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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 552 | Animals and In-laws | I. Marriage to Animals. (a) A bankrupt man promises his daughters in in marriage in return for safety and money to three animals (bear, eagle, whale); or (b) three girls despairing of marriage say that they will marry any one even if it is an animal… | , 552 | B501., B640., D621.1., S221.1. |
| 554 | The Grateful Animals | A youth earns the thanks of several animals (ants, fish, etc.) and with their help wins the princess by performing three tasks imposed upon him (brings a ring from the bottom of the sea, etc.). I. The Animals' Gratitude. The hero, (a) the youngest of… | , 553 | B571., B582.2., H982., NA |
| 555 | The Fisherman and his Wife, | The fish fulfills all the wishes of the wife of a poor fisher. I. The Wishes Obtained. (a) A poor fisher catches a fish who is a transformed monster and puts him back in the water; in gratitude the fish grants all the wishes of the wife; - or (b) a… | , 555 | B170., B375.1., C773.1., D1761.0.1., J514., Q338. |
| 559 | The Princess’ Laugh | The princess made to laugh. Making an absurd parade. Later forcing the noble suitor out of his bridal bed. Cf. Types 571-574, 621. I. Making Princess Laugh. (a) A princess has been offered to the man who can make her laugh. (b) The hero accomplishes… | , 559 | B571., B582.2., F591., H341., H982., L161., T171., T68. |
| 560 | The Magic Ring | The grateful animals (cat and dog) recover it for him. See analysis below: I a, b; II; III; IV a. - ANALYSIS: Types 560 and 561. I. Magic Object Received. The hero receives a magic ring (stone) which will perform all the wishes of the owner, from (a)… | , 560 | B360., D1131.1., D1470.1.15., D1662.1., D2136.2., D810., D812., D861.5., D882.1.1. |
| 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. |
| 562 | The Spirit in the Blue Light | No examples in the Database yet | , 562 | D1391., D1421.1.4., D1426., D1470.1., D845., N813. |
| 563 | Three Magic Gifts | The stick compels the treacherous host of the inn to give back the table and the ass. See analysis below: I a, b, c, d; II a, (b) d. - ANALYSIS: Types 563 and 564. I. The Magic Objects. (a) A poor man receives three magic objects: (b) a table or sack… | , 563 | B103.1.1., D1401.2., D1472.1.7., D861.1., D881.2., J2355.1. |
| 564 | The Two Marvelous Pitchers | The rich neighbor steals the magic objects. By means of the sack the hero compels the return of the purse. For analysis see Type 563: 1 a, b, c, e; II c, d. | , 564 | D1030.1., D1193., D1401.1., D861. |
| 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. |
| 566 | Fortunatus | The return of the objects is brought about with an apple, the eating of which causes horns to grow. I. The Magic Objects. (a) Three men each receive from a mannikin or from enchanted princess a magic object: (b) a self-filling purse (mantle), a… | , 566, 580* | D1451., D1475.1., D1520.11., D812., D861.6., D895., D992.1. |
| 567 | The Magic Bird Heart | I. The Bird-heart. The hero eats the heart of the magic bird and thereby receives the power (a) of spitting gold or (b) of finding each day a coin under his pillow; or (c) he will become king. II. The Treacherous Wife. A woman (or his own wife)… | , 567, 567A | B113.1., D132.1., D1561.1.1., D861.5., D965., K512., M312.3., N311., N683., S264.1., S322.4. |
| 569 | The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn | No examples in the Database yet | , 569 | D1222., D1470., D1472.1.22., D1475.4., D831., D861. |
| 570 | Bunnies Beware of the King | With the help of his magic pipe he calls the rabbits together. He wins the hand of the princess.
|
, 570, 570* | D1224., D1427.1., D1441.1.2., H1045., H1112., K1271.1.1., K1288., T68. |
| 571 | The Golden Goose | All remain hanging to the magic object: bundle of hay, cow, servant boy, preacher, etc. I. The Golden Goose. (a) Of three brothers only the youngest divides food and drink with a hungry man and receives as reward a golden goose; or (b) he gets the… | , 571, 571B | D1413., D1413.8., D2171.3.1., D2171.5., D812.3., D817., F591., H1010., H1194., H341., H341.1., K422. |
| 577 | The Order of the King | The three brothers; the oak in the king's castle yard. The king's daughter is promised to the one who is able to perform certain difficult tasks, usually to cut down a large tree. The three brothers set out, and the youngest is the only one who pays… | , 577 | D1581., D1601.14., D1601.15., D1601.18.2., H335., H971.1. |
| 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. |
| 585 | Spindle, Shuttle, and Needle | The prince will marry the girl who is at once the poorest and the richest [H1311.2]. She possesses marvelous heirlooms: a spindle that brings the prince to her [D1425.1], a needle that transforms the room [D1337.1.7], a shuttle that makes a magic… | , 585 | D1337.1.7., D1425.1., D1484.1., H1311.2. |
| 590 | The Prince and the Bracelets | The youth whose evil stepmother seeks his life finds two armbands: strong. Adventures. Two lions become his helpers. The stepmother has his eyes put out. He is cured and the stepmother punished. Cf. Type 315. I. The Blue Band. (a) A boy traveling… | , 590 | B431.2., B512., D1335.4., D1840., D861., D880., F615., H1212., H1333.3.1.1., H1361., H931., K975., S12.1. |
| 592 | The Dance Among Thorns | Magic fiddle, cards, and gun. The judge is compelled to dance. I. The Magic Object and Powers. (a) A boy, driven from home by an evil stepmother or (b) dismissed from service with a pittance for years of labor, (c) gives his money to a poor man who… | , 592 | D1415.2.5., D1653.1.7., D1761.0.2., K551.3.1., N55., Q42.1., S322.4. |
| 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. |
| 610 | The Healing Fruit | The sick princess is offered to the man who can cure her [T681, H346]. An old woman [N825.3] gives healing power to the fruits [D1500.1.5] of the youngest brother [Q2, L13]. After the youngest brother has succeeded [L10] he is given tasks: herding rabbits (Type 570); making a land and water ship (Type 513), and fetching a feather from a magic bird (Type 461). He performs the tasks, goes and makes a fortune, returns and humbles the king and marries the princess [L161]. | , 610 | D1500.1.5., D1533.1.1., H1010., H1112., H1331.1.2.1., H346., L10., L13., L161., N825.3., Q2., T68.1. |
| 612 | The Three Snake-Leaves | See analysis of 612. II. (c) The wife is bitten by a snake and dies. III. (a) The man and his wife are separated. (b) The husband becomes an adviser to the king. (c) The wife, who has become a prostitute or dancer, pleases the king and is granted a… | , 612 | B491.1., B512., D1500.1.4., E105., E165., K2213.2., K2213.5., M254., P361., S142. |
| 613 | The Two Travelers: Truth and Falsehood | One puts out the other's eyes. The blind man overhears secrets under a tree (gallows) and recovers his sight. The wicked companion has his eyes put out or is killed. I. The Blinded Man. (a) Two travelers (brothers) dispute as to whether truth or… | , 613 | D1505.5., D2064.1., F1045., F933.2., H346., K451.1., M225., N2.3.3., N451.1., N471., N61., N92. |
| 650 | Strong John | No examples in the Database yet | , 650A, 650C | B631., D1846.4., F611.1.1., F611.2.1., F611.3.1., F612.1., F615., F615.1., F615.2.3., F615.3.1., H931., K1411., K1421. |
| 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. |
| 653 | The Skillful Brothers | The father has them trained. Display of their accomplishments. The bird's nest on the tree. The stolen princess recovered. Cf. Type 513, 514. I. The Four Brothers Tested. (a) Four brothers sent to learn trades return home and are tested. (b) The… | , 653, 653A | D1323.15., D1500.1.5.1., D1520.19., F660.1., F662.2., H621.2., P251.6.2., R111.1.3., R111.7., R166., T68.1. |
| 654 | The Three Brothers | The father has them trained. Trial of their handiwork. The fighting master swings his sword so fast that it does not become wet in a heavy rain; the barber shaves a running hare; the blacksmith shoes a horse while it is galloping. | , 654 | F660.1., F663.1., F665.1., F667.1. |
| 655 | The Wise Brothers | The king is bastard. Staying at the king's court they are asked to utter three wise words. As a result of extraordinary powers of deduction, they declare that the king is bastard, the roast is dog meat, etc. All proves to be true. | , 655 | F647.1., F647.5.1., J1661.1.1., J1661.1.2. |
| 660 | The Three Doctors | The hog's heart, the thief's hand, the cat's eye. The three doctors make a trial of their skill [H504]. One removes one of his eyes, one his heart, and the other a hand [F668.1]. They are to replace them without injury the next morning [E782]. During… | , 660 | E780.2., E781.3., E782.1.1., E787., F668.1., H504. |
| 665 | The Man in Three Animal Forms | In a war gets the sword of the king, who gives him his daughter as wife. I. The Hero's Powers. (a) The power of transforming himself into a bird, a fish, and a hare is given to the hero (b) by an old man with whom he divides his last penny, (c) by a… | , 665 | B515., D1081., D117.2., D1470.1.15., D150., D170., D630., D641., H78.2., K1931.3., N681., Q42.1. |
| 670 | The Language of Animals | A man learns animal languages. His wife wants to discover his secret. The advice of the cock. Cf. Types 517, 671. I. The Gift of the Snake. A man receives from a grateful snake the power of understanding animal languages. He is not to reveal this… | , 670 | B216., B350., B491.1., C425., N451., N456., T252.2., T253.1. |
| 671 | The Three Languages | The youth learns the languages of dogs, birds, and frogs. Through this knowledge he makes his fortune. The father drives him out for his stupidity and orders him killed, but a compassionate servant substitutes an animal's heart and lets him escape.… | , 671 | B215.1., B215.2., B215.4., H171.2., K512.2. |
| 673 | The White Snake | No examples in the Database yet | , 673 | B217.1.1., N451. |
| 675 | The Wish-Fish | No examples in the Database yet | , 675 | B375.1., D1131.1., D1523.1., D1601., D1761.0.1., H481.1., H486., L114.1., L175., S141., T513. |
| 954 | The Forty Thieves | The robbers come with seven casks into the house. In one cask is oil, in the others men are hidden. [K312]. The girl kills the robbers. | , 676, 954 | D1552.2., F721.4., K312., N455.3., N471., N478., N512. |
| 68 | The Jackal Trapped in the Animal Hide | , 68, 68*, 68A | J2131.5.7., J655.2., K1022.1.1., K565.2. | |
| 700 | Tom Thumb | Plowing. The king buys the boy. In thieves' company. In the belly of the cow and of the wolf. Cf. Type 327B. I. The Hero's Birth. A childless couple wish for a child, however small he may be; they have a boy the size of a thumb [F535.1.]. II. His… | , 700 | F535.1., F535.1.1.1., F535.1.1.11., F535.1.1.8., F535.1.1.9., F911.3.1., F913. |
| 705 | Born of a Fish | Cf. Type 303. The king's son finds the speechless maiden in a bird's nest. Marries her. The children are stolen away. She is driven forth by her husband. The riddle. A man receives a magic fish which he shall feed to his wife. Instead, he eats it… | , 705 | N711., R13.3., S410., T412., T511.5.1., T541.16., T578. |
| 706 | The Girl Without Hands | Becomes wife of the king. Is driven forth. Gets her hands back and is received again by her husband. | , 706, 706B | K2117., N711., Q451.1., S322.1.2., S451., T327.1. |
| 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. |
| 708 | The Miraculous Child | Through the magic power of her evil stepmother, a princess gives birth to a monster and is banished. The monster aids her till everything turns out well. The monster is transformed into a prince. | , 708 | D1717.1., D741., S441. |
| 709 | Snow White | The wicked stepmother seeks to kill the maiden. At the dwarfs' (robbers') house, where the prince finds the maiden and marries her. I. Snow-White and her Stepmother. (a) Snow-White has skin like snow, and lips like blood. (b) A magic mirror tells her… | , 709 | D1311.2., D1323.1., D1364.16., D1364.4.1., D1364.9., E21.1., F451.5.1.2., F852.1., K512.2., L55., M312.4., N831.1., Q414.4., S111.2., S111.4., S322.2., Z65.1. |
| 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. |
| 711 | The Twin Sisters | The deformed maiden disenchanted. A queen is childless and gets from a witch advice how to have a child, but she breaks a condition connected with the advice, and has two girls, a very beautiful one and one deformed (with an animal's head). The ugly… | , 711 | C152., D1860., D732., L145.1., T548.2., T551.3. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 720 | From the Juniper Tree | The boy's bones transformed into a bird. The bird lets the millstone fall on the mother. Becomes boy again. I. The Murder. (a) The little boy is slain by his cruel stepmother, who closes the lid of a chest on him. (b) She cooks him and serves him to… | , 720 | E607.1., E610.1.1., G61., Q412., S121. |
| 725 | The Dream | The boy refuses to tell his dream to his father, and even to the king. Various adventures. Conquers enemies, wins the princess. Thus the dream is fulfilled. The boy dreams that his parents shall serve him and that the king shall pour water on his… | , 725 | D1812.3.3., H551., L425., M312.0.1. |
| 735 | The Rich Man's and the Poors Man's Fortune | The fortune of the rich brother gives the poor brother the advice to seek his luck under a bush. The poor man goes there and Fortune tells him to become a merchant. He becomes rich. | , 735A | N112., N112.1., N181. |