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Stith Thompson Motif Index
About this index and how to read it
Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature classifies recurring narrative elements in folktales, myths, legends, ballads and related traditional narratives. Each entry below gives Thompson's motif reference and the description recorded in the index.
The index is large, so this browser displays 250 entries per page. You can search by motif reference or by words in the description, restrict the results to one of Thompson's main letter categories, and click motif references mentioned inside descriptions to follow cross-references. Individual motif pages also show any ATU tale types whose concordance explicitly cites that Thompson reference.
All
A
Mythological Motifs
B
Animal Motifs
C
Motifs of Tabu
D
Magic
E
The Dead
F
Marvels
G
Ogres
H
Tests
J
The Wise and the Foolish
K
Deceptions
L
Reversals of Fortune
M
Ordaining the Future
N
Chance and Fate
P
Society
Q
Rewards and Punishments
R
Captives and Fugitives
S
Unnatural Cruelty
T
Sex
U
The Nature of Life
V
Religion
W
Traits of Character
X
Humor
Z
Miscellaneous Groups of Motifs
| Thompson reference ▲ | Description |
|---|---|
| K2324 | Hiding from the strange animal. A cat shrieks and the frightened bear falls out of the tree and hurts himself. *Type 103; BP I 425; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| K2324.1 | Ferocious animal frightened by ass braying. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K2325 | Devil frightened by threatening to bring mother-in-law. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 51 No. 340*. |
| K2327 | Wolf-captor scared by fiddle-playing of captive ram, who escapes. American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 44 No. 9. |
| K2335 | Parson is tricked into giving up his room. Is told there is a snake in it. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K2336 | Tiger frightened away from man's tree refuge by man's stick and rope. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2338 | Wife, to drive away parasite priest, tells him husband has gone to get drunk and will kill him with rice mortar on his return. He leaves in haste. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2345 | Ogre frightened at rustling. Man sets juniper afire. Type 1145; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| K2345.1 | Tiger frightened at sound of clashing knives: thinks it is leak in house of which he is afraid. Chinese: Graham. |
| K2345.2 | Bear frightened by wife's sneezing. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2346 | Wooden image frightens away invaders. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 388. |
| K2350 | Military strategy. |
| K2351 | Animals help in military victory. |
| K2351.1 | Sparrows of Cirencester. Fire is attached to birds who fly in and set fire to a besieged city. **Krappe MPh XXIII 7ff.; **DeVries Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi XLVII 66ff.; Stender-Petersen Edda Nordisk Tidsskrift f. Litteraturforskning 1929, 145—64; Herrmann Saxo II 93; *Liebrecht 109f.; Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2351.1.1 | Fire tied to foxes' tails: destroys enemy's cities and fields. Jewish: Neuman. |
| K2351.2 | Bees thrown into redoubt drive out enemies. *Fb "bi" IV 36b; Deutschbein I 256; Hdwb. d. Abergl. I 1249; *Liebrecht 75; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K2351.2.1 | Bees carried in drum attack and defeat attacking army. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2351.2.2 | Ashes transformed into bees, wasps, scorpions and snakes drive invading army away for hero. India: Thompson-Balys |
| K2351.3 | Mice and hogs let loose put elephant cavalry to flight. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 528; Spanish: Espinosa III Nos. 246—248; Jewish: Neuman. |
| K2351.4 | Elephant drunk with toddy sent to attack enemy. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 1108, II 527. |
| K2351.5 | Horses frightened by instruments of war are backed into enemy's ranks. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K2351.5.1 | Birds frighten enemy's horses so that they throw their riders down. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2351.6 | Wild horses with bags containing stones tied to their tails, driven into enemy's camp to cause stampede. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2351.6.1 | Horse with basket of powdered peppers sent into hostile camp: enemy overcome. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2351.6.1.1 | Hot pepper mixed with flour supplying enemy camp. Thinking they have been poisoned, they beat a retreat. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2351.7 | Wild fawn sent by saint into hostile army, so that all follow it and leader (enemy of saint) is slain. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2351.8 | Strategy to get into enemy city: huge rat makes a burrow. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2352 | Women spread shawls on enemy's path and entangle them. They are easily defeated. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 525. |
| K2352.1 | Fresh hides spread so that enemy slips and falls. Herrmann Saxo II 327, 596; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2353 | Treasure cast down crushes besiegers. English: Wells 85 (The Sowdone of Babylone). |
| K2354 | Treacherous priests prolong mass to let enemy destroy city. Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 301 No. 17, 326 No. 28. |
| K2356 | Women throw ashes in eyes of attacking soldiers, so that they are defeated. Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 301 No. 17; Jewish: *Neuman. |
| K2356.1 | Man blinded by throwing dust in his eyes: he is robbed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2357 | Disguise to enter enemy's camp (castle). Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: Panchatantra III 5 (tr. Ryder 328ff.). |
| K2357.0.1 | Disguise to spy on enemy. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K2357.0.2 | Owner admitted into his own castle, captured in his absence, in guise of a monk. He has given news to conqueror of his purported death. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2357.1 | Disguise as musician to enter enemy's camp. Herrmann Saxo II 210; Irish myth: Cross; Collingwood Sagabook of the Viking Society X (1) 134. |
| K2357.2 | Disguise as pilgrim to enter enemy's camp (castle). Massmann Kaiserchronik III 110. |
| K2357.3 | Disguise as old man to enter enemies' camp. Maori: Beckwith Myth 250. |
| K2357.4 | Rabbi feigns death to be carried out of the besieged city and to approach enemy. Jewish: Neuman. |
| K2357.5 | Weapons disguised permit entry to enemies' camp. Jewish: Neuman; Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 390. |
| K2357.6 | Woman disguises as man to enter enemy's camp. Slays enemy king. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K2357.7 | Disguise in killed enemy's clothes to enter enemy's castle. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2357.8 | Disguise as woman to enter enemy's camp (castle). Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2357.9 | Disguise as beggar (pauper) to enter enemy's camp (castle) or to spy. Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg; Greek: Grote I 276. |
| K2357.10 | Disguise as merchant to enter enemy's castle. (Cf. K1817.4.) Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2357.11 | Disguise as leper to enter enemy's camp. (Cf. K1818.1.) Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2357.12 | Disguise as carpenter (tradesman) to enter enemy's camp. (Cf. K1816.11.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2357.13 | Disguise as juggler to enter enemy's camp. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2357.14 | Disguise as churl (bachlach) to enter enemy's hall. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2357.15 | Capture by hiding warriors in baskets on back of oxen driven into enemy's camp on pretence that food is being brought. Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K2358 | Man disguised as animal sent among enemy that first blood be spilled by other side. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2361 | Woman saves herself from soldiers by receiving them joyfully rather than fearfully. Alphabet No. 541; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2362 | Capture of castle by feigning death. *DeVries Arkiv f. Nordisk Filologi XLVII 56ff., 67ff.; Wilken Geschichte der Kreuzzüge II 321ff.; Herrmann Saxo II 126; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2363 | Spies' false report of enemies' weakness brings on premature attack. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 394. |
| K2364 | Enemy's ships fired by use of fireship. English: Malory X 32; Greek: Iliad XVI 84. |
| K2364.1 | Enemies defeated by setting forest afire. Africa (Fang): Trilles 202. |
| K2365 | Enemy induced to give up siege. |
| K2365.1 | Enemy induced to give up siege by pretending to have plenty of food. Grimm Deutsche Sagen 460, 470, 504; Von der Leyen Sagenbuch III 1 No. 75, 2 No. 278; Lübbing Friesische Sagen 65; Laport FFC LXXXIV 182; Herodotus I ch. 22; Ovid Fasti VI 349ff.; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| K2365.2 | Enemy induced to surrender city by show of wealth on part of besiegers, who shoot golden apples over walls. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K2365.3 | Enemy soldiers persuaded by show of great wealth and generosity of king to desert to his side. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K2366 | City is falsely promised to enemy. When they enter they are attacked and defeated. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K2366.1 | Trickster admits defeat: enemy and friends invited to fort for ceremony and then attacked. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2367 | Besieger scatters beads in protecting hedge: besieged destroy hedge to find beads. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2368 | Enemy deceived into overestimating opponents: retreat. (Cf. K548.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2368.1 | Sound of artillery is simulated to overawe enemy. |
| K2368.1.1 | Persons run wagon back and forth over a corduroy bridge to simulate sound of artillery. U.S.: Baughman. |
| K2368.2 | Sounds of mock battle scare away attacking force. |
| K2368.2.1 | Sounds of battle in playhouse scare away attacking soldiers. England: Baughman. |
| K2368.3 | Sham doctor prescribes medicine for king's army; they fall ill; invading army, seeing multitudes being carried away in litters, flee, thinking there is a plague. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2368.4 | Enemy induced to give up siege by making it look as if the besieged have got reinforcement. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2369 | Military strategy—miscellaneous. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2369.1 | Marauder pretends beggary that king will underestimate his power. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2369.2 | Division of warriors hidden in pit on battlefield. Emerge during battle. Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K2369.2.1 | Largest part of fleet does not emerge until late in battle. Icelandic: örvar-Odds saga 86—89, Boberg. |
| K2369.2.2 | Treacherous king participates in battle only when he sees who is likely to win. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2369.3 | Treacherous ruler of city under siege sends sons to deliver city to enemy. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K2369.4 | Postponing of payment asked in order to get time to gather reinforcements. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2369.5 | Besiegers drowned by diversion of river. England: Baughman. |
| K2369.6 | Military strategy: city won by turning river from its course through city. Enemy soldiers march through empty bed into city. Spanish Exempla: Keller; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2369.7 | Shammed discussing of peace while getting reinforcements. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2369.8 | Cauldron containing lighted torch brought into enemy's camp ostensibly to be used for serving food: torch uncovered as signal for attack. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2369.9 | Fairy mist mistaken for smoke of enemy's burning ships. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2369.11 | Hero causes confusion in enemy camp in dead of night: army men fall upon one another, convinced the enemy has infiltrated their camp. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2369.12 | Poisoned food sent to enemy camp. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2369.12.1 | Enemy leaders invited to banquet and poisoned. (Cf. K871.1.) Krappe Romanic Review XVI. |
| K2369.13 | Brambles heaped in ford to halt enemies. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2370 | Miscellaneous deceptions. |
| K2371 | Deceiving the higher powers (God, the saints, the gods, fate). U.S.: Baughman. |
| K2371.1 | Heaven entered by a trick. *Type 330; *BP I 343, II 189, III 303; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. No. 210; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas II 164, 349; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2371.1.1 | Heaven entered by trick: permission to pick up cap. Trickster throws a cap or leather apron inside the gate. *BP II 163, 189; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. No. 83. |
| K2371.1.2 | Heaven entered by trick: demanding back the charity gift. The trickster demands of Peter an article which he has given in charity. He then sits on it as his own property within the gates. *BP II 163. |
| K2371.1.3 | Heaven entered by trick: "wishing sack" thrown in. Trickster wishes himself in the sack. *Type 330; *BP II 158, 163, 188f.; *Fb "Himmerige" I 611a. |
| K2371.1.4 | Heaven entered by trick: sitting on Peter's chair. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 49 No. 330. |
| K2371.1.5 | Heaven entered by trick: slipping in along with holy person. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 94 No. 807*. |
| K2371.1.6 | Heaven entered by trick: angel tricked by drink into telling woman how to enter. *Stiefel Zs. f. Vksk. VIII 280. |
| K2371.2 | Gods tricked into help in escaping one's fate. *Penzer VI 92 n. 2, IX 25 n. 1; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K2371.3 | Ingeniously worded boon asked of God combines riches, issue, and restoration of eyesight: "Oh God! I want to see from above the seventh story of my mansion my great-grandsons playing in the streets and eating their cakes from golden vessels." India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K2371.4 | Dog sent ahead so as to avoid seeing husband transformed. (Cf. S241.1.) Chinese: Graham. |
| K2373 | Enemies reconciled by gifts which the one's son tells are sent from the other. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2376 | The returned box on the ears. 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. Anderson FFC XLII 360; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 924B*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1637*. |
| K2377 | Entering a garden by swimming down a stream that flows into it. Malone PMLA XLIII 399. |
| K2378 | Temporary advantage gained by pretending to yield in a combat. *Dickson 175 n. 38. |
| K2378.1 | Person allowed to win first game so that he will play for higher stakes. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2378.2 | Warrior consents to flee for the sake of future victory. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2378.3 | Enemies deceived through shammed flight. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K2378.4 | Ammunition saved till enemy has used his. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K2378.5 | Hero sleeps during the first part of battle and emerges only later. Herrmann Saxo II 185—87; Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K2381 | Ruler diverts attention from misgovernment by beginning a war. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 443. |
| K2382 | One animal injures another by deception. B[ö]dker Exempler 281 No. 25; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K2382.1 | Bird plucks another bird's feathers out. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 105. |
| K2382.2 | Dwarf-deer pastes other animal's eyes shut and pretends that hunters are coming. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 36. |
| K2383 | Tying cat to balky horse's tail to make him move. Nouvelles Récréations No. 41. |
| K2384 | Man tricked to be one's sworn brother in order to secure his help against his mother. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2385 | Demon enters person and refuses to leave until wishes have been fulfilled. Irish myth: Cross; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas II 193ff., 352f.; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2388 | Attempt to kill by throwing knife. *Boje 90; Icelandic: Boberg. |
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