1164 | The evil woman thrown into the pit | The ogre comes out, since he cannot remain below with her. [K2325, T251.1.4]. | , 1164 | T251.1.2.1., T251.1.2.2. |
| 1096 | The tailor and the ogre in a sewing contest | The ogre sews with the whole length of the thread. When he returns from the first stitch, the tailor has his task ready. | 1096 | K47.1. |
| 1070 | Wrestling Contest: Looks Where to Throw him | The ogre squeezes the man so that his eyes bulge out. The ogre: »Why do you glare so?» »I am looking to see where to throw you.» The ogre flees. [K12.1]. | 1070 | K12.1. |
| 1181 | Sticks from the Body | The ogre will help the man only in exchange for a part of the man's body. The man gives him a paring from his finger nail. [H1021.7]. | ||
| 2251 | The Rabbit's Tail | The old king left a big mountain for his three sons. They dug in the mountain and found a big iron box and a little rabbit in it. If that rabbit's tail was longer my story would be longer too. | ||
| 1476 | The Prayer for a Husband | The old maid prays in church that she may get a husband [X761]. The (supposed) advice of God (the church janitor) [K1971.9]. She must raise her foot to her neck (or other disgraceful act). Cf. Type 1462. | 1476, 1476A, 1476B | G303.12.5., K1971.9., NA |
| 953 | The Old Robber Relates Three Adventures | The old robber relates three adventures to free his sons [R153.3.3, J1185]. Each adventure is more frightful than the last [R151.1]. The tales: (1) an adventure with ghostlike cats, (2) Odysseus and Polyphemus (cf.Type 1137), (3) an ogre fooled by… | , 953 | J1185., K1011., K527., Q53., R153.3.3. |
| 1920 | Contest in lying | The one says, - and yet lies [X905.4]. The great catch of fish [X1150.1]. Cf. Type 1960C. | , 1920, 1920A, 1920B, 1920D, 1920E*, 1920F*, 1920H, 1920H* | NA, X1215.8., X904.1., X904.2., X905., X905.4., X908. |
| 1842 | The Testament of the Dog | The owner of a dog has him given Christian burial. The bishop thereupon pretends that the dog has left the church a large legacy. [J1607]. | ||
| 1841 | Grace before meat | The parson asks the boy: »what does your father say when you begin to eat?» »You young devil, etc.» [X435.2]. |
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