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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1705 | Talking Horse and Dog | A person is frightened by animals successively replying to his remarks. Example: The man riding the horse and followed by the dog tells the horse to jump over a hole. Horse says, »I will not.» Man turns to dog and says, »Isn't that strange, a… | 1705 | B210.1. |
| 245 | Tame Bird and Wild Bird | The tame bird advises the wild bird to look about him. The wild bird is shot. Cf. Type 112. | ||
| 901 | Taming of the Shrew | The youngest of three sisters is a shrew. For their disobedience the husband shoots his dog and his horse. Brings his wife to submission. Wager: whose wife is the most obedient. Cf. Type 1370. | , 901 | H386., L50., N12., T251.2. |
| 1011 | Tearing up the Orchard or Vineyard | Told to cut down wood, the rascal cuts down a neighbor's vineyard. | 1011 | K1416. |
| 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. |
| 852 | That is a lie! | Cf. Types 1875, 1920C, 1960E and G. I. The Contest. (a) A princess is offered to the man who can tell so big a lie that she says, »That is a lie». II. The Lies. The youth tells impossible tales of (a) a great ox; (b) of a tree growing to the skies… | , 852 | F54.2., H342.1., K1271.1., X1036.1., X1201., X1237., X1423.1., X1547.2., X1726.2., X1739.2., X1757. |
| 1231 | The Actack on the Hare (Crayfish) | Seven men make strenuous plans for the attack on the fierce animal. One screams with fright and the animal runs away. [J2612]. Cf. Type 103. | 1231 | J2612. |
| 402 | The Animal Bride | The youngest of three brothers succeeds best in the quests set by his father. He brings the best cloth, the most beautiful bride, etc. The mouse (cat) who has helped him changes herself into a beautiful maiden. | , 402, 402A* | D711., D735., H1210.1., H1242., H1301.1. |
| 106 | The Animal's Conversation | Animals' conversation (imitation of animal sounds). | 106 | NA |
| 55 | The Animals Build a Road (Dig Well) | The fox as overseer punishes lazy animals. | 55 | A2233.1. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 729 | The Axe Falls into the Stream | The water-spirit exhibits a golden axe, but the honest man admits that it does not belong to him [Q3.1]. Another man deliberately throws his axe into the water and claims the golden one as his. He gets neither. | 729 | Q3.1. |
| 1246 | The Axes Thrown Away | The first lets his axe fall. The others throw theirs into the same place [J2171.4]. | ||
| 838 | The Bad Rearing | Son on gallows bites his mother's (father's) nose off: punishment for neglect in youth. [Q586]. Cf. Type 756B. | 838 | Q586. |
| 572 | The Barking Dog's Head | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 879 | The Basil Maiden (The Sugar Puppet, Viola) | I. The Sprinkler of Basil. A princess before leaving her schoolmistress is used to sprinkling a vase of flowers. II. Questions and Counter questions. A prince ridicules her with a rhyme but the girl learns from her teacher a rhyme which scorns him in… | , 879 | H702., H705.3., K1837., K525.1. |
| 318 | The Batamärchen | Batu: the Egyptian >>Two Brothers>> Tale. Plots with paramour against life of her husband. Cf. Types 303, 315, 590, 590A. I. Rescue of a Princess from a Dragon. [R111.1.3]. II. Treacherous Wife. The hero marries the princess, but she falls in love… | 318 | K2111. |
| 738 | The Battle of Serpents | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 49 | The bear and the honey | The fox leads the bear to a wasp-nest. | 49 | K1023. |
| 43 | The Bear Builds a House of Wood; the Fox, of Ice | In summer the fox wants to drive the bear out of his house Cf. Types 81, 1097, 1238. | 1097, 43 | J741.1. |
| 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. | ||
| 116 | The Bear on the Hay-Wagon | The bear on the hay-wagon (or on the horse) is mistaken for the preacher . | ||
| 39 | The Bear Pulls Mountain Ashes apart so that the Fox's Old Mother can Get Berries | The fox eats the berries himself. | ||
| 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. |
| 1315 | The Big Tree Taken for a Snake | Killed with guns and spears. [J1771.1]. | ||
| 1961 | The big wedding | Giant with sixty daughters. | ||
| 223 | The Bird and the Jackal | |||
| 553 | The Bird as a Helper | A youth shoots a raven; saving of the princess from a sea-monster. Cf. Type 300. I. The Raven-feather. (a) With a feather of the raven the youth gets magic objects and treasure from the raven's sister. II. Rescue of Princess. See Type 300: IV (rescue… | ||
| 2041 | The Bird Indifferent to Pain | A man catches a mango-bird eating mangoes and strikes it against the roots of a mango-tree. The bird cannot be made to say it suffers from the blow. In turn, he puts it in water, strikes it on the ground, a stile, a door-frame, singes its feathers,… | ||
| 432 | The Bird Lover | Visits to the princess. The wicked stepmother. The wound on the window ledge. I. The Bird Lover. (a) A prince in the form of a bird flies to a beautiful maiden. (b) When in her presence he becomes a man. II. The Lover Wounded. The cruel stepmother… | , 432 | D641.1., H1385.5., K1837., K2212.1., L221., N452., S181. |
| 707 | The Bird of Truth | The queen bears marvelous children. They are stolen away. The queen is banished. The quest for the speaking bird, the singing tree, and the water of life. | , 707 | H1381.2.2.1., H71.1., H71.2., H71.3., K2110.1., K2115., L162., N201., R131.2., S301. |
| 150 | The Bird's Three Precepts | A man releases a fox (bird) if the latter will give him three counsels: "When you have a fox, don't let him loose." | , 150 | J21.12., J21.13., J21.14., K604. |
| 710 | The Black Madonna | A girl comes into possession of her foster mother through an unwitting promise to her father. The girl falsely denies having looked into a forbidden room, and becomes dumb. She becomes the wife of the king... | , 710 | C611., C911., C912., C944., D2025.1., G261., H215., J213., K2116.1.1., N711.1., Q451.3., S211., S240., V271. |
| 1456 | The blind fiancée | The search for the needle. The girl mistakes the dish for a cat. The blindness is thus discovered. [K1984.5]. | , 1456 | K1225., K1984.5. |
| 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. |
| 1277 | The Boat Gets Tired | The woman tries to tire out her rival's boat so as to win the race, but only tires herself. [J1884]. | ||
| 1561 | The boy 'loses his sight' | No examples in the Database yet | 1561 | W111.2.6. |
| 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… | ||
| 517 | The Boy and the Bird-language | Vaticinium. The learning of the speech of birds; cf. Types 670, 671. The princess who has destroyed her child; Cf. Type 781. A boy understands the language of birds. The birds prophesy that the parents shall humble themselves before him. On… | , 517 | B143.1., B215.1., M312., M373., N682. |
| 667 | The Boy in Animal Form | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 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. |
| 1678 | The boy who had never seen a woman | When he sees a girl and asks his father what it is, the father tells him it is Satan. Asked what he most likes, he says »The Satans». [T371]. | 1678 | T371. |
| 652 | The Boy Whose Wishes Always Come True | I. The Godfather. (a) A king chooses as godfather for his son the first man he meets. (b) The old man chosen as godfather takes the boy secretly to a church, blesses him, and gives him the power to make all wishes come true. II. The Treacherous… | , 652 | D141., D1761.0.1., D212.1., D630., K2155.1., K2250., N811., N856.1., Q455.1., R131.8.5., T52.1. |
| 1545 | The boy with many names | A man gets lodging in a beautiful woman's house. He pretends not to know how to sleep in bed; she must go with him. | 1545, 1545B | K1327., K602. |
| 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. |
| 508 | The Bride Won in a Tournement | I. The Grateful Dead Man. See Type 506 (I). II. The Tournament. The hero wins a bride in a tournament [H331.2] by means of a horse or of weapons which he has received from the dead man [H972]. III. The Dividing in Half. See Type 506 (V). | ||
| 471 | The Bridge to Another World | The youngest of three brothers crosses into the other world and sees extraordinary things which are later explained. I. The Quest. Three brothers one after the other set out to search for their lost sister. (b) On the way they are appointed to herd… | , 471, 471A | D2011.1., E481.2.1., F171., F171.0.1., F171.3., F171.5., H1251., H1385.6., R155.1. |
| 1643 | The Broken Image | The fool sells his cow to a crucifix [J1853.1.1]. He knocks it to pieces because it will not pay him. He finds a treasure inside [N510]. | 1643 | J1853.1.1. |
| 722 | The Brother Married the Sister | No examples in the Database yet |
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