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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1800 | Stealing Only a Small Amount | Man promises in confession to steal only a small amount. Steals rope with mare on end of it. [K188]. Cf. Type 1630A*. | ||
| 1804 | The eel filled with sand | A penitent confesses that a plan to sin has entered his mind. Priest tells him that the thought is as good as the deed. Assesses four florins as penance. Penitent says that he had only had it in his mind to give the florins; he must take the thought… | ||
| 1805 | Confessions of a Pious Woman | Allegorically tells her sin; repeatedly confesses the sin she committed in her youth, as its remembrance gives her delight (and the like). Cf. Type 1851. | ||
| 1806 | Will Lunch with Christ | Priest tells condemned man after confession that he will dine with Christ that evening. The mule that carries him to the scaffold goes very fast and the criminal says, »At this rate I shall lunch with Christ.» [J1261.3]. | ||
| 1807 | The Equivocal Confession | A man makes an equivocal confession to the priest he has robbed, e.g., says that he has saved a man from a bear, (meaning that he stole the priest's furs); asks his confessor for guidance. The priest, misunderstanding the confession, even praises the… | ||
| 1810 | Jokes about catechism | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1812 | Wager: to Dance with Nun | Man tells nun she must undress. Nun outraged refuses. Then you must dance a few steps with me. Nun prefers this and does. Man wins wager. (Nun's song while dancing a part of tale). | ||
| 1820 | Bride and Groom at Wedding Ceremony | They make unusual or absurd answers. Cf. Type 1684B*. | ||
| 1824 | Parody sermon | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1826 | The Parson has no Need to Preach | Those who know may teach those who don't know. [X452]. (Or no need give sermon about saint since he has performed no miracles since last year [X425.1]). Cf. Type l833F. | ||
| 1827 | You shall see me a little while longer | The parson takes a drink of liquor during the sermon. [X445.1]. Cf. Type 1698M. | ||
| 1829 | Living Person Acts as Image of Saint | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1830 | In trial sermon the parson promises the laymen the kind of weather they want | They cannot agree. »Then you may have it as it was before.» [J1041.1]. | ||
| 1831 | The Parson and Sexton at Mass | The Sexton has been sent to steal the lamb. At mass the priest and sexton discuss the theft in antiphony: »Did you get the lamb-a-a-a-a?» »I didn't get it; I got a hell of a beating a-a-a-a.» [X441]. (In Catholic stories the antiphonies are made… | ||
| 1832 | Boy answers the priest | A boy rides with a rich man. Goes into church and leaves his coat lying in the sled. Hears the parson preach about the rich man who went to hell. The boy calls out, »Then he took my coat along» [X435.5]. | ||
| 1833 | Other anecdotes of sermons | The parson: - »He stayed to hold the oxen.» [X435.2]. | ||
| 1834 | The clergyman with the fine voice | When officiating he sees an old woman weeping and believes her to be touched by his singing. Feeling flattered, he asks her why she weeps, but she answers that she had been reminded of her old goat that had been taken by the wolf [X436]. (Variant:… | ||
| 1835 | Not to turn round | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1837 | The Parson to Let a Dove Fly in the Church | It dies in his pocket (or has other accident). [X418]. | ||
| 1838 | The hog in church | The hog has been locked by mistake in the church all week. When the congregation comes the hog runs between the parson's legs and carries him out. [X415]. | ||
| 1840 | At the blessing of the grave the parson's ox breaks loose | The priest steals a ham but promises to pray for the man he has stolen it from. Priest: O God curse the man who lost the ham and bless him who stole it. | ||
| 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]. | ||
| 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]. | ||
| 1843 | Parson visits the dying | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1844 | The Parson Visits the Sick | |||
| 1845 | The student as healer | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1851 | Jokes about Devout Women | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1855 | Jokes about Jews | She bears a girl. [J2336]. | ||
| 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. |
| 1876 | The Geese on the Line | The hawk flies away with them on it. The geese have been bound together as protection from the hawk. [X1267.1]. | ||
| 1882 | The Man who Fell out of a Balloon | Buried in the earth, he goes to get a spade to dig himself out. | 1882 | X1731.2.1., X1757. |
| 1886 | Man Drinks from own Skull | The skull falls into the water and a duck makes a nest in it. | ||
| 1890 | The lucky shot | Discharge of gun kills the heath-cock, which falls on the sprouts on the tree, which kills the bear, etc. [X1124.3]. | 1890, 1890D, 1890E, 1890F | X1122.2., X1122.3., X1124.3. |
| 1891 | The Great Rabbit-Catch | The rabbits freeze their feet fast to the ice at night [X1115.1]. | 1891B*, 1893A* | NA, X1114.1. |
| 1892 | The Trained Horse Rolls in the Field | Oats grow in his flanks. The man ties a club to the horse's tail and thus kills many moor-hens. [X1241.2.2]. | ||
| 1894 | The man shoots a ramrod full of ducks | No examples in the Database yet | 1894 | X1111. |
| 1895 | A man wading in water catching many fish in his boots | No examples in the Database yet | 1895 | X1112. |
| 1896 | Hunting the wolves with rod and line | No examples in the Database yet | 1896 | X1132.1. |
| 1911 | Cart as Legs | Small cart serves as back legs for crippled sow. Pigs have also these carts. (Similar stories about other animals.) [X1202.1]. | 1911A | X1721.1. |
| 1913 | The Side-hill Beast | Animal with two short legs on one side for convenience in living on hillsides. It can walk around the hill in only one direction. [X1381]. | ||
| 1916 | The Breathing Tree | A hunter cuts down a tree packed so full of animal that a crack opens as the animals inhale, closes when they exhale. | 1916 | X1116. |
| 1917 | The Stretching and Shrinking Harness | A man driving a team with a wagon in the rain finds on arrival at the top of the hill that the tugs of rawhide have stretched and that the loaded wagon is still at the bottom. He unhitches the horses and throws the harness across a stump. Later when… | ||
| 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. |
| 1925 | Wishing contests | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1927 | The Cold May Night | A very cold night comes in May. Hearing of a much colder night long ago, a man sets out to find about it. In his travels he comes to (a) an otter lying in a deep hole on top of a rock: he has been so long lying there that the rock has been worn… | 1927 | X1620. |
| 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. | ||
| 1935 | Topsy-Turvy Land | Land where all is opposite from the usual. [X1505]. | ||
| 1940 | The Extraordinary Names | The place where animals and things have extraordinary names. | 1940 | X1506. |
| 1948 | Too much talk | Three men vowed to silence go to a glen away from the world. At the end of seven years one speaks: I heard a cow lowing. Others are angry but silent. At the end of seven years more, second one says: 'Twas not a cow but a bull! The third is very angry… | ||
| 1950 | The three lazy ones | Who is the laziest. Each recounts a proof of his laziness. [W111.1]. | , 1950 | W111.1., W111.1.1., W111.1.2., W111.1.3. |
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