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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 ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1459 | Keeping up appearances | No examples in the Database yet | 1459** | K1984. |
| 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. |
| 892 | The children of the king | While the young prince is traveling, his sister is to govern the country, both their parents being dead. Staying in the service of another king, the boy is told lies about the conduct of his sister by a knight who by treachery has obtained proofs of… | , 892 | K2112.1., Q261. |
| 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. |
| 1537 | The corpse killed five times | The corpse on the horse, in the sleigh, in the boat [K2151, K2152]. Cf. Type 1536A. | , 1537 | K2151., K2152. |
| 1170 | The Evil Woman in the Glass Case as Last Commodity | The man is to belong to the ogre as soon as he has sold his goods. If he has any goods that no one will buy, he is to be free. The man puts an evil old woman in a glass case. When the devil sees her he recognizes her: »Whoever knows her will refuse… | 1170 | K216.1. |
| 1091 | Who Can Bring an Unheard-of Riding-Horse | The man sends his naked wife on all fours in tar and feathers. The devil has never seen such a horse and is defeated [K216.2]. | 1091, 1092 | K216.2., K31.1. |
| 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. |
| 1185 | The First Crop | The man to pay the devil when he harvests his first crop. He plants acorns. | 1185 | K221. |
| 101 | The old dog rescues the child | A farmer plans to kill a faithful old dog. The wolf makes a plan to save the dog. The latter is to rescue the farmer's child from the wolf. The plan succeeds. The wolf in return wants to steal the farmer's sheep. The dog objects and loses the wolf's friendship. | 101 | K231.1.3. |
| 1555 | Milk in the Cask | Order to put a small vessel of milk into huge container. Of a small shrewd group each by himself pours water thinking this will not be detected if the others pour milk. [K231.6.1.1]. (Sometimes told of wine.) | 1555A, 1555B | K231.6.2.2., K233.4. |
| 161 | Peasant Betrays Fox by Pointing | The peasant has hidden the fox in a basket, and promised not to tell. When the hunters come, he says, »The fox just went over the hill,« but points to the basket. [K2315]. | 161, 161A* | K2315., NA |
| 1145 | The Ogre Afraid of what Rustles and Rattles | The man sets juniper on fire [K2345]. | 1145 | K2345. |
| 1557 | Box on the Ear Returned | At table each gives his neighbor a box on the ears. The soldier is to give it to the king, but he returns it to the courtier from whom he has received it. [K2376]. | 1557 | K2376. |
| 102 | The Dog as Wolf's Shoemaker | The dog as wolf 's shoemaker. He demands material for the shoes and then successively eats up the cow, hog, etc. furnished him. | 102 | K254.1. |
| 1565 | Agreement Not to Scratch | In talking, the trickster makes gestures and scratches without detection. [K263]. | 1565 | K263. |
| 1130 | Counting out Pay | Hole in the hat, and hat over a pit. | 1130 | K275. |
| 1635 | Eulenspiegel's tricks | No examples in the Database yet | 1635 | K300. |
| 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. |
| 57 | Raven with a Cheese | A raven/crow has some cheese/meat in his mouth. The fox flatters the raven into singing. He drops his food and the fox gets it. | 57 | K334.1. |
| 968 | Miscellaneous Robber and Murder Stories | No examples in the Database yet | , 968 | K343.0.1., K434.1., K434.3., S121. |
| 1 | The theft of fish | The fox plays dead; a man throws him on his wagon of fish. The fox throws the fish off and carries them away. The wolf imitates and is caught. | 1, 1* | K371.1., NA |
| 15 | Stealing the Partner's Butter | The fox (the hen) pretends that he has been invited to be godfather and steals the butter stored by him and the bear (the cock) for the winter. He smears butter on the mouth (tail) of the sleeping bear. | 15 | K372. |
| 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. |
| 1529 | Thief Claims to have been Transformed into a Horse | While the owner sleeps, the peasant steals his horse. He hitches himself to the owner's wagon and says that he is a horse transformed to a man. [K403]. | 1529, 1529A* | K403., na |
| 1004 | Hogs in the mud; sheep in the air | The cows driven away, the hogs' tails in the mud, the bell-wether on the tree. I. Pigs' Tails. Left to guard the pigs, the trickster kills and sells them and leaves their tails sticking in the ground. The owner pulls the tails out and is convinced… | , 1004 | K404.1., K404.2., K404.3. |
| 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. |
| 1090 | Mowing Contest | The man takes the center of the field. The ogre is given a dull sickle and mows around the outside of the field. Tires himself out. [K42.2]. Cf. Type 820. | 1090 | K42.2. |
| 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. |
| 170 | The fox eats his fellow-lodger | The fox spends the night with a cock in a house. He eats the cock but in the morning he accuses the sheep of having eaten it. In the next inn likewise the ox has eaten the sheep, etc. In compensation he demands a larger animal each time. .… | 170, 171 | K443.7., NA |
| 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. |
| 1551 | The Wager that Sheep are Hogs | A trickster wagers with a sheep driver that the sheep he is driving are hogs. The next man to overtake them will act as umpire. The trickster's confederate now arrives and declares that they are hogs. [K451.2]. | 1551 | K451.2. |
| 1526 | The Old Beggar and the Robbers | The robbers dress an old beggar up in fine clothes. They take him in front of the shopkeeper's house. Get many goods on the credit of the fine gentleman. Disappear with the goods and leave the old man behind. [K455.3]. Cf. Types 1531, l920E. | , 1526A | K455.1., K455.2. |
| 1096 | The tailor and the ogre in a sewing contest | The ogre sews with the whole length of the thread. When he returns from the first stitch, the tailor has his task ready. | 1096 | K47.1. |
| 3 | Sham Blood and Brains | The fox covers his head with buttermilk (blood, urine, etc.) and says that his brains have been knocked out. Frightens the bear. | 3 | K473. |
| 1556 | The Double Pension (Burial Money) | A husband and wife are jointly under a pension from the king. She reports her husband dead and gets the whole pension. He likewise reports her dead and gets the whole money. [K441.1]. (Sometimes concerned with money for the burial.) (K482.1). | 1556 | K482.1. |
| 1589 | The Lawyer's Dog Steals Meat | The lawyer tells the butcher that the dog's owner (himself) is liable for damages. He asks double the amount of the damages as fee. [K488]. | 1589 | K488. |
| 120 | The First to See the Sunrise | Wager between the fox and the hog. In the contest the fox places himself on a hill facing the east; the hog in a lower place facing the high trees to the west. The sun shines on the top of the trees and the hog wins. (Sometimes told with human actors.) | 120 | K52. |
| 1115 | Attempting to Kill the Hero in His Bed | Butter cask (or the like) in the hero's bed so that the ogre coming to murder him stabs the object. [K525.1]. Cf Type 1640. | 1115 | K525.1. |
| 5 | Biting the foot | The fox to the bear, who is biting his foot: »You are biting the tree root.» The bear lets loose. | 5 | K543. |
| 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. |
| 122 | The Wolf Loses His Prey | The wolf loses his prey. Escape by false plea. | 122, 122A, 122B, 122C, 122D, 122F, 122G | K550., K551.8., K553., K553.1., K553.5., K561.2., K562. |
| 227 | The geese's eternal prayer | The fox attacks a group of geese. They ask his if they can make one last prayer. The fox agrees. The geese make so much noise that the farmer hears them and saves them. | 227 | K551.1. |
| 1199 | The Lord's Prayer | The man about to be taken by the Devil or Death begs respite long enough to repeat the Lord's Prayer for the last time. The Devil must wait. [K551.1]. Cf. Types 122A, 227, 332, 955. | , 1199 | K551.1., K555.2. |
| 111 | The Cat and the Mouse Converse | The mouse tells the cat a tale. The cat answers, »Even so, I eat you up.» | 111, 111A, 111A* | K561.1.1., NA, U31. |
| 1085 | Pushing a hole into a tree | Contest with ogre, to push a hole in a tree with his head. The hero has already cut a hole with his axe. [K61]. Cf. Types 1086, 1640. | 1085 | K61. |
| 1060 | Squeezing Water from a Stone | Cheese, egg, etc. Contest in squeezing water out of a stone. The ogre squeezes a stone; the boastful trickster a cheese or egg [K62]. (Sometimes with animal actors.) Cf. Type 1640. | 1060 | K62. |
| 73 | Blinding the Guard | The rabbit, imprisoned in a hollow tree, induces his guard to look up at him. He spits tobacco juice into the guard's eyes and blinds the guard, and thus effects his escape. | 73 | K621. |
| 1061 | Biting the Stone | No examples in the Database yet | 1061 | K63. |
| 1527 | The Robbers are Betrayed | The master and servant exchange places for a day. The servant in tar and feathers. Has his former master take him to the robbers' house. They flee in terror and leave their treasure behind. Cf. Types 1525H, 1650, 1653, 1654**. [K335.1, K335.1.8]. | , 1527A | K630., K724. |
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