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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.
Realistic Tales 850–999
| ATU ▲ | Title | Summary | Arne Thompson | Thompson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 930 | The Prediction | Cf. Types 461, 1525R*. I. The Prophecy. (a) It is foretold that a poor boy is to become the king's son-in-law. II. Sale and Abandonment. (a) The king buys the boy from his parents. (b) He abandons the boy in a box on a river (or in a forest). (c) He… | , 930, 930A | H51., K1355., K511., K978., M312.1., M312.1.1., M359.2., M370., N101., R131., S115.2., S143., T22.2. |
| 931 | Oedipus | As foretold by the prophecy, the hero kills his father and marries his mother. | , 931 | M343., M371.2., N323., R131., S354., T412. |
| 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. | ||
| 935 | The Prodigal's Return | The fortunate marriage and the visit home. The youngest of three brothers [L10] is a prodigal [N172]. He goes abroad as a soldier and swindles his father into sending him money. Through cleverness he makes his fortune and marries the princess [L161].… | , 935 | K1815., K1837., L161. |
| 938 | Placidas | He is converted by a vision. All his goods are destroyed, his wife seized by a ship captain, his young sons carried off by a lion and a bear [N251]. He finally recovers them all [N121]. | , 938 | J214., N251. |
| 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]. | ||
| 945 | Luck and Intelligence. Which is More Powerful? | Test: peasant who has intelligence in his head is brought to court. Luck saves trim. I. Introduction. (a) Intelligence end Luck dispute as to which is the more powerful. (b) As a test a gardener is endowed with intelligence. II. The Wooden Doll. (a)… | , 945 | D435.1.1., F1023., F954.2.1., H343., H621., N141., Z16.1. |
| 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. |
| 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… | ||
| 950 | Rhampsinitus | Rhampsinitus. The theft in the treasury (bank). The head of one of the thieves cut off. The other thief (brother) sought in vain. The lamentation of the relatives betrays the thief, etc. Cf. Type 1525. I. Theft from the treasury. (a) The king's… | , 950 | H58., J1142.4., J1143., K315.1., K332., K407.1., K415., K425., K730. |
| 952 | The King and the Soldier | A soldier prepares to testify before the king against his superior officer. Accompanies the king, whom he does not know, to the robbers' house [K1812.1]. The soldier kills the robbers (or renders them harmless) [N884.1]. The robbers are usually… | , 952 | D2072., K1812.1., K422., N884.1. |
| 953 | The Old Robber Relates Three Adventures | The old robber relates three adventures to free his sons [R153.3.3, J1185]. Each adventure is more frightful than the last [R151.1]. The tales: (1) an adventure with ghostlike cats, (2) Odysseus and Polyphemus (cf.Type 1137), (3) an ogre fooled by… | , 953 | J1185., K1011., K527., Q53., R153.3.3. |
| 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. |
| 955 | The Robber Bridegroom | The maiden in the den of robbers. While hidden under the bed she sees another maiden murdered. The severed finger serves her as a token. The girl usually strews her path into the forest with ashes or pees [R145]. When the bridegroom appears, she uses the severed finger of the murdered girl to expose him [H57.2.1]. Cf. Type 311. | , 955 | B143.1., H57.2.1., K1916., R135. |
| 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. |
| 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. | ||
| 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. |
| 960 | The Sun Brings All to Light | The murderer repeats as he sees the ray of the sun the last words of the dying man [D1715]. In this way the crime is brought to light [N271.1]. Or the murder is revealed by the unusual names of boys [N271.2]. Cf. Types 883C, 1376C*, 1530*. | , 960, 960A | D1715., N271.1., N271.3. |
| 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. | ||
| 968 | Miscellaneous Robber and Murder Stories | No examples in the Database yet | , 968 | K343.0.1., K434.1., K434.3., S121. |
| 969 | T'choupi : SaberTooth fighter | No examples in the Database yet | ||
| 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. |
| 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… | ||
| 980 | Old Grandfathers and Their Grandsons | Ungrateful Son Reproved by Naive Actions of Own Son: Preparing for Old Age [W121]. | , 980, 980A, 980B, 980C, 980D | D444.2., J121., J121.2., NA |
| 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. |
| 982 | Ungrateful Heirs | They think that the chest of stones contains the inheritance. [P236.2, Q281.1]. | , 982 | P236.2., Q281.1. |
| 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]. | ||
| 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. |
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