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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 ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 916 | The brothers guarding the king's bedchamber and the snake | I. The Accusation. Several brothers are hired by a king to guard his bedchamber. The first brother sees a snake in the bedchamber and kills it, but a drop of its poison falls on the queen. While he is wiping the poison from the queen, she awakes and,… | ||
| 925 | Tidings Brought to the King: You Said it, not I | The messenger arranges it so that the king says the words in the form of a question [J1675.2.1]. | ||
| 928 | Planting for the Next Generation | Man who is planting tree told that it will never mature in his day. He is planting it for the next generation. [J701.1]. | ||
| 933 | Gregory on the Stone | The son of an incestuous union is abandoned and saved by a sailor. He undergoes years of penance and finally becomes pope. The parents come to the pope to be confessed. | ||
| 939 | The Offended Deity | Cf. Types 757, 947. I. A King Offends a Deity [C50]. He loses his kingdom and his fortune [C930] and is forced to wander in poverty for a term of years. (a) His wife is stolen from him. (b) He must labor at menial tasks. (c) Taken in and helped by a… | ||
| 940 | The Haughty Girl | The haugty girl entices three suitors (unknown to one another) into the churchyard. They revenge themselves by having her marry the hangman thinking he is the governor's son. [K1218.3]. | ||
| 949 | The Faithful Servitor | I. The Necessary Sacrifice. A poor man is befriended by a kin". He hears weeping during the night, goes out, and learns from the Fates, a goddess, or a witch that (a) a man must sacrifice himself or (b) a man must sacrifice his sons so that the king… | ||
| 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. | ||
| 961 | Conqueror of Robber Discovers his Money-Stick | Thinking that he has killed the robber, the man takes his stick or knife with big handle. The robber recovers and, disguised as beggar, inquisitively looks at the stick. The man is suspicious and by examining finds much money inside it. [K437.4] . | ||
| 962 | The girl who played with the bread | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 964 | Thief (Murderer) Deceived into Betraying himself by a Gesture | Thief (Murderer) Deceived into Betraying himself by a Gesture [J1141.1]. Cf.Type 66A. | ||
| 969 | T'choupi : SaberTooth fighter | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 977 | The Eloping Couple and the Robbers | An eloping couple comes to the house of a band of thieves who are absent. The mother of the thieves tries to detain the couple, but, unable to keep them until the robbers return, she ties a bag of seeds, or the like, to their horses so that they can… | ||
| 978 | The Youth in the Land of the Cheaters | I. The Cheats. A youth sets out to trade end comes to a land where cheaters flourish. He loses all his goods. (a) A one-eyed man (woman) states that the youth's father had taken the other eye and demands compensation. (The rescuer demands that the… | ||
| 983 | The Dishes of the Same Flavor | Man thus shown that one woman is like another and dissuaded from his amorous purpose. [P236.2, Q281.1]. | ||
| 985 | Brother Chosen Rather than Husband or Son | Only one can be saved; he alone is irreplacable. [P253.3]. | ||
| 1001 | Cutting Wood | The rascal has a magic cat (snake) in the woodpile. The axe goed into the wood only when the cat gets out. He thus avoids cutting the wood. | ||
| 1014 | Closing the Door Thight | With iron nails. [K1417]. | ||
| 1015 | Whetting the Knife | The whole blade whetted away. [K1418]. | ||
| 1016 | Cleaning the Horse | Washing in boiling water or currying with a sharp razor. [K1443]. | ||
| 1031 | Granary roof used as threshing flail | Cf. Type 650A (IV a). | ||
| 1035 | Clearing out Manure | The rascal digs a hole [K1424] or piles manure high [K1424.1]. | ||
| 1046 | Threat to Haul away the Warehouse | For this purpose a large rope is made. The ogre is intimidated. | ||
| 1048 | Buying Wood | Neither straight nor crooked trees (sawdust). | ||
| 1064 | Making Fire by Stamping on Ground | Hot ashes prepared beforehand. | ||
| 1066 | The Hanging Game | Dupe really hanged. [K852]. | ||
| 1083 | Duel with Long Poles or Cudgels | The rascal with the short pole comes to the ogre and beats him. Then they exchange. The rascal again punishes him. Suggests that he can protect himself by going into the pig-sty. The ogre goes and the rascal beats him through a hole in the wall.… | ||
| 1084 | Contest in shrieking or whistling | The man binds up the ogre's head and then strikes him in the eye. [K84.1]. | ||
| 1086 | Jumping into the Ground | A hole already dug and covered with boughs [K17.1]. Cf. Type 1085. | ||
| 1087 | Rowing contest | Boat already sawed through [K14]. | ||
| 1093 | Contest in words | Maxims. - Usually the devil and the girl [K91]. Cf. Type 875 part II. | ||
| 1095 | Contest in Scratching Each Other with the Nails | The man sends his wife to meet the ogre with whom he is to have the scratching contest. She tells the devil that her husband has gone to have his nails sharpened. She shows him deep wounds her husband has scratched on her body (obscene). The ogre… | ||
| 1097 | The Ice Mill | Like Type 43 with man and ogre in place of animals. Cf. J741. | ||
| 1116 | Attempt at burning | The hero escapes and after the room he is in is burned he returns and is found sitting on the ashes. »It was a bit hot,» he says. | ||
| 1117 | The ogre's pitfall | Tricked into falling into it himself. | ||
| 1131 | The hot porridge in the ogre's throat | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1132 | Flight of the Ogre with his Goods in the Bag | The man hides in the bag. [G561]. Cf. Type 311. | ||
| 1147 | Thunder the Rolling of his Brother's Wagon | Thus explained by the hero. | ||
| 1152 | The Ogre Overawed by Displaying Objects | See Type 1161A. A man or men, hiding in a house, try to overawe an ogre by claiming to be even greater ogres. The ogre demands proof. The men poke through the door or window, objects which they have accidentally picked up on their journey and the… | ||
| 1154 | The Man Who Falls From the Tree and the Demons | Cf. Types 121, 1653. I. Tree Refuge. Two men take refuge in a tree. Below them (a) demons or (b) tigers assemble. One man, through accident, or overcome by fear, falls from the tree in the midst of the demons or tigers. The man in the tree shouts… | ||
| 1155 | "A Peck of Grain for Each Stack." | The man makes very small stacks. [K181]. | ||
| 1158 | The ogre wants to look through the gun barrel in the smithy | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 1160 | The ogre in the haunted castle. Beard caught fast | Beard caught fast. Cf. Type 326. | ||
| 1162 | The Iron Man and the Ogre | In order to save the king's daughter from the ogre an iron man is forged. The ogre is driven away. [K1756]. | ||
| 1163 | The Ogre Teaches the Smith how to Use Sand in Forging Iron | The ogre blames the smith for his stupidity. Since then smiths have used sand. [G651]. | ||
| 1171 | A Rabbit in Each Net | The man is to belong to the devil if the latter can catch a rabbit in each of hundred nets set in high trees. [H1024.3]. | ||
| 1178 | The Devil Outriddled | Boy promised to the devil saves himself by giving riddles or enigmatic tasks that the devil cannot solve or perform. [G303. 16.19.3]. | ||
| 1181 | Sticks from the Body | The ogre will help the man only in exchange for a part of the man's body. The man gives him a paring from his finger nail. [H1021.7]. | ||
| 1182 | The Level Bushel | The student is to come into the devil's power if at the end of a year he does not at least return for the heaping bushel of gold a level one. The student forthwith hands back the level bushel and keeps the surplus. [K223]. | ||
| 1183 | Washing Black Cloth White: Task for Devil | Sometimes cattle, wool, black man. [H1023.6]. Gf. Types 480, 1312. |
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