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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. |
| 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… | ||
| 1084 | Contest in shrieking or whistling | The man binds up the ogre's head and then strikes him in the eye. [K84.1]. | ||
| 1093 | Contest in words | Maxims. - Usually the devil and the girl [K91]. Cf. Type 875 part II. | ||
| 71 | Contest of Frost and the Hare | The hare lies on the frozen snow and says, »Oh, how warm!» | 71 | H1541.1. |
| 1130 | Counting out Pay | Hole in the hat, and hat over a pit. | 1130 | K275. |
| 712 | Crescentia | The slandered and banished wife is reinstated through her miraculous healing powers. | , 712 | H151.8., K2110.1., K2112., K2116.1.1.1., S451. |
| 2038 | Cumulative Pursuit | Boys get help. One of them injures the helper. Pursued. Ridden by kind hen. One injures the hen. Hen pursues, etc. [Z49.2]. | ||
| 50 | Curing a Sick Lion | The fox pretends to seek a remedy for the lion; advises him to skin the wolf . | , 50, 50A, 50C | J644.1., K961., W121.2.1., , |
| 1001 | Cutting Wood | The rascal has a magic cat (snake) in the woodpile. The axe goed into the wood only when the cat gets out. He thus avoids cutting the wood. | ||
| 2201 | Death to Listener | At the end of the story, the story-teller uses a fearful voice and points at one of his audience: »You'll be the hundredth one to die». | ||
| 336 | Death washes his feet | When death visits a house the youngest daughter is sent by her mother and her elder sisters for light to make a fire. On her way she meets a ghost. When she returns home, Death is washing his feet. The daughter asks about Death's strange looking… | ||
| 335 | Death' Messengers | Death promises the man to indicate his future. He gives him a blow, blindness, etc. But the man does not understand the signs and lives happily throughout. | 335 | J1051. |
| 293 | Debate of the Belly and the Members | Debate as to their usefulness. All are mutually useful. | 293 | J461.1. |
| 291 | Deceptive Tug-of-war | Small animal challenges two large animals to a tug-of-war. Arranges it so that they unwittingly pull against each other (or one end of rope is tied to a tree). | 291 | K22. |
| 715 | Demi-coq | Is put in with the horses, oxen, etc. The animals taken along (bear, wolf, etc.) help. | , 715 | B171.1., B435.1., D1382.8., D915.2., F601.7., K481. |
| 1663 | Deviding Five Eggs Equally between Two Men and One Woman | Three to the woman and one to each of the men. Men already have two (testicles). [J1249.1]. | ||
| 846 | Devil Always Blamed | Devil blamed when cow is in ditch (Who the devil did that?). When she is saved (Thank God!). | , 846 | K1811., N111.4.1. |
| 826 | Devil writes down names of men on hide in church | No examples in the Database yet | 826 | G303.24.1.3. |
| 1191 | Devil's Bridge | Unwitting bargain with devil evaded by driving dog over bridge first. The child has been unwittingly promised (the first thing that goes over the bridge). [S241.1]. | 1191 | S241.1. |
| 924 | Discussion by sign language | No examples in the Database yet | , 924 | H607.1., J1804. |
| 1002 | Dissipation of the ogre's property | No examples in the Database yet | 1002 | K1400. |
| 779 | Divine rewards and punishments | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1336 | Diving for Cheese | Man (animal) sees moon reflected in water and, thinking it a cheese, dives in for it. [J1791.3]. This is Type 34 with human actors. | 1336A | J1791.7. |
| 1641 | Doctor Know-all | The stolen horse. The stolen money (»That is one of them»). The covered dish (»Ah, poor crab that I am»). Often joined with the story of the sawed pulpit; cf. Types 1810C*, 1825C. I. The Sham-Doctor. A peasant named Crab (Cricket, Rat) buys the… | , 1641, 1641C | K1956., K1956.1., K1956.2., K1961.1.2., K1961.1.3., N611., N688. |
| 107 | Dog Leader Fears Defeat Because his Forces are of Different Breeds. | Dog leader fears defeat because his forces are of different breeds. Wolves are all of one kind. | ||
| 1691 | Don´t Eat too Greadly | The fool starves himself at table since a cat steps on his foot and he thinks his companion is giving him hint to stop eating. He later hunts food in house and gets into trouble. [J2541]. Cf. Type 1775. | ||
| 305 | Dragon Blood as Cure | No examples in the Database yet | 305 | D1500.1.7.3.3.1.7.3.3. |
| 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. |
| 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]. | ||
| 1310 | Drowning the crayfish as punishment | Eel, crab, turtle, etc. express fear of water and are thrown in. | , 1310 | J1762.1.2., K581.1. |
| 1083 | Duel with Long Poles or Cudgels | The rascal with the short pole comes to the ogre and beats him. Then they exchange. The rascal again punishes him. Suggests that he can protect himself by going into the pig-sty. The ogre goes and the rascal beats him through a hole in the wall.… | ||
| 1088 | Eating contest | The hero slips his food (or drink) into a bag and makes the ogre believe he is the greater eater. (In many versions the hero cuts open the bag; the ogre imitates and kills himself). | , 1088 , 1089 | K42.1., K81., K81.1., K82.3. |
| 21 | Eating his own Entrails | The fox persuades the wolf (bear) to eat his own entrails. | 21 | K1025. |
| 1701 | Echo answers | Only end of question comes back. Misunderstanding. [K1887.1]. | ||
| 2010 | Ehod mi yodea (One, who knows?) | Le dodici parole della verità. Las doce palabras retorneadas. The numbers from one to twelve are brought into relation with various objects, often of religious significance. [Z22]. | 2010 | Z22. |
| 1327 | Emptying the Meal Sack | To convince arguers of the emptiness of their quarrel he empties sack of meal (pot of oil). [J2062.1]. | 1327 | J2062.1. |
| 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. | ||
| 1635 | Eulenspiegel's tricks | No examples in the Database yet | 1635 | K300. |
| 1391 | Every hole to tell the truth | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 247 | Every Mother Thinks Her Child Is the Most Beautiful | The snipe asks the sportsman to spare its small ones, easily recognized as being the prettiest in the forest. To be on the safe side the man shoots only the ugliest he can find. They are the young snipes. (Often told of the ape.) | 247 | T681. |
| 1135 | Eye-remedy | A glowing mass is put into his eye [K1011]. Cf. Type 1137. | , 1135 | K1010., K1011. |
| 2019 | Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie | Each member of a family is assigned a characteristic function; various wooers appear and are rejected until the one which is apparently the most unpromising is chosen. [Z31.1]. | 2019 | Z31.1. |
| 531 | Faithful Ferdinand | On the advice of a jealous courtier the king assigns the hero difficult tasks, which he performs with the help of grateful animals. Bringing the beautiful bride for the king. I. The Hero's Horse and Magic Object. (a) The hero at his christening is… | , 513C, 531 | B211.1.3., B313., B341., B350., B401., E15.1., H1213.1., H1381.2.2.1., H911., J2411.1., K1934., NA |
| 987 | False Magician Exposed by Clever Girl | No examples in the Database yet | 987 | NA |
| 580 | Favor of Women | With the youngest of three brothers all women are in love. At the father's death when the elder brothers wish for riches, etc. the youngest [L10], wishes for [L210] and receives the power to make women love him [D1900]. He secures from the hostess of… | , 580 | D1472.1.7., D1473., D1900., D856., T45. |
| 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. |
| 593 | Fiddevav | All who poke in the ashes (the daughter, the woman, the preacher, etc.) must keep saying »Fiddevav», until they are released from the magic [D1413.17]. An old woman [N825.3] gives [D810] the hero a magic stone and advises him to go to the peasant's house at night, to say nothing, but »Thanks« [C495.3] and to lay the stone in the ashes. The stone prevents fire from being made and all who try to make it stick to the poker [D1413, D2172.1]. The hero gets the peasant's daughter in return for release. Cf. Types 330A, 571, 571A, 571B]. | , 593 | D1413., D1413.17., D2172.1., N825.3. |
| 1463 | Finger-drying Contest Won by Deception | Three daughters are to wet hands; the first to have hands dry is to be the first to marry. The youngest waves her hand, exclaiming, »I don't want a man!» She wins. [K95]. | ||
| 1132 | Flight of the Ogre with his Goods in the Bag | The man hides in the bag. [G561]. Cf. Type 311. |
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