Folklore Database · Browse
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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| T376.1 | Man leaves earthly bride for service of Virgin. *Crane Miraculis 89 No. 16, 98 No. 35; Wesselski Mönchslatein 60 No. 51; Wells 170; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J345.2 | Man leaves farming for fishing. When water dries up he goes hungry. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2297.1 | Man leaves his sweetheart in charge of friend. He tries to force his attentions upon her and then claims it was a test of fidelity. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K525.5 | Man leaves mantle so that only mantle is hit. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| H473.4 | Man leaving home warns wife not to wash face in puddle in dunghill. She does. He cannot understand why; she cannot explain. England: Baughman. |
| W11.4 | Man lets himself be sold as slave so as to practice generosity. Wesselski Archiv Orientální II 429; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2175.4 | Man lets his infant son play in river. Son drowns. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| W111.1.1 | Man lets legs burn in fire rather than move them. Wesselski Märchen 213 No. 21; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 261; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| F571.8 | Man lives for nine generations. Irish myth: Cross. |
| F725.4 | Man lives under river. Irish myth: *Cross; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| F379.3 | Man lives with fairies seven years. Wales: Baughman. |
| D513.1 | Man looks at copulating snakes: transformed to woman. (Cf. D12.)—Greek: Frazer Apollodorus I 364 n. 1. |
| W12.2 | Man looks for strangers so as to bestow hospitality on them. Jewish: Neuman. |
| F302.5.3 | Man loses luck when he leaves fairy wife for mortal. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K833 | Man lured into aiding trickster who has feigned an accident or needs help. Is killed. Italian Novella: Rotunda; Tuamotu: Stimson MS (T-G 3/59); S. A. Indian (Toba): Métraux MAFLS XL 74. |
| K341.29 | Man lures fox-husband of girl away by means of cock-decoy and runs away with the girl. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A1211.5.1 | Man made from broken off toenail of creator. S. Am. Indian (Yuracare): Métraux BBAE CXLIII (3) 503. |
| A1241 | Man made from clay (earth). *Dh I 89-III passim; Barton JAOS XXXIX 287; *Frazer Old Testament I 3—29.—Irish myth: Cross; Greek: *Frazer Apollodorus I 51 n. 5, Fox 10f., 13, 208; Jewish: *Neuman; Hindu: Penzer III 59; Babylonian: Spence 86; Siberian: Holmberg Siberian 373; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 114ff.—Polynesian (Maori, Hawaii, Tahiti, Society Is., Marquesas): Dixon 24—26; Indonesian: ibid. 172ff. n. 96—100, 104—106; Australian: ibid. 273; Marquesas: Handy 122f.; Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 44ff.; Easter Is.: Métraux Ethnology 315.—Eskimo (Bering Strait): Nelson RBAE XVIII 454; N. A. Indian: Krickeberg Indianermärchen 267, 307, 321f., (Calif.): Gayton and Newman 56; S. Am. Indian (Lengua): Métraux BBAE CXLIII (1) 367, (Apapocuva-Guarani): Métraux RMLP XXXIII 136; Aztec: Alexander Lat. Am. 85; Quiché: ibid. 163. |
| A1241.3 | Man made from clay image and vivified. (Cf. A1241.2, A1252.1.) —Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 4, 34f.; Jewish: *Neuman, Moreno Esdras; Indonesian: Dixon 172ff.; Banks Is., New Hebrides: ibid. 107; Hawaii: *Beckwith Myth 43—46; S. Am. Indian (Inca): Rowe BBAE CXLIII (2) 315, (Yuracare): Métraux ibid. (3) 504; Calif. Indian: Gayton and Newman 94. |
| A1260.1 | Man made from combination of different objects. Grimm Deutsche Mythologie I 468ff.—Siberian: Holmberg Siberian 371. |
| A1211 | Man made from creator's body. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A1211.4 | Man made from creator's eye. Egyptian: Müller 70ff. |
| A1211.5 | Man made from dirt rubbed from creator's (hero's) body. (Cf. A833). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A1241.4 | Man made from earth reddened with blood of human sacrifice. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A1256.1 | Man made from grass. Hindu: Penzer IV 128.—Ata (Mindanao): Dixon 176. |
| A1256 | Man made from herb. Tunja (Colombia): Alexander Lat. Am. 200. |
| A1266.1 | Man made from meat-ball. Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 89 No. 49. |
| A1240 | Man made from mineral substance. |
| A1241.1 | Man made from piece of clay thrown on ground. Babylonian: Spence 162. |
| A1255 | Man made from plant. Sulka (New Britain): Dixon 130, 132 n. 2. |
| A1241.2 | Man made from sand sprinkled with water. Muzo (Colombia): Alexander Lat. Am. 200. |
| A1250 | Man made from vegetable substance. |
| A1261 | Man made from water. Greek: Fox 10; Jewish: Neuman. |
| D1872 | Man made hideous. |
| A1260.1.5 | Man made of clay with bones of stone, with blood of water and with vines for veins. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A1241.5 | Man made of earth brought from four different places. Irish myth: Cross; Jewish: Neuman. |
| A1260.1.1 | Man made of four elements. Irish myth: Cross; Jewish: Neuman. |
| A1260.1.2 | Man made of substances from eight different sources. Irish myth: Cross. |
| D2031.6.1 | Man made to appear to pursuers as woman carrying babe. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J2013.2 | Man made to believe that he is a dog. He barks at people. *Type 1406; Bédier Fabliaux 265ff.; *Crane Vitry 227 No. 231. |
| J2321 | Man made to believe that he is pregnant (has borne child). Chauvin V 185 No. 107; Penzer V 69; von der Hagen Gesammtabenteuer II *ix, 49 No. 24; Boccaccio Decameron IX No. 3 (Lee 277); Christensen DF XLVII, DF L 78; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; U.S.: Baughman. |
| J2013 | Man made to believe that he is someone else. *Chauvin VIII 96 No. 67; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| D2063.6 | Man magically made to bark like dog. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 32. |
| D2031.5 | Man magically made to believe himself bishop, archbishop, and pope. When he continues to refuse payment to the magician, the latter shows him the reality. *Chauvin II 151 No. 11. |
| D55.1.1 | Man magically stretches self to overcome cliff. Hawaii: Dixon 91; Melanesia: ibid. 91 n. 104; Micronesia: ibid. 91 n. 105. |
| D55.1.1.1 | Man magically stretches self to overcome opponent in battle. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| D55.1.1.2 | Man magically stretches self to sink tent pole. Irish myth: Cross. |
| D2089.1 | Man makes all of iron in enemy's storehouse disappear so weapons cannot be made. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| D2151.6.2 | Man makes all waters of spring flow into a small brass pot. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T145.1.3 | Man married to several sisters. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| G303.12.6.1 | Man marries a she-devil He catches her as succubus and marries. Some years later his wife's brothers invite them to a feast (wedding) and he gets gifts or wife's dowry. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *424. |
| B652.2 | Man marries crane in human form. Japanese: Ikeda, Anesaki 324. |
| F302.2 | Man marries fairy and takes her to his home. **Köhler Der Ursprung der Melusinensage (1895); *Fränkel Zs. f. Vksk. IV 387; *Fb "menneske" II 577b; see also all references for C31.1.2; Hartland Science 168; Malone PMLA XLIII 417; Irish myth: *Cross; England, Wales: Baughman; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| H375.2 | Man marries girl bringing his clothes soonest. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H552 | Man marries girl who guesses his riddles. Child V 493 s.v. "riddles"; Irish myth: Cross. |
| T421 | Man marries his aunt (mother's sister). Irish myth: *Cross; Greek: Frazer Apollodorus II 98 n. 1. |
| T115 | Man marries ogre's daughter. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| F441.2.3.1.1 | Man marries spirit of willow tree. She must part from him when tree is cut down. Japanese: Anesaki 333. |
| T111.1.2 | Man marries the daughter of a god. Korean: Zong in-Sob 137 No. 63; S. A. Indian (Chiriguano): Métraux RMLP XXXIII 181f. |
| F441.2.3.1 | Man marries tree maiden. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| F1099.8 | Man meets his future descendants and is instructed by them. Jewish: Neuman. |
| V312.2 | Man miraculously dies for opposing dogma of Immaculate Conception. Attempt to disprove the dogma by false miracle. Sham dead man is to rise if the dogma is not true. He is found to be actually dead. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 554. |
| Q559.11 | Man miraculously made to excrete his entrails for heresy. (Cf. Q225.1, Q469.7.) Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1786.3 | Man mistaken for Famine and Cholera in person. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1761.8 | Man mistakes dragon for log, sits on it. (Cf. B11.) England: Baughman. |
| F531.5.2 | Man mistakes giant's glove for house. *Von Sydow Danske Studier (1910) 154; Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K959.2.3 | Man murdered at his wife's side. (Cf. K873.1.) Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K918 | Man murdered while praying. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C742.1 | Man must be killed with first blow: others will not harm him. Irish myth: Cross. |
| N223 | Man must have drinking horn; stumble reveals one as he departs on search. Irish myth: Cross. |
| A1346.2 | Man must labor for a living: at first everything too easy. Full crops produce themselves, trees drop sugar etc.—Greek: Grote I 61; Jewish: Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys; Seneca: Curtin-Hewitt RBAE XXXII 462; S. Am. Indian (Mataco): Métraux MAFLS XL 59f. |
| A1346.1 | Man must work as punishment for theft of fire. Greek: Fox 14. |
| T333 | Man mutilates himself to remove temptation. *Mensa Philosophica No. 104; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| W37.0.1 | Man never breaks his word. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| W23 | Man never listens to scandal. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| N146 | Man not fated to die cannot be killed. (Cf. N101.3.) Jewish: *Neuman. |
| F302.4 | Man obtains power over fairy mistress. Irish myth: Cross. |
| F521.3.1 | Man of bronze. (Talos). Has single vein from neck to ankle and bronze nail at end of vein. This is the only vulnerable spot. Frazer Apollodorus I 118 n. 1. |
| F521.3.2 | Man of iron. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| M101.3.2 | Man offers to sacrifice bangles if he is given a son; when he takes bangles back, son dies. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2171.6 | Man on camel has doorway broken down so he can ride in. It does not occur to him to dismount. (Cf. J2199.3.) India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| G405 | Man on hunt falls into ogre's (witch's) power. Type 303; Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| F112.1 | Man on Island of Fair Women overcome by loving women. Irish myth: *Cross; Oceanic: Dixon 66, 140, 141 n. 22; N. A. Indian (Assiniboin): Lowie PaAM IV 106 No. 6, (Cree): Skinner PaAM IX 87. |
| J861.2 | Man on sinking ship eats salt. Otherwise he will not enjoy the large amount of water that he must drink. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 235; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K233.4 | Man orders a bottle of beer, then returns it and takes a loaf of bread instead. He refuses to pay for the bread because he has returned the beer undrunk. He refuses to pay for the beer because he has not drunk it. U.S.: Baughman. |
| A1225.2 | Man originally without hands and feet. Boy steals them from Python, and afterward men have them.—Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 376. |
| A1215 | Man originates from god who comes to earth. West Caroline Is.: Dixon 250. |
| W155.1.2 | Man overloads and starves camel. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1911.1.5.1 | Man palms off elder daughter as younger on wedding night. Jewish: Neuman. |
| Q44.2 | Man pardoned for short accounts when it is learned that he has given the money to the poor as alms. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| W11.5.1.1 | Man pardons his assailants. They attack again and are killed. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| W11.5.7.1 | Man pays fine for enemy who is falsely accused. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| G369.1.5 | Man persecuted by a rakshasa in form of beautiful wench. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| F1041.12 | Man perspires in winter while relating fearful vision. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1162 | Man persuaded to go to store with scythe. Is tied up as madman. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K825.4 | Man persuaded to hold out hand for alleged letter from king. Hand cut off. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K567.2 | Man persuades robbers to postpone killing him until he can show them his treasure. Leads them into marsh and escapes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| W35.1 | Man picked to judge bull-fight because he is "no fairer to his friend than to his foe." Irish myth: Cross. |
| N386.2 | Man pinned in bed by weapon caught in quilt. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J2060.2 | Man plants hedge: sheep will leave wool on the thorns and bring riches. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| N384.10 | Man playing ghost killed. Meaning to frighten son, father plays devil or a ghost. Son kills him. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3443, Legends Nos. 861ff. |
| K751.2 | Man plays dead and hides in money chest: catches thief. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J822 | Man plays fool to protect himself in dealing with king. |
| X1237.1.1 | Man plows through stump which catches the back of his pants in cleft. His oxen continue to pull; he holds onto the plow, pulls the stump out of the ground. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| D838.11 | Man poisons couple, owners of magic gong, and gains possession of it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J326 | Man prefers servant girl who is present to her absent mistress. Nouvelles Récréations No. 1. |
| J2213.8 | Man prefers small oysters, since he will get more to the hundred. England: Baughman. |
| J417 | Man prefers to live with ordinary rather than with pious man. He will be virtuous by comparison. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| F639.7 | Man presses out twelve measures of oil without the help of bullocks. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2010.1 | Man pretends friendship but attacks king to avenge violation of his wife. **A. H. Krappe The Legend of Roderick, the last of the Visigothic Kings and the Ermanarich Cycle (Heidelberg, 1923); Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J822.1 | Man pretends idiocy so as to avoid compromising himself when summoned to testify by two rival queens before the king. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G519.1.2 | Man pretends to cut toenails of cannibal woman: kills her. Eskimo (West Hudson Bay): Boas BAM XV 190. |
| K2021.2 | Man pretends to kiss relative: bites him instead. Jewish: Neuman. |
| Q266.1 | Man promises more to church than he can possibly provide: punished. Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 18 No. 176. |
| M266 | Man promises to build church if he is saved at sea. Danish: Kristensen Danske Sagn III (1895) 145ff., (1931) 107ff.; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 134 No. 85; Italian Novella: Rotunda; West Indies: Flowers 562. |
| T24.8 | Man promises to sacrifice self in order to marry beloved. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| D1841.2 | Man proof against boiling water. Type 534. |
| D1841.1 | Man proof against iron, stone, and wood. Hindu: Tawney I 444; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| D1841.8 | Man proof against poison. (Cf. D1840.1.2.) Icelandic: Boberg. |
| D1841.5.1 | Man proof against weapons. Irish myth: *Cross; Jewish: Neuman; Eskimo (Greenland): Holm 26, Rink 335. |
| D1841.4.1 | Man proof against wet from rain. *Loomis White Magic 39; Irish: Plummer cxxxvii, *Cross; Welsh: MacCulloch Celtic 198.—Africa (Kaffir): Theal 76. |
| D1841.4 | Man proof against wet. (Cf. D1524.1, D1540, D1551, D2125, D2151.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G303.16.19.6 | Man protected from devil by holding three-year old child through night. Wünsche Teufel 36f. |
| T145.5 | Man pulled down stairs by his two wives. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| Q451.4.7 | Man pulls out his own tongue in remorse. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1867 | Man punishes offending part of his body. |
| M411.4 | Man pursued by hatred of the gods. Irish: MacCulloch Celtic 74ff., *Cross; Greek: Grote I 147; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| G267 | Man pursued by witches. N. A. Indian (Zuсi): Benedict 342, 344. |
| Q235.1 | Man put in moon for cursing God. He is now the man in the moon. (Cf. A751, Q221.3.) U.S.: Baughman. |
| J2716.2 | Man put out tubs to see if rain is still falling. England: Baughman. |
| J1874.2 | Man puts bag of meal on one side of saddle, balances it on the other side with a rock. U.S.: Baughman. |
| K2112.2.1 | Man puts donkey's foal under princess's bed-cover and accuses her of lying with it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1772.5 | Man puts food bowl on head thinking it a helmet. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 413. |
| F1016.1 | Man puts his horse in his sleeve when he does not need it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H591.1 | Man puts on shoes only when he wades river. (He cannot see what he is walking on.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| E456 | Man raises corpses and gets their shrouds, then "lays" them again. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| N545.2 | Man ready to kill self hears voice directing him to buried fortune. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| E605.1.2 | Man reborn as woman. India: Thompson-Balys; Korean: Zong in-Sob 76. |
| J221.1.2 | Man rebukes servants for telling him of his wife's unfaithfulness. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| D1720.2 | Man receives divine "possession" (becomes a diviner). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C943.1 | Man receives fork in eye for breaking tabu. (Cf. C331.)—Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 295 No. 13. |
| J823 | Man recounts unpleasant happening to king when in good humor and draws laugh; rest draw punishment. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J343 | Man refuses cure which brings greater inconvenience. |
| J347.5 | Man refuses rich marriage with house filled with dangerous wild animals. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| P318 | Man refuses to follow friend in wicked conduct. Scala Celi 11a No. 66; Alphabet No. 56; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| Q585.1 | Man refuses to give to charity: his property disappears. (Cf. Q286, Q595.3.) Irish myth: *Cross; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1552.3 | Man refuses to lend horse: sued for consequent damages. The would-be borrower gets one from another neighbor. He overworks the horse and renders him useless. The owner of the horse sues the man who had refused to lend his animal. Reasoning: "If he had lent his horse this would not have happened to mine." Settled by compromise. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K231.10 | Man refuses to pay murderer for killing and kills him. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J347.1 | Man refuses vast wealth because with it will come covetousness. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| E611.5 | Man reincarnated as cat. Fb "sjæl" III 214a. |
| E605.7 | Man reincarnated as child. (Cf. E607.2.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| E611.6 | Man reincarnated as dog. (Cf. D141.) Fb "sjæl" III 214a; India: *Thompson-Balys; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 267, 827; Korean: Zong in-Sob 92; Eskimo (Greenland): Rasmussen I 115. |
| E611.4 | Man reincarnated as goat. (Cf. D134.) *Type 510, 511; *BP I 187, III 60ff.; India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Angola): Chatelain 53 No. 2. |
| E611.3 | Man reincarnated as swine. Fb "svin" III 676a, "sjæl" III 214a; India: *Thompson-Balys; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 423, 1031; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 189, 199. |
| E611.3.1 | Man reincarnated as wild boar. Irish myth: Cross; India: Thompson-Balys; Hindu: Keith 121 (Vishnu). |
| U117 | Man rejects bride because she seems immature. Her father reassures him that she has had several children already. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1786.8 | Man reported to be dead so that people flee from him as from a ghost. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| T251.0.3 | Man reprimanded by judge for marrying several times. The man replies that he was always looking for a good wife. Spanish: Childers. |
| T145.1.1 | Man requires seven women. Irish myth: Cross. |
| W154.9 | Man rescued from drowning kills rescuer. Oceanic: Dixon 193 nn. 20—25. |
| F322.2 | Man rescues his wife from fairyland. (Cf. F321.3.) Hartland Science 133, 142; Irish myth: *Cross; English: Wells 128 (Sir Orfeo); Scotland, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J563 | Man resuscitates a lion which devours him. *Krappe Papers and Trans. of Jubilee Congress of Folk Lore Society (London, 1930) 277ff.; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas II 270, *357, *Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J229.9 | Man retains questionable bride for fear of getting one who is worse. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| F101.8 | Man returning from hell brings heat with him. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| V25.1 | Man returns from dead to protest against priest who has been too easy with him at confession. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 303. |
| F989.4 | Man rides on back of fleeing wild boar. (Cf. B557.) Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| N225 | Man robbed and penniless entertained by wealthy widow and enriched. Boccaccio Decameron II No. 2 (Lee 25); Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| A1421.1.1 | Man rules all animals. God gives greatest strength to lion, but because of man's wisdom lion is in his power. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3110, Legends No. 215. |
| J1495.1 | Man runs from actual or from supposed ghost. The ghost runs beside him. The man stops to rest; the ghost stops, says, "That was a good run we had!" The man says, "Yes, and as soon as I get my breath, I'm going to run some more." U.S.: *Baughman. |
| C929.6 | Man sacrificed to the gods for breaking tabu. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 511. |
| S263.6 | Man sacrifices his wife to procure wealth in jars. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| V52.1 | Man saved from lechery through prayer. Alphabet No. 65; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| Q151.11 | Man saved from lions as reward. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J2434 | Man saved from well by rope. Disastrous attempt to save him from tree in same way. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| W11.5.7 | Man saved through intercession of enemy. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| W152.14.2 | Man saves sausage skins, sends them back for refilling. U.S.: Baughman. |
| Q45.2.1 | Man saves the unrecognized devil from thunder and is generously rewarded. Estonian, Swedish, and Lithuanian: *Balys Tautosakos Darbai VI 27—31; Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| J2173.8 | Man saves trouble by milking cow directly into his mouth. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1319.1 | Man says: "I do love my enemies and I have great affection for them that hurt me." (Enemies are rum and hard cider.) U.S.: Baughman. |
| J2217.1 | Man says: "That's the best horse in all England, but I have one in my stable worth ten of him. (Cf. J1743.1.) England: Baughman. |
| N612.1 | Man scolds his ass and frightens robber away. While the man is absent from his ass the robber steals the man's coat. The ass brays and the man scolds him. The robber thinking he is discovered flees and leaves the coat. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 224 No. 62. |
| T75 | Man scorned by his beloved. Icelandic: *Boberg; Italian Novella: Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys; Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 357. |
| J2025.1 | Man searches for axe which he carries on his shoulder. Africa (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 407 No. 4. |
| G303.16.19.1 | Man secure from devil on horse. Scotch: Campbell Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Glasgow 1900) 293. |
| Q583.3 | Man seeking to flee saint paralyzed. (Cf. Q551.7.1.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| F15.1 | Man seeks his mother (star-maiden) in upper world. Chinese: Graham. |
| D1825.3.2 | Man sees angels over the heads of the good and black stars over the bad. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1785.4 | Man sees Hereford cow at night; thinks it is devil, says, "Devil I deny thee! I am a psalmsinger and a worshiper of God!" England: Baughman. |
| M211.8 | Man sells soul to devil for devil's doing one specific job. England, Wales: *Baughman. |
| M211.7 | Man sells soul to devil for magic power to escape capture. Canada: Baughman. |
| M211.6 | Man sells soul to devil for visit home in boat that sails through sky. U.S.: Baughman. |
| M211.2 | Man sells soul to devil in return for devil's building house (barn, etc.). Wünsche Teufel 29-56 passim. |
| M211 | Man sells soul to devil. (Faust, Theophilus.) Types 330, 360, 361, 756B, 810, 812, 1170-1199; *BP II 164, 427, 561ff., III 12; *Andrejev FFC LXIX 46, 50, 223, 227 n.; Lidzbarski Am Urds-Brunnen IV 59 n. 1; Scala Celi 9a, 112a, 135b Nos. 58, 625, 749; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 667; *Fb "sjæl" III 215a; Faligan RTP V 1; Alphabet Nos. 50, 467; *Ludorff Anglia VII 60ff.; *Loomis White Magic 112f.; *K. Bittner Die Faustsage im russischen Schrifttum (Reichenberg. i. B. [Prager Deutsche Studien No. 37], 1925); *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 34.—Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3400, Legends No. 757; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 49, 67 Nos. 330, 510, Espinosa Jr. Nos. 70-74, 83f.; Italian Novella: Rotunda; Argentina: Jijena Sanchez 74; N. A. Indian (Wampanoag): Knight JAFL XXXVIII 134, (Salinan): Mason U Cal X 196. |
| Q478.1.1 | Man sends his daughter the heart of her lover. She pours poison over it and drinks the potion. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| F1041.21.5 | Man senseless from grief at hearing of father's death; one doesn't feel that he cuts himself with his knife, the other presses dice so that he bleeds. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| N693 | Man sent away from battlefield to deliver message the only survivor of battle. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| E121.1.3 | Man sent back to earth by Death, for it is not yet his time to die. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| W154.25 | Man sets dogs onto bear after bear has carried him home to safety. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| V328 | Man sets fire to his house and perishes in it rather than accept Christianity. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K521.1.1 | Man sewed in animal's hide carried off by birds. Penzer I 141 n. 2; Frobenius Das Zeitalter des Sonnengottes (Berlin, 1904) I 199ff; Jewish: Grünbaum Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sagenkunde (Leyden, 1893) 234f. |
| Z49.6.3 | Man sharpening his dao is bitten by a prawn. He cuts down a big bamboo; a fruit falls from bamboo and strikes a bird on the nape of the neck; the bird scratches up an ant's nest with his feet; the ant bites a wild boar in the eye; and the boar bears down upon a plantain tree where a bat dwells under a leaf; the bat seeks refuge in the ear of an elephant, and the elephant kicks down the house on an old woman. She rushes out and falls into a well. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| F302.4.1 | Man shoots into wreath of mist and brings down fairy. She becomes his wife. Hartland Science 144. |
| F661.10 | Man shoots pearls from wife's nose-ring. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G303.25.7 | Man shoots the devil with a silver gun. Finnish: Aarne FFC XXXIII 42 No. 51**; Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 594ff., 796. |
| K1715.1.3 | Man shows demon reflection and frightens him. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1715.1.2 | Man shows ghost its own reflection and frightens it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| S263.2.3 | Man shows himself willing to sacrifice his child to prove his desire to follow God. He is prevented by abbot. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| H1553.4 | Man shows his patience by accepting blow in face with stool thrown by his superior in monastery. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| F942 | Man sinks into earth. U.S.: Baughman; Jewish: *Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys; Eskimo (Greenland): Rink 372, Rasmussen III 185, (Smith Sound): Kroeber JAFL XII 182; West Indies: Flowers 438. |
| F943.1 | Man sinks into stone. Irish myth: Cross; Eskimo (Greenland): Rasmussen III 98. |
| K2121 | Man slandered as having deflowered princess. (Cf. K2114.) *Boje 74ff.; Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| J675 | Man slays another in order not to be slain himself. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| J1782.4 | Man sleeping in stable (abandoned cabin) thinks entering animals are ghosts: kills them. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3445, Legends Nos. 872ff.; U.S.: Baughman. |
| F564.4 | Man sleeps with one eye and one ear open. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| Q285.1.1.1 | Man slits tongue of magpie so that it can learn to speak. His fingernails grow out like bird's claws as punishment. Wales: Baughman. |
| F652.2 | Man smells pots boiling 400 miles off. Jewish: Neuman. |
| U71 | Man so constantly enriched by God that he cannot give all his goods to the poor. Herbert III 7; Crane Vitry 175 No. 97. |
| W111.1.4 | Man so lazy that he will not wipe his running nose. This causes him to lose prospective bride. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| F571.4 | Man so old he sleeps in cradle. Scotch: Campbell-McKay Nos. 1, 2. |
| P151 | Man so rich that people prefer the dung from his mules over king's gold and silver. Jewish: Neuman. |
| F535.2.2 | Man so small he can go through eye of needle. BP I 397. |
| F535.2.4 | Man so small he can put his head through a mote in a sunbeam. BP I 397. |
| F535.2.3 | Man so small he dances in spider web. BP I 397. |
| F535.2.5 | Man so small that he rides on an ant. Ant treads him underfoot. BP I 397. |
| F610.6 | Man so strong that he breaks most of what he gets in touch with. (Cf. F614.3—F614.6.) Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| F610.6.1 | Man so strong that he must be chained except when in battle. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| U133 | Man soon learns to stand the smells of the tannery. Wienert FFC LVI 81 (ET 474), 111 (ST 226); Halm Aesop No. 368; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| W24 | Man speaks no evil. Irish myth: Cross. |
| F582.2 | Man spews venom. Icelandic: FSS 119, *Boberg. |
| F1041.16.1 | Man spits fire when enraged. Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| F525.2 | Man splits into two parts. Chauvin VII 40 No. 153 n. 1; Tonga: Gifford 32. |
| S141.1 | Man springs ashore and pushes companion in boat out to sea. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| A1211.0.1 | Man springs into existence from deity's body by his mere thinking. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K341.24 | Man stands on pillory to attract attention. Confederate picks pockets of men who come to jeer. England: Baughman. |
| X1737 | Man stays under water for long time. |
| K525.2 | Man steps aside so that only his shadow is caught. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 47 No. 325A*. |
| Q424.3 | Man strangles friar for attempting to seduce his wife. (Cf. Q243.2.1.) Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| F59.1 | Man stretches self till he reaches other world. Greek: Fox 36 (Dionysus); Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 476. |
| Q583.2 | Man stricken dumb for surly speech. (Cf. Q327, Q451.3.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| J2113.1 | Man strikes off donkey's head to punish it. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| D1472.1.2.1 | Man strikes stone: wine flows. (Cf. D1472.1.23, D1567.6.) Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 309 No. 9. |
| N716.1 | Man stumbles on bathing maiden. Mono-Alu: Wheeler Nos. 8, 9, 31, 48. |
| T611.10 | Man suckled by dog (wolf): called Mac Con (Son of Dog). Irish myth: *Cross. |
| B53.2 | Man suckled by siren. Dickson Valentine and Orson 110 n. 26, 112. |
| F1044 | Man suddenly acquires long gray beard on scaffold at execution. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 656. |
| F929.2 | Man swallows reptiles. Jewish: Neuman. |
| C12.5.6 | Man swears he will chastise devil for poaching. The devil appears; the man runs; the devil takes man's wife. England: Baughman. |
| F1041.10 | Man sweats blood and absorbs hair into head on exertion of strength. Irish myth: Cross. |
| F1041.21.2 | Man swells from excessive grief. Icelandic: Egils saga in ASB 3 (1894) ch. LXXVIII 14ff., Völsunga saga ch. 31 (29), Boberg. |
| F628.1.2.2 | Man swings wild steer by horns round and round till it is stunned, casts it to ground. Jewish: Neuman. |
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Please cite the relevant sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including the Folklore Database, Berezkin-Duvakin Catalogue, ATU, Thompson, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed. Please respect copyright and licenses.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-Duvakin derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jonathan Fielder-White.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.