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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 ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | The Bear Pulls Mountain Ashes apart so that the Fox's Old Mother can Get Berries | The fox eats the berries himself. | ||
| 58 | The Crocodile Carries the Jackal | The jackal, who wants to eat fruit or carrion on the other bank, persuades a crocodile to carry him across the river by saying he will find a bride for the crocodile. He makes a dummy and, safe back on shore, sends the crocodile to that. | ||
| 64 | Tailless Fox Tries in Vain to Get Foxes to Cut off Tails | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 81 | Too cold for hare to build house in winter | Too cold for hare to build house in winter, not necessary in summer: must go without a house. Cf. Types 43, 1238. | ||
| 90 | The Needle, the Glove, and the Squirrel | The needle at first has little success; receives blows from the others. Finally it slips into an elk's stomach andkills the elk. | ||
| 96 | When the hare was married | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 104 | The Cowardly Duelers | War between the domestic and wild animals. The cat raises her tail; the wild animals think it is a gun and flee. Cf. Type 222. | ||
| 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. | ||
| 114 | Chanticleer Believes that his Crowing Makes the Sun Rise | Chanticleer believes that his crowing makes the sun rise. Disappointed when it rises without his aid. | ||
| 115 | The Hungry Fox Waits in Vain for the Horse's Lips (Scrotum) to Fall Off | The hungry fox waits in vain for the horse's lips (scrotum) to fall off . | ||
| 116 | The Bear on the Hay-Wagon | The bear on the hay-wagon (or on the horse) is mistaken for the preacher . | ||
| 118 | The Lion Frightened by the Horse | The horse strikes sparks with his hooves. The wolf (bear) boasts of having eaten horses. The lion thereupon picks up the wolf to show him the horse and squeezes him to death. | ||
| 158 | The wild animals on the sleigh | The sleigh comes in two. The animals get satisfactory material for repairs from the forest. [B831]. While the owner goes for good material they eat the horse. | ||
| 165 | The wolf in the company of saints | Promises to give up slaying animals. After wringing the gander's neck, excuses himself, saying: »He should not have hissed at the saint.« [K2055.1]. | ||
| 168 | The musician in the wolf-trap | There he encounters a wolf already trapped, and saves himself by playing music. [B848.1]. Cf. Types 160A, 1652. | ||
| 171 | The Three Bears | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 176 | The farmer tricks the jackals | I. Farmer vs. jackal. (a) A jackal forces a woman carrying food to her husband to give him food. (b) The husband disguises as a woman carrying food and beats the jackal, etc. (c) The jackal threatens to defecate on the man's plow. The man affixes… | ||
| 180 | The rebounding bow | A hunter kills several animals but is in turn bitten by a snake. A jackal comes by, nibbles at the hunter's bow, and is killed when the bow rebounds. | ||
| 182 | The helpful animal and the snake | The helpful animal sees a snake bite his master. He catches the crow, who is the snake's confederate, and forces the snake to revive his master by sucking out the poison. | ||
| 217 | The Cat and the Candle | A man has a cat trained to hold up lighted candles on its head. The king has a mouse let loose. The cat drops the candle and chases the mouse. (Often used as a method of cheating in a game [N7].) | ||
| 220 | The Council of Birds | The eagle as judge assigns each his place and work. | ||
| 223 | The Bird and the Jackal | |||
| 224 | Wedding of the Turkey and the Peacock | All birds are invited to the wedding except the eagle. This omission starts a great conflict. | ||
| 226 | The Goose Teaches the Fox to Swim | Shakes him off in the water. | ||
| 229 | The Hawk Frightened at the Snipe's Bill | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 230 | The Rearing of the Large-headed and Large-eyed Bird | When the one rearing the owl learns its great age he kills it. | ||
| 238 | The Keen Sight of the Dove and the Keen Hearing of the Frog | They boast to each other. | ||
| 239 | The Crow Helps the Deer Escape from the Snare | The deer aids the jackal, but when the deer is caught in a snare the jackal refuses to help him. On the advice of the crow the deer feigns death. When the hunter releases him, he bounds away. | ||
| 241 | The Officious Bird and the Monkey | A bird, sitting in its nest during a cold rain, asks shivering monkey why it doesn't build a house since it has hands like a man. The enraged monkey destroys the bird's nest. | ||
| 243 | The Parrot Pretends to be God | Cf. Types 1380, 1422. I. The Tell-tale Parrot. (a) A parrot decides a lawsuit against a woman,or (b) reports a woman's infidelity to her husband. (c) The woman orders the… | ||
| 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. | ||
| 246 | The Hunter Bends the Bow | One bird escapes; other remains and is shot. (Told also of fish.) | ||
| 252 | The Pike and the Snake Race to Land | The winner is to remain on land. | ||
| 322 | Magnet mountain attracts everything | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 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… | ||
| 401 | The Princess Transformed into a Deer | The prince a-hunting. Disenchants princess by spending three nights in a deserted castle. Quest for departed wife, as in Type 400. Cf. Type 400 (I e, II b, c, III i, V, VI). | ||
| 411 | The King and the Lamia | |||
| 424 | The Youth Wed to a She-Devil | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 428 | The Wolf | A maiden in the service of a witch. Assigned seemingly impossible tasks, among others to deliver to another witch a letter with instructions to kill the maiden. A wolf helps her to escape. The wolf is thereby disenchanted and becomes a prince who… | ||
| 437 | The Supplanted Bride (The Needle Prince) | The maiden finds a seemingly dead prince whose body is covered with pins and needles and begins to remove them, or she must weep a jug full of tears or spend three sleepless nights by the coffin [D762, D759.7]. As the task is almost completed she… | ||
| 452 | The Maiden Who Seeks her Brother | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 453 | The Maiden Who Seeks her Brother | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 459 | The Make-Believe Son (Daughter) | The king turns out his eldest queen because she is childless. The maidservant informs the king that the queen has borne (a) a son or (b) a daughter but that the king must not see it. The queen is supplied a house and food. After some years the king… | ||
| 463 | The Witch in the Stone Boat | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 466 | A Journey to the Other World | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 468 | The Towering Tree | Ascent on a tree which reaches the sky. On its branches lives a princess. | ||
| 485 | Borma Jarizhka | On instructions of the tsar the hero sets off to Babylon to get the crown. He steals the crown and burns the snakes which were sent after him. He comes to a one-eyed giant, blinds him, and escapes from the cave under the belly of the giant (Cf. Type… | ||
| 506 | The Rescued Princess | I. The Grateful Dead Man. (a) The hero ransoms a corpse from creditors who refuse its burial. (b) The grateful dead man in the form of an old man, a servant, or a fox later helps the hero on condition that they are to divide all winnings. II. The… | ||
| 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). | ||
| 515 | The Shepherd | No examples in the Database yet |
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