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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | The Help of the Weak | The mouse gnaws the net and liberates the captured bear (fox, lion). | 75 | B371.1. |
| 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. |
| 76 | The Wolf and the Crane | The crane pulls a bone from the wolf's windpipe. When he asks for payment the wolf says, "That you were allowed to take your beak from my throat is payment enough." | 76 | W154.3. |
| 763 | Treasure Finders Murder One Another | Two hunters are shown a treasure. One of them puts poison in the other's wine, but the other kills him, drinks the wine and dies. [K1685]. | 763 | K1685. |
| 766 | The seven sleepers | No examples in the Database yet | 766 | D1960.1. |
| 767 | Food for the Crucifix | A boy offers bread to a statue of Christ or the Virgin [Q172.1]. | 767 | Q172.1. |
| 768 | St Christopher and the Christ child | The saintly ferryman. He carries the child across the stream. The child becomes heavier with each step, but the saint still carries him. The child reveals himself as Christ. [Q25]. | 768 | Q25. |
| 77 | The Stag Admires Himself in a Spring | The stag admires himself in a spring. He is proud of his horns, ashamed of his legs. In flight his horns are caught and the dogs overtake him. | 77 | L461. |
| 770 | The Nun Who Saw the World | The nun leaves the convent with her lover. The Virgin takes her place in the convent during the years of her absence. The nun returns repentant. [K1841.1]. | 770A* | V238. |
| 791 | The Saviour and Peter in night-lodgings | Peter is twice beaten. Peter and Christ are sleeping in the same bed. The drunken host returns home and beats Peter. Peter changes places with Christ. The host then comes in to beat the other lodger. Peter again receives the blows. [K1132]. In French… | 791 | K1132. |
| 8 | "Painting" on the Haycock | The bear (wolf) wants to be painted like the birds. The fox persuades him to lie on a haycock and sets fire to it. | 8, 8A | K1013., K1013.2 |
| 802 | The Peasant in Heaven | On the arrival of the rich man there is song and dance, because of the rarity of such an event. [E758, W245]. | 802 | E758. |
| 805 | Joseph and Mary Threatens to Leave Heaven... | No examples in the Database yet | 805 | V254.6. |
| 821 | The Devil as Advocate | A man is accused of theft. The devil carries the judge from the court room and thus repays the hospitality of the accused. | 821B | J1191.2. |
| 826 | Devil writes down names of men on hide in church | No examples in the Database yet | 826 | G303.24.1.3. |
| 830 | Refusal to Ask God's Blessing | The man shoots a stag but denies that God has given it to him and insists that he shot it himself. [J151.4]. The wounded stag jumps up and flees. | 830C | C454. |
| 831 | The Dishonest Priest | In order to get hold of money found by a poor man, the priest goes with the skin of a he-goat on his back (as Devil) to the man to frighten him [Q551.2]. But when he gets home he cannot get the skin off [Q551.2]. | 831 | Q551.2. |
| 832 | The Disappointed Fisher | The fisher, his wife, and his child always get three fishes. From greed they kill the child in order to have more fish for themselves. But they catch from then on only two fishes. [Q553.5]. | 832 | Q553.5. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 839 | One Vice Carries Other With It | A man is permitted to choose one of the following vices: theft, incontinence, drink. He chooses the last, which seemed to him least harmful. All the other vices follow in the train of the first. [J485]. | 839 | J485. |
| 841 | One Beggar Trusts God, the Other the King | The king gives them each a loaf of bread, but the loaf of the second beggar is filled with gold. The beggars not knowing the nature of the loaves exchange them. [N351]. | 841 | N351. |
| 844 | The Luck-bringing Shirt | The king becomes lucky when he puts on the shirt of a lucky man. The only man who says he is lucky has no shirt. [N135.3]. | 844 | N135.3. |
| 845 | The Old Man and Death | Weary old man wishes for death. When Death appears at the summons he asks for help with the load. [C11]. | 845 | C11. |
| 85 | The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage | The mouse, the bird, and the sausage keep house together each with appropriate duties. When they exchange roles, all goes ill. | 85 | J512.7. |
| 877 | The Old Woman who was Skinned | La Vecchia Scorticata. King marries woman whose finger he has seen and whose voice he has heard. She turns out to be old woman. He has her thrown out. She hangs in a tree. Swan fairies change her into beautiful girl. The king takes her as wife. Her… | 877 | D1880. |
| 887 | Griselda | The king marries a maiden of the lower class. She promises to be always complacent. The king puts her to the proof by making her believe that he has killed their children and married another wife [H461]. Cf. Types 712, 881, 900. | 887 | H461. |
| 9 | The unjust partner | In the field and in the stable. The bear works: the idle fox cheats the bear. | 9, 9B, 9C | K1251.1, K171.2., K471. |
| 91 | The Heart of a Monkey | Monkey when caught for his heart (as remedy) makes his captor believe that he has left his heart home. Is released. | 91 | K544. |
| 93 | The Master Taken Seriously | She-fox and her children do not flee from the vineyard until owner begins in earnest to root it out. (Also told of other animals.) | 93 | J1031. |
| 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. |
| 956 | Robbers' Heads Cut Off by One as They Enter House | Robbers' Heads Cut off One by One as they Enter House [K912]. Cf. Type 304. | 956A | K912. |
| 958 | The Shepherd Youth in the Robbers' Power | The Shepherd Youth in the Robbers' Power calls on his him for help. The helpers come. [K551.1]. | 958C*, 958E* | K311.1., K437.2. |
| 976 | Which was the Noblest Act? | The bridegroom, the robber, and the lover. A bridegroom permits his bride to fulfill a promise to visit her lover on her wedding night. On the way she meets robbers. When he hears her story one of the robbers conducts her to her lover. On hearing her… | 976 | H1552.1. |
| 981 | The Killing of Old Men | Wisdom of Hidden Old Man Saves Kingdom. In famine all old men are ordered killed. One man hides his father. When all goes wrong in the hands of the young rulers, the old man comes forth, performs assigned tasks, end aids with his wisdom. [J151.1].… | 981 | J151.1. |
| 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 |
| 987 | False Magician Exposed by Clever Girl | No examples in the Database yet | 987 | NA |
| 990 | Revived from Apparent Death by a Grave-Robber | The Woman gets a ring stuck in her throat. A man enters the grave to steal a ring from the finger of the dead. The woman wakes up and goes home. [K426] | 990 | K426. |
| 992 | The Eaten Heart | Adulteress is caused unwittingly to eat her lover's heart. (Sometimes other parts of his body) [Q478.1]. | 992, 992A | NA, Q478.1. |
| 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. |