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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 758 | The various children of Eve | Eve has so many children that she is ashamed when God pays her a visit. She hides some of them and they fail to receive the blessing that God gives those in sight. Thus arises the differences in classes and peoples. [A1650.1]. | 758 | A1650.1. |
| 1341 | Fools Warn Thief what Not to Steal | Explain where everything is and where the key is kept. [J2091, J2091.1]. Cf. Types 1525P, 1577*. | ||
| 922 | The king and the abbot | Falsely accused minister reinstates himself by his cleverness [K2101, P111]. Cf. Type 981. | , 922 | H512., H541.1., H561.2., H634., H681.1., H691.1., H696.1., H701.1., H702., H703., H705.1., H705.2., H711.1., H713.1., H797., K1961., Q113.4. |
| 2044 | Pulling up the turnip | Final formula: The mouse holds onto the cat, the cat holds onto Mary, Mary holds onto Annie, Annie holds onto grandmother, grandmother holds onto grandfather, grandfather holds onto the turnip - they all pull and pull it out. [Z49.9]. | ||
| 2035 | This Is the House That Jack Built | Final formula: This is the farmer that sowed the corn that fed the cock that crowed in the morn, that waked the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tattered and torn, that kissed the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a… | ||
| 1159 | The Ogre Wants to Learn to Play | Finger caught in a cleft of a tree. [K1111.0.1]. Later he is terrified by the man's wife with her legs apart. He thinks he is to be caught again [K1755]. Cf. Type 151, 326, 1095. | , 1159 | K1111.0.1., K1111.1., K1755. |
| 1295 | The Seventh Cake Satisfies | Fool regrets that he had not eaten number seven first since that was the one that brought satisfaction. [J2213.3]. | ||
| 1415 | Trading Away One's Fortune | Foolish bargains. He trades his horse for a cow, the cow for a hog, the latter for a goose, until finally he has nothing left [J2081.1]. Wins the wager when his wife does not get angry [N11]. | 1415 | J2081.1. |
| 1681 | Foolish man builds aircastles | Foolishly kills his horse, throws his axe into the lake to kill a duck. Undresses to recover axe. Clothes stolen. Goes into barrel of tar to hide. In tar and feathers. [J2661.4]. Cf. Types 1383, 1690*. | , 1681B | K1461., K1462. |
| 1213 | The Pent Cuckoo | Fools build an enclosure to keep in the cuckoo. She flies over the hedge. They say that they have not built the hedge high enough. [J1904.2]. | 1213 | J1904.2. |
| 1314 | The Buttercask Taken for a Dead Man | Fools knock it in two. [J1783.1]. | 1315 | J1771.1. |
| 1241 | The tree is to be pulled down | Fools try to save tree on cliff. All on rope pull out tree. It pulls them down into pit. | 1241A | na |
| 1046 | Threat to Haul away the Warehouse | For this purpose a large rope is made. The ogre is intimidated. | ||
| 2039 | The Horseshoe Nail | For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for the want of a horse the rider was lost ... and all for the want of a horseshoe nail. | ||
| 986 | The Lazy Husband | Forced by his wife to work he joins a caravan and finds in a desert spring a pomegranate and a beautiful girl. He sends the pomegranate to his wife. Out of it fall jewels which make them rich. He returns the stolen girl to her father. | 986 | NA |
| 1317 | Blind Man and Elephant | Four blind men feel an elephant's leg, tail, ear, and body respectively, and conclude it is like a log, a rope, a fan, and something without beginning or end. [J1761.10]. | NA | J1761.10. |
| 1201 | The plowing | Four men carry the horse in order not to tramp up the field [J2163]. | 1201 | J2163. |
| 769 | A Child Returns from the Dead | Frequently to stop weeping. [E324]. | , 769 | E324., E361. |
| 1309 | Choosing the Clean Figs | From figs which have been urinated on he is to choose only clean ones. In testing he eats them all. | ||
| 1931 | The woman who asked for news from home | Gets many impossible answers, which she believes. »The cock has become sexton.» - »That is why he sang so well in the morning» [J2349.4]. Cf. Type 1920A. | ||
| 1961 | The big wedding | Giant with sixty daughters. | ||
| 874 | The Proud King is Won | Gifts for the voyage [L221] (as in Type 425C). The youngest daughter sends a message to the king and he replies symbolically showing that he is not interested in her (sends her cloth, rope, and knife). The girl lets herself be sold to the king as a… | ||
| 2205 | Come here, Lean! | Girl finds 3 coins and buys 3 pigs: (1) the lean, (2) the fat, (3) the tail. »Come here, Lean.» »I can't, I am too lean.» »Come here Fat.» »I can't, because I am too fat» - »And the other, what was it named?» »The tail.» - »Lift the… | ||
| 1407 | The Miser | Gives his wife too little to eat. On the advice of the servant boy, he spies on her from inside the chimney, under the bolster, etc. Gets burned in the chimney, beaten in the bed. [W153.2]. Cf. Types 1373, 1458. | 1407, 1407A | K1155., W153.2. |
| 132 | Goat Admires his Horns in the Water | Goat admires his horns in the water, and says, "I needn't be afraid of the wolf." Wolf behind him asks him what he was saying. Goat: "One talks such foolishness when one is drinking." | 132 | K1775. |
| 565 | The Magic Mill | Grinds an enormous amount of meal or salt when the man who has stolen it cannot stop it. I. The Magic Mill (Pot). The hero or heroine receives (a) a magic pot that fills itself with porridge or (b) a mill that grinds meal or salt. (c) Only the owner… | , 565 | A1115.2., C916.3., D1472.1.9., D1601.21.1., D1651., D861. |
| 1313 | The Man who Thought Himself Dead | Has the corpse eat bread. (Usually has eaten from a pot of preserves said to be poisoned.) | , 1313, 1313A | J2311.1., J2311.1.4., J2311.2., J2311.4. |
| 1628 | The learned son and the forgotten language | Having left the seminary, a son speaks only Latin, pretending to have forgotten his own language. When a rake strikes him in the forehead, he screams in his own tongue »Devilish rake!» [J1511.11]. Cf. Type 1641 C. | 1628* | J1511.11. |
| 365 | Specter Bridegrooms | He carries her behind on his horse. Says, »The moon shines bright, the dead ride fast,» etc. She is pulled into the grave [E2l5]. | 365 | E215. |
| 947 | The Man Followed by Bad Luck | He escapes from one trouble only to meet with another. Finally, apparently safe, he is killed by a falling stone wall. [N253]. | 947 | N253. |
| 1660 | The Poor Man in Court | He has a stone in his purse to throw at the judge if he is sentenced. The judge thinks that he has money to use as a bribe and acquits him. [K1705]. | ||
| 1875 | The Boy on the Wolf's Tail | He hides himself in the mill and frightens the robbers from their treasure; cf. Type 1653. Is hidden in a barrel. Holds fast to the wolf's tail through a hole in the barrel. [X1133.3]. Cf. Types 169H*, 1229, 1900. | 1875 | X1133.3. |
| 938 | Placidas | He is converted by a vision. All his goods are destroyed, his wife seized by a ship captain, his young sons carried off by a lion and a bear [N251]. He finally recovers them all [N121]. | , 938 | J214., N251. |
| 214 | Ass Tries to caress his Master like a Dog | He is driven off. | 214, 214A, 214B | J2133.1., J2413.1., J951.1. |
| 837 | How the Wicked Lord was Punished | He puts poison into the beggar's bread. As the beggar is spending the night at an inn a traveler arrives. Since no other bread is convenient the beggar gives the stranger his bread. The traveler, who is the lord's son, dies of the poison [N332.1]. | 837 | N332.1. |
| 151 | Music lessons for wild animals | He tricks them by catching their claws in a cleft tree. Similarly betrays many other animals. The freed animals try in vain for revenge. | 151 | K1111.0.1. |
| 1204 | Fool Keeps Repeating his Instructions so as to remember them | He usually forgets them [J2671.2]. Cf. Type 1687. | ||
| 1461 | The girl with the ugly name | Her mother gives her a new one. The girl does not recognize it when she is called in, and her mother must use the old one. [K1984.3]. | ||
| 2030 | The Old Woman and Her Pig | Her pig will not jump over the stile so that she can go home. She appeals in vain for help until the cow gives her milk. The final formula is: cow give milk for the cat, cat kill rat, rat gnaw rope, rope hang butcher, butcher kill ox, ox drink water,… | ||
| 677 | "Iron Is More Precious than Gold" | Hero lets himself fall from the ship to the bottom of the sea, where with the help of this charm he acquires much gold [D1273]. Cf. Type 910B. | ||
| 2017 | The Crow on the Tarred Bridge | His beak and his tail alternately stick. [Z39.3]. (Endless). Cf. Type 2300. | ||
| 782 | Midas | His secret discovered by his barber. Or he whispers the secret to a reed which repeats it. | , 782 | D1316.5., F511.2.2., N465. |
| 1130 | Counting out Pay | Hole in the hat, and hat over a pit. | 1130 | K275. |
| 1064 | Making Fire by Stamping on Ground | Hot ashes prepared beforehand. | ||
| 2300 | Endless Tales | Hundreds of sheep to be carried over stream one at a time, endless quacking of geese, etc. The wording of the tale so arranged as to continue indefinitely. [Z11]. Cf. Types 2013, 2017. | ||
| 2036 | Drop of Honey Causes Chain of Accidents | Hunter drops honey in a grocery; weasel eats honey; cat chases weasel; dog chases cat; grocer kills dog: all the cause of a bloody feud between villages. [N381]. | ||
| 2037 | "I Killed my Grandmother because she Refused to Cook a Hare." | I killed a priest because he said my crime was bad. A friar absolved me to avoid being killed.» [Z49.1]. | ||
| 1535 | The Rich Peasant and the Poor Peasant | I. (a) Twee broers, (a1) mannen, (a2) boeren, (a3) neven, (a4) een boer en een jongen, (a5) zijn arbeider, (a6) een woonwagenbewoner. (b) Grote en Kleine Doeke, (b1) Klaas, (b2) Obe, (b3) Oege, (b4) Grote Arend en Kleine Hendrik, (b5) Hearke en… | 1535 | na |
| 535 | The Boy Adopted by Tigers (Animals) | I. A Boy is Adopted by Wild Animals. (a) The boy is abandoned in the forest, (b) and adopted by tigers. (c) He is given a magic bow and arrow, or (d) magic axe. II. The Substitute Bridegroom. (a) The animals arrange a marriage for him. (b) A monkey… | ||
| 330 | The Smith Outwits the Devil | I. Contract with Devil. A smith has made a contract with the devil so that in return for becoming a master-smith he is to belong to the devil after a certain time. II. Receipt of Magic Object. (a) The Lord (St. Peter) visits the smith and teaches… | , 330, 330*, 330A, 330B, 330C, 330D | D1413.1.3.1.3., J2071., K213., K2371.1.3.1.3., M211., N221., Q115., Q565., Z111.2.2.2.2. |
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