Writing, Films & Other Creative Story-based Projects
We might write a story with a motif as it's seed, develop more interesting aspects to a character in a story, or help develop hidden symbols within a film. We also frequently get asked for consulting help if you'd like help, please let us know.
| X | Code | Original | Cultures |
|---|---|---|---|
| A3 | Creative mother source of everything | India | |
| A31 | Creator’s grandmother | North American | |
| A109.2 | Goddess as mother of Pacific Ocean | Maori | |
| A111.1 | Mother of the gods | Oceanic, Babylonian, Chiriguano, Guarani, Hindu, Hittite, India | |
| A112.7.1 | God born from mother‘s ear | Marquesas | |
| A112.7.2 | God born from mother’s armpit | Marquesas | |
| A112.7.3 | Goddess born from mother‘s eyes | Hawaii | |
| A164.1.1 | Mother-son marriage of the gods | Ireland, Munderucu | |
| A401 | Mother Earth | African, North American, Finnish, Hindu, Iceland, India, Siberian | |
| A401.1 | Mother Earth pregnant with Adam | Jewish | |
| A511.1.1 | Culture hero snatched from mother‘s side | Brazil, Chiriguano, Eastern Brazil, Finnish, Jivaro, Kaigua, Peru, Tehuelche, Warrau | |
| A511.1.1.1 | River flows from corpse of mythical mother of culture hero | Amuesha | |
| A511.1.2.2 | Culture hero in mother’s womb indicates direction to be taken by her | Chiriguano, Guarani, Tupinamba | |
| A511.1.4.2 | Hero formed by god out of mother‘s apron | Maori | |
| A511.1.8.1 | Culture hero son of deer mother | Ireland | |
| A512.1 | Culture hero‘s grandmother | Kodiak | |
| A625 | World parents: sky-father and earth-mother as parents of the universe | African, Antilles, Chatham Is., Greek, Hervey Is., Hindu, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Maori, Tahiti, N. A. Indian, Cora | |
| A625.1 | Heaven-mother--earth-father | North Burma | |
| A715.4 | Sun and moon from breasts of mother earth | India | |
| A737.2 | Cause of eclipses: mother‘s curse laid upon her third son | India | |
| A745.2 | Mother of the moon: the most distant star in the sky | India | |
| A751.5.3 | Mark of her mother‘s hand to be seen on moon’s shoulder | India | |
| A753.3.3 | During day moon stays with his mother under the earth | Ipurina | |
| A841.0.1 | The four world-columns fastened immovably by two gods with their mother’s hairs | India | |
| A1234.1 | Earth as virgin mother of Adam | ||
| A1234.1.1 | Primeval human pair spring from womb of Mother Earth | India | |
| A1282 | The mother of men | California Indian | |
| A1282.1 | Mother of the world gives birth to three sons | India | |
| A1575 | Origin of relation of mother and children | ||
| A1575.1 | Why a mother has prior claim on her children | Ekoi | |
| A1683.2 | Why a certain tribe wear clothes like dogs (supposed descendants of a bitch mother) | India | |
| A2234.4 | Hare weeps for mother when forbidden: moon hits him and cleaves lip | Bushman | |
| A2275.5.2 | Hawk (vulture) loses grandmother: still hovers and seeks her | Cameroon, Nigeria | |
| A2471.3 | Why hawk (vulture) hovers over camp-fire: seeks grandmother | ||
| A2615.2 | Plant from mother‘s milk | India | |
| A2722.1 | Plantain disobeys mother: hence bears but one stalk | Mpongwe | |
| A2817.2 | Will-o’-the-wisp is girl cursed by her mother for gathering plants for dyestuffs on Sunday | Scotland | |
| B122.5 | Wise mother eagle distinguishes between stupid and intelligent eaglets | Ireland | |
| B241.2.8.1 | Newly-born divine twins cared for by mother-of-tigers | Chiriguano | |
| B524.4 | Supernatural bird prevents mother from killing babe | Ireland | |
| B535.0.12 | Eagle cares for baby while mother works in field | Fang | |
| B631.0.1 | Son warns animal mother | Ireland | |
| B631.1 | Animal mother of man helps him | Burmese | |
| B635.3.1 | Culture hero licked by deer mother | Ireland | |
| C12.4.1 | Mother wishes lazy daughter may marry devil | Spanish | |
| C114.1 | Tabu: son seeing mother perform sex act | India | |
| C171 | Mother-in-law tabu | Jewish, Upoto, Zulu | |
| C231.3.1 | Tabu: eating of magic catch before mother does | Greenland | |
| C815 | Tabu: listening to mother‘s counsel | ||
| C922 | Death by smothering for breaking tabu | N. A. Indian | |
| C993 | Unborn child affected by mother‘s broken tabu | Chiriguano, Raratonga | |
| D525.1 | Despondent mother curses herself and children into trees | Lithuanian | |
| D688 | Transformed mother suckles child | Bushman, India, Japanese, Jewish, Kaffir | |
| D741 | Disenchantment of monster when prince promises to marry the monster’s mother | ||
| D741.1 | Disenchantment of monster when his mother acknowledges him as son | Hupa | |
| D792 | Transformed mother called by her child | Ekoi | |
| D815.1 | Magic object received from mother | Iceland, Kaffir | |
| D815.3 | Magic object received from godmother | Breton, French | |
| D815.7.1 | Magic object received from girl‘s foster-mother | Iceland | |
| D839.1 | Magic root acquired by tricking mother bird into searching for it in order to disentangle her young | India | |
| D842.1 | Magic object found on mother‘s grave | ||
| D927.3 | Spring augments milk of nursing mothers who drink its water | ||
| D1314.2.4 | Divining rod (twig) points out spot where unwed mother had drowned child | U.S. | |
| D1500.1.33.1.1 | Cures by the milk of the mothers of saints | ||
| D1574 | Line drawn by saint’s bachall separates calves from their mothers | Ireland | |
| D1737.1 | Magic power from mother | Iceland, Ireland | |
| D2006.2.1 | Longing of human child of sky-mother to visit father on earth | India | |
| D2034 | Crying induced by magic as trick to force child’s mother | Iceland | |
| D2074.2.4.1 | Foster-mother summoned by saying her name | Iceland | |
| D2156.3 | Saint forces a beast (leopard, wolf) to bring back stolen child (domestic animal) to his mother (owner) | ||
| E181.1.1 | Man advised how to resuscitate his mother: break waternuts on her head: she would revive and live one year for each nut broken | India | |
| E222 | Dead mother‘s malevolent return | Ireland | |
| E222.0.1 | Mother haunts daughter | England | |
| E222.1 | Mother‘s ghost tries to tear daughter to pieces | England | |
| E222.2 | Dead mother haunts daughter who marries against mother’s will | England | |
| E222.3 | Dead mother returns to invoke curse on murderer-son | Greek | |
| E228 | The dead daughter reproaches her mother for putting her dowery into coffin | Lithuanian | |
| E323 | Dead mother‘s friendly return | Breton, Jewish, Lithuanian | |
| E323.1 | Dead mother returns to see baby | U.S. | |
| E323.1.1 | Dead mother returns to suckle child | Chinese, Finnish-Swedish, India, Jamaica, Luiseño, Swedish, N. A. Indian | |
| E323.1.2 | Dead mother returns to care for neglected baby | Greenland, India, Papuan | |
| E323.2 | Dead mother returns to aid persecuted children | Cameroon, Italian, Jewish, Melanesia, West Indies | |
| E323.2.1 | Dead mother (in animal form) returns to aid persecuted children | Chinese | |
| E323.3 | Dead mother called up from grave to give her son charms | Iceland | |
| E323.4 | Advice from dead mother | Hausa, India | |
| E323.5 | Mother returns to search for dead child | England, Ireland | |
| E323.6 | Mother returns to encourage daughter in great difficulties | England | |
| E323.7 | Dead mother makes son strong | Greenland | |
| E324.1 | Voice of son answers his mother from the grave only when called by his pet name | India | |
| E361.3 | Dead son tells mother that no mortal escapes death | India | |
| E412.2.2 | Mother of unbaptized child cannot rest in grave | U.S. | |
| E726.2 | Soul of unborn son comes out of mother’s mouth (in form of stone), is kept by her, and later is given to son | Ireland | |
| E765.4.2 | Mother will die when daughter is wooed | Ireland | |
| E765.4.3.1 | Father (and mother) will die on same day as daughter | Ireland | |
| F15.1 | Man seeks his mother (star-maiden) in upper world | Chinese | |
| F81.4 | Journey to hell to retrieve soul of mother | Ireland | |
| F118 | Journey to Mother of Time | Italian | |
| F302.5.5 | Fairy mistress tries to destroy mortal‘s wife (mother) by sending her a magic belt | ||
| F305.1.1 | Fairy mother bestows magic powers upon half-mortal son | Ireland | |
| F311.1 | Fairy godmother | Ireland, Slavic | |
| F311.1.1 | Fairy godmother helps girl escape | England | |
| F311.3 | Fairy foster-mother | Ireland | |
| F311.3.1 | Water fairy as foster-mother | African | |
| F321.1.4.7 | Mortal mother pays no attention to changeling; the mortal child is returned | Scotland | |
| F321.1.4.8 | Mother treats changeling so well that her own child is returned | England | |
| F321.4 | Beggar returns to his mother child stolen by fairies | Estonian | |
| F322.3 | Stolen mother returns from fairyland each Sunday to minister to her children | Scotland | |
| F326 | Fairy father carries off child of mortal mother | Ireland | |
| F420.5.3.3 | Water-spirits call human godmother | German | |
| F575.1.1 | Birth of daughter so beautiful mother is frightened and abandons her | India | |
| F611.1.1 | Strong man son of bear who has stolen his mother | N. A. Indian | |
| F611.2.0.1 | Hero’s unusual strength from drinking his own mother‘s milk | India | |
| F615.3.1.2 | Camels having fallen from sky into girl’s eyes; she tells her mother that some grains of sand have fallen down from sky | India | |
| F642.3.3 | Blind man is able to see two unborn rats within mother rat | Korea | |
| F989.8 | Mother-love induced in animal | Ireland | |
| F1041.1.3.8 | Man dies from grieving over mother‘s death | Italian | |
| F1041.1.5.3 | Mother dies from joy on greeting long-absent son | Italian | |
| G27 | Moon made to eat wife‘s corpse by mother-in-law | Viracocha | |
| G61.1.1 | Girl avoids eating her mother’s flesh by spilling the meat and the soup in the pen | Chinese | |
| G61.2 | Mother recognizes child‘s flesh when it is served to be eaten | India | |
| G205 | Witch stepmother | Basuto, Ekoi, Iceland, Jamaica, Lithuanian | |
| G303.11.1.1 | The devil‘s son is with his mother at night in his father’s place | ||
| G303.11.3 | The devil’s mother | Ireland | |
| G303.11.3.1 | Devil’s mother rides a goat | ||
| G303.11.4 | The devil‘s grandmother | ||
| G303.11.4.1 | Devil‘s grandmother keeps house for devil | Japanese | |
| G303.11.4.2 | Devil’s grandmother is bleaching when it snows | ||
| G303.12.5.3 | Devil marries girl whose rich mother refuses to let her marry common young men of community | U.S. | |
| G512.7 | Backbone of ogre’s old mother broken | Iceland | |
| G530.3 | Help from ogre‘s mother | Iceland, India, Jamaica | |
| G530.4 | Help from ogre‘s grandmother | India | |
| H175.1 | Recognition of son by gushing up of milk in mother‘s breasts | India | |
| H175.2 | Child mystically recognizes woman as his mother | Chinese | |
| H335.0.1.1 | Otherworld mistress instructs hero how to perform tasks (imposed by her mother) | Ireland | |
| H355.5 | Suitor test: obtaining for bride a necklace like her mother‘s | India | |
| H482 | Infant picks out his unknown mother | Chinese | |
| H491 | Test of mother‘s and father’s love for children | ||
| H491.1 | In large family father unwilling but mother willing to sell children | Jewish | |
| H495 | Mother test | ||
| H495.1 | Baby finds its mother, goes to her for suckling | India, Jewish | |
| H495.2 | Mother test: milk goes long distance into child’s mouth | India | |
| H551.1 | Man wins wife by instructing her how to answer her mother‘s riddles | ||
| H583.4 | King: What is your mother doing? Youth: She does for another what the latter cannot do for her | ||
| H583.4.1 | King: What is your mother doing? Youth: She shows the light of the world to one who has not yet seen it | ||
| H583.4.2 | King: What is your mother doing? Youth: She is baking the bread we ate last week | ||
| H583.4.3 | King: What is your mother doing? Youth: She cuts off the heads of the well to cure the sick | ||
| H583.4.4 | King: What is your mother doing? Youth: She drives away the hungry and compels the filled to eat | ||
| H583.4.5 | King: What are your mother and father doing? Girl: Mother is separating earth (being a midwife), and father is mixing earth (at a funeral) | India | |
| H583.4.6 | King: What is your mother doing? Girl: She has gone to turn one into two (to split peas) | India | |
| H588.19 | “A father should always check and never forgive; a mother should always forgive and never check | India | |
| H599.1 | Girl will not drink of water which had no father or mother (i | India | |
| H633.3 | What is sweetest? Mother’s breast | India | |
| H651.2 | What is brightest? Mother‘s eyes | ||
| H652.2 | What is softest? Mother’s bosom | ||
| H662 | Riddle: what is dearer than gold? Mother love | Swiss | |
| H734 | Riddle: what is the mother who devours her children when they grow up? (Ocean and rivers | ||
| H791 | Riddle: a fish was my father; a man was my mother | Norse | |
| H807 | Formerly I was daughter, now I am mother; I have a son who was the husband of my mother | Spanish | |
| H813 | Riddle: who, having neither father nor mother, are dead? (Adam and Eve | ||
| H814 | Riddle: who, having had father and mother, is not dead? (Elias | Jewish | |
| H815 | Riddle: who, having had father and mother, is not dead like other mortals? (Lot’s wife | ||
| H913.1 | Tasks assigned by jealous mother | ||
| H913.1.1 | Task assigned at suggestion of jealous mother (of prospective bride) | Ireland | |
| H913.1.2 | Task suggested by jealous co-wife of mother | India | |
| H914 | Tasks assigned because of mother‘s foolish boasting | Italian | |
| H934.3 | Tasks assigned by stepmother | Chinese | |
| H1187 | Task left by departing husband for virgin wife to accomplish: have a son whose real mother she is and whose real father he is | Iceland, India | |
| H1216 | Mother sends son to find unknown father | England, India, Japanese | |
| H1232.5 | Directions on quest given by child(ren) still in mother‘s womb | Chiriguano | |
| H1285 | Quest to Mother of Time for answers to questions | Italian | |
| H1381.2.2.2 | Child seeks unknown mother | Maori | |
| H1381.2.2.2.1 | Boy twitted with illegitimacy seeks unknown mother | Chinese | |
| H1397.1 | Quest for witch stepmother | Iceland | |
| J65 | Birds having learned their possible dangers are forced from nest by mother | ||
| J80.1.1 | Solomon proves to his mother the inferiority of woman’s wisdom | Lithuanian | |
| J122 | Naïve remark of child: “You forgot to strike mother | ||
| J122.1 | Seducer about to seduce mother of child refrains when child wisely remarks that he is sad because his father has left his mother exposed to such dangers | ||
| J125.2.1 | Child unwittingly betrays his mother‘s adultery | ||
| J225.1 | Youth made lame: had kicked his mother | ||
| J225.8 | Evil mother has fine funeral, good father poor | Ireland | |
| J391.1 | Lamb chooses her foster-mother, the she-goat | ||
| J482.3 | Young man advised to choose as wife a girl whose mother was chaste | ||
| J646.2 | Bird hears voices from within unhatched eggs and flies away: voices plot to dine on their bird-mother when they are born | India | |
| J1054 | Man disregards mother‘s warning and is punished | Canada, French Canadian | |
| J1063.1 | Mother crab blames her children for not walking straight | Italian | |
| J1142.1 | Test of mother by weighing milk | Jewish | |
| J1142.4.1 | Mother‘s weeping for thief made to seem natural | ||
| J1142.4.1.1 | Clever son falls from tree, so mother’s tears over dead body of father being carried through street will seem natural | India | |
| J1166.1 | Barber operating on child’s skin kills it: blames mother for child‘s thin skin | India | |
| J1171.4 | Which mare is mother of colt: colt taken in boat to the middle of river; mother will swim to it | India | |
| J1261.6 | Priest may use his own mother’s mass money | ||
| J1291.4 | “In this sesame flower where is the oil?” “When your mother conceived where were you?” India: Thompson-Balys | India | |
| J1652 | Kissing the mother first | ||
| J1661.1.4 | Deduction: mare has she-buffalo as mother | ||
| J1911.2 | Foolish mother does not understand how babies cry | Rhodesia | |
| J2129.8 | Fool sows his mother‘s seed rice on other people’s fields | India | |
| J2303 | Gullible mother | ||
| J2311.11 | Idiot tells his mother he has been dead twelve years | India | |
| J2321.3 | Husband makes wife and mother-in-law believe he will bear a sheep | Cheremis | |
| J2461 | What should I have done (said)? The mother teaches the boy (the man his wife) what he should say (do) in this or that circumstance | African, Chinese, India, Indonesia, Japanese, Lithuanian, Spanish | |
| J2465.3.2 | Feeding mother | Espinosa | |
| J2465.7 | Oh bother! put it on my head! Numskulls asking old woman where to put grain obey and smother her | India | |
| K311.8.5 | Theft by disguise as owner‘s grandmother | India | |
| K317.2 | Entrance into wine cellar by removing lock during absence of mother | ||
| K461.1 | The bear helps the fox’s mother get berries: the fox eats them | ||
| K499.1 | Trickster sells mother’s wine to merchant without asking her permission | ||
| K522.7 | Sham murder: trickster attacked by angry mother causes her to spear ox guts and believe she has murdered him | India | |
| K649.1.2 | Tiger-mother hides concealed guests in jar | Chiriguano, Yuracare | |
| K940.2 | Man betrayed into killing his wife or grandmother | ||
| K941.1.1 | Wives killed when large price for his mother‘s (wife’s) corpse is reported by trickster | India | |
| K1349.4 | Lover visits guarded maiden while harper puts mother to sleep | Ireland, Italian | |
| K1354.3 | Seduction by bearing false order from mother | ||
| K1354.3.2 | Trickster masking as bridegroom tells bride that he comes at her mother’s request | Italian | |
| K1462 | Washing the grandmother--in boiling water | India, New Britain, Spanish | |
| K1462.2 | To cover house with straw: suffocates mother under straw | India | |
| K1466 | Master’s mother killed: wood heaved on her head | India | |
| K1611.3 | Girl takes place of impostor in marriage bed; impostor‘s mother beats her, thinking she is heroine | Chinese | |
| K1718.2 | Bluff: millstones said to be pearls of hero‘s mother | Bluff | |
| K1718.3 | Bluff: huge cauldron of tar said to be kitchen-pot of hero’s mother | Bluff, Cheremis | |
| K1718.4 | Bluff: harrow said to be comb of hero‘s mother | Bluff, Cheremis | |
| K1718.5 | Bluff: plow said to be hoe of hero’s mother | Bluff, Cheremis | |
| K1855 | Younger and preferred brother substituted by mother for elder to deceive father | Jewish | |
| K1911.1.8.1 | False bride makes child cry and demand mother’s clothes and ornaments | Chinese | |
| K1921.2 | Two mothers exchange their children, a boy and a girl | Ireland | |
| K1923.4 | Woman pretends to be mother of child chosen to be king | India | |
| K1945.1.1 | Mother-in-law’s head is shaven, face blackened and she is led around city on ass-back as only cure for malady of daughter-in-law | India | |
| K1971.8.1 | Sexton behind crucifix tells old maid she will have no husband; she tells Christ Child that he knows nothing about it, she is praying to his mother | ||
| K2011 | Wolf poses as ”grandmother“ and kills child | French, Japanese, Nigeria | |
| K2011.1 | Wolf poses as mother and kills child | Basuto | |
| K2011.1.1 | Ogre father poses as mother and kills child | Bakuba, Rund | |
| K2011.1.2 | Bogey imitates mother and kills child | Kenya | |
| K2011.2 | Tiger-ogress pretends to be girls‘ mother: explains tail as boil | Chinese | |
| K2056 | Hypocritical stepmother weeps as she tells departing husband she will take good care of stepchildren though they beat her (she beats them instead) | India | |
| K2111.5 | Mother falsely accuses son of incest with her | ||
| K2175 | Grandmother causes grandchildren to be whipped: puts dirt and hairs into cooking pot by stealth and sand in the water they draw | India | |
| K2214.2.1 | Treacherous daughter-in-law plots against husband‘s mother | India | |
| K2218.1 | Treacherous mother-in-law accuses innocent wife | Ireland | |
| K2321.1 | Man who killed mother uses her corpse to get presents | Greenland | |
| K2325 | Devil frightened by threatening to bring mother-in-law | Spanish | |
| K2384 | Man tricked to be one‘s sworn brother in order to secure his help against his mother | Iceland | |
| L13.1 | Youngest wife’s son restores eyesight to blinded six wives of raja and reinstates his mother | India | |
| L111.4.1 | Orphan hero lives with grandmother | N. A. Indian | |
| L315.4 | Mother ape burns bear | ||
| M119.8.1 | Swearing by one’s father and mother | India | |
| M312.0.4 | Mother’s symbolic dream (vision) about the greatness of her unborn child | Iceland, Loomis | |
| M341.5 | Prophecy: either youth or mother will die | ||
| M343.0.2 | Prophecy: mother will be killed by children | Kaigua | |
| M344 | Mother-incest prophecy | Greek, India, Ireland | |
| M365.2 | Son to be brave and wise but not to remain and cause mother to weep | India | |
| M369.2.1.1 | Prophecy of king taking a cruel stepmother to her sons after her death enacted before eyes of dying queen by sparrow family living in tree by palace window | India | |
| M411.1.1 | Curse by stepmother | Iceland | |
| M411.1.2 | Curse by foster mother | Italian | |
| M431.6 | Wicked stepmother cursed to have fire lit under her | Iceland | |
| N313 | Child follows bird and loses its mother | ||
| N325.3 | Mother kills son thinking him a wild beast | Greek | |
| N342.1.1 | Faithful son guarding his father from monster falsely accused by stepmother | India | |
| N365.1 | Boy unwittingly commits incest with his mother | Celebes, Italian, Spanish | |
| N365.1.1 | Man unwittingly falls in love with his own mother | India | |
| N365.4 | Man unwittingly lies with mother-in-law | Italian | |
| N383.3 | Mother dies of fright when she learns that she was about to commit incest with her son | ||
| N384.3 | Wicked stepmother falls into the fire because of fright | Iceland | |
| N455.7 | Secret about prince’s father learned by eavesdropper from his mother‘s talking to him | Iceland | |
| N466 | Daughter lousing mother weeps and reveals secret | Chinese | |
| N681.3.1 | Man about to consummate marriage with own mother; accidentally prevented | India, Italian | |
| N681.4 | Son returns on day his mother is to be married to another (though her husband still lives) | India | |
| N735 | Accidental meeting of mother and son | Chinese, India, Ireland, Jewish | |
| N735.1 | Begging ascetics beg alms of their own mother | Buddhist | |
| N736 | Accidental meeting of mother and daughter | India | |
| N782 | Mother‘s parting gift to adventuring son: the two loaves of bread | India | |
| N812.2 | Giantess as foster mother and helper of hero | Iceland | |
| N819.2.1 | Transformed mother as helper | Chinese | |
| N825.3.3 | Help from grandmother | California Indian | |
| P17.6 | Succession by mother-right | Ireland | |
| P211.2 | Mother kills husband for murdering their daughter | Kamerun | |
| P230.1 | Mother prefers son, father daughter | Iceland | |
| P230.2 | Mother dislikes her children in forced marriage | Iceland | |
| P231 | Mother and son | ||
| P231.1 | Boy sickens from grief at mother‘s death | Ireland | |
| P231.2 | Son warns mother | Iceland | |
| P231.3 | Mother-love | Iceland | |
| P231.4 | Mother kills sons who lack courage to help her revenge her father and brothers, and are likely to betray the plot | Iceland | |
| P231.5 | Mother reveals fact that son is offspring of supernatural father | Ireland | |
| P231.6 | Mother (eagle) casts out dull, stupid changeling; rears bold, energetic son | Ireland | |
| P231.7 | Mother commits suicide when son wants to marry foreigner according to foreign rites | Chinese | |
| P232 | Mother and daughter | ||
| P232.1 | Wicked mother and her sons do everything to prevent daughter‘s marriage with beloved | Iceland | |
| P232.2 | Mother lets daughter unwittingly marry own father in order to avenge his raping | Iceland | |
| P233.2.1 | Father drives away bad son whom the mother prefers | Iceland | |
| P233.7 | Son must threaten father before he will recognize him as son, even though he brings ring from his mother | Iceland | |
| P233.9 | Son chastizes father for scorning mother | India | |
| P236.7 | Undutiful son taught lesson showing his mother has suffered from him | India | |
| P262 | Mother-in-law | Ireland | |
| P262.1 | Bad relations between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law | India | |
| P272 | Foster mother | French, Ireland | |
| P272.1 | Witch foster mother | Iceland | |
| P272.2 | Foster mother as helper | Iceland | |
| P272.3 | Former mistress as sons’ foster mother | Iceland | |
| P282 | Stepmother | French, Ireland | |
| P282.1 | Realm ruled by stepmother, while king is absent | Iceland | |
| P282.2 | Stepmother mourns her stepsons’ death, not her own son‘s | Iceland | |
| P282.3 | Stepmother in love with stepson | Greek, Ireland, Persian | |
| P282.3.1 | Love of stepmother who has killed her husband refused | Iceland | |
| P292 | Grandmother | French | |
| P292.1 | Grandmother as foster mother | Iceland | |
| P293.1 | Mother’s brother as foster father | Iceland | |
| P293.2 | Mother‘s brother as helper | Iceland | |
| P293.2.1 | Children take after their mother’s brothers | Jewish | |
| P293.4 | Young prince sent to his father’s mother‘s brother | Iceland | |
| P296.2 | Godmother | ||
| P526.2 | “To every son belongs his mother”: in case of suspected illegitimacy, child is not guilty | Ireland | |
| P711.2 | Mother of invalided soldier says of his limping: “Every step will remind you of your virtue | Italian | |
| Q65.1 | Supplying food to ungrateful stepmother rewarded | Gold Coast | |
| Q87.1.3 | Spurned suitor is offered girl by her mother | Italian | |
| Q151.2 | Death passes by man who fed his stepmother | Gold Coast | |
| Q172.8 | Mother of saint admitted to heaven | Ireland | |
| Q242.1 | Cohabitation of godfather and godmother punished | ||
| Q281.1.1 | Devils carry off girl who abuses her mother | ||
| Q281.1.2 | Girl cruel to her mother is slain by God | ||
| Q552.19.4 | Miraculous drowning as punishment for man’s flight with stepmother | Ireland | |
| Q559.9 | Saints miraculously cause child to fall over cliff as punishment for mother‘s washing clothes in holy well | Ireland | |
| Q586 | Son on gallows bites his mother‘s (father’s) nose off: punishment for neglect in youth | India | |
| Q593 | Dead mother appears and makes disobedient child eat fatal serpent | Jamaica | |
| R153.2.1 | Father hides children from murderous mother | ||
| R153.4 | Mother rescues son | ||
| R153.4.1 | Mother rescues fettered son | Iceland | |
| R153.4.2 | Mother hides twin (triplet) sons to keep them from death | Fang | |
| R154.0.1 | Children rescue mother from lion’s den | ||
| R154.1 | Son rescues mother | Buddhist, India, Ireland | |
| R154.1.1 | Son rescues mother from burning at stake | ||
| R162 | Rescue by captor‘s daughter (wife, mother) | England, Greek, Iceland, India, Ireland | |
| R318 | Girl hidden in skin of her dead mother | ||
| S12 | Cruel mother | Angola, Basuto, Breton, Canada, Eskimo, French, French Canadian, Spanish | |
| S12.1 | Treacherous mother marries ogre and plots against son | N. A. Indian | |
| S12.1.1 | Treacherous mother and paramour plan son’s death | India | |
| S12.2 | Cruel mother kills child | India, Spanish | |
| S12.2.1 | Mother feeds newly-born illegitimate child to dog | Italian | |
| S12.2.2 | Mother throws children into fire | Jewish | |
| S12.2.3 | Mother forces child to break eating tabu: child dies | Fang | |
| S12.3 | Mother orders son‘s death | Iceland, India, Italian | |
| S12.4 | Cruel mother blinds son | Greenland | |
| S12.5 | Cruel mother expels (drives away) child | India | |
| S12.5.1 | Girl impregnated by god driven from home by mother | Chiriguano | |
| S12.6 | Cruel mother refuses children food | Central, Cook Group, Cumberland Sound | |
| S12.7 | Mother tells healthy sons to wipe soiled hands on lame son | Wakweli | |
| S20.1 | Children sell mother | Zuñi | |
| S21.1 | Son buries aged mother alive | Swiss | |
| S21.3 | Son gives mother as hostage | Ireland | |
| S21.4 | King banishes mother to stables | India | |
| S31 | Cruel stepmother | Breton, Cameroon, Canada, Chinese, French Canadian, Greek, Hindu, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italian, Jamaica, Japanese, Jewish, Karib, Korea, Melanesia, Spanish, N. A. Indian | |
| S31.2 | Children enchanted by stepmother | Iceland, Ireland | |
| S31.3 | Cruel bird stepmother feeds young ones with thorns | India | |
| S31.4 | Cruel stepmother feeds children with fish spines (thorns) to kill them | India | |
| S41 | Cruel grandmother | Basuto, Breton, India | |
| S51 | Cruel mother-in-law | Buddhist, Chinese, Chiriguano, England, Hindu, India, Italian, New Guinea, Rumanian, Verde Is. | |
| S51.1 | Cruel mother-in-law plans death of daughter-in-law | India | |
| S112.7 | Son takes mother to woods and tries to burn her up while she sleeps | India | |
| S123.3 | Living children buried with dead mother | ||
| S216 | Mothers exchange children | India | |
| S223.2 | Mother curses her unborn child | ||
| S255.1 | Deity promises deliverance of promised child to mother in dream | India | |
| S255.2 | Child sacrificed to deity returned to mother alive and whole after the ablution and ceremonial rites in honor of her | India | |
| S322.2 | Jealous mother casts daughter forth | Angola | |
| S322.2.1 | Mother exposes child (for fear of jealous co-wife) | Ireland | |
| S322.4 | Evil stepmother casts boy forth | India | |
| S322.4.2 | Evil stepmother orders stepdaughter to be killed | Ireland | |
| S322.4.3 | Stepmother irritates two stepsons so that one kills the other | India | |
| S322.6 | Jealous mother-in-law and sisters cast woman’s children forth | India, Italian | |
| S322.7 | Evil stepmother works stepdaughter to death in absence of merchant husband | India | |
| S328 | Mother sells her child to heathen sailors | ||
| S342 | Mother induced by rival to kill her children | India | |
| S351 | Abandoned child cared for by mother secretly | Basuto, Zulu | |
| S351.0.1 | Abandoned child made over to its own mother (sister) acting as wet nurse | Jewish | |
| S351.1 | Abandoned child cared for by grandmother (aunt, foster mother) | California Indian, Ireland | |
| T47 | Heroine hidden by stepmother when suitor comes | ||
| T50.1.1 | Girl carefully guarded by mother | Chiriguano, Ireland | |
| T52.1 | Prince buys twig (flower) (enchanted girl) from her mother | Italian | |
| T92.6 | Mother and daughter as rivals in love | Ireland | |
| T126.1 | Marriage of Mother Earth and ogre | India | |
| T133.6 | Groom’s mother visits bride-to-be and puts the betrothal ring on her finger | India | |
| T148.1 | Son named for mother | Ireland | |
| T154 | Cruel stepmother enchants stepdaughter on eve of wedding | Iceland | |
| T371.1 | Boy is denied sight of all women except his mother and his nurse until he is eighteen | Italian | |
| T412 | Mother-son incest | Oceanic, Buddhist, Chiriguano, Danish, England, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jewish | |
| T412.1 | Mother guilty of incest with son forgiven by Pope (Virgin Mary) | ||
| T412.2 | Incognito son tempts mother to see whether all women are wicked | Iceland | |
| T412.3 | Mother guilty of incest with son whose honor she is testing | ||
| T412.4 | Boy courts his mother, is driven off by father | Konnoh | |
| T417 | Son-in-law seduces mother-in-law | Italian, N. A. Indian | |
| T417.1 | Mother-in-law seduces son-in-law | Guaproré, Italian | |
| T418 | Lustful stepmother | Greek, Iceland, Ireland, Italian, Viracocha | |
| T421 | Man marries his aunt (mother‘s sister) | Greek, Ireland | |
| T423 | Youth attempts to seduce his grandmother | Italian | |
| T452.1 | Mother acts as procuress of bedmate for her son | India | |
| T517.2 | Conception through mother’s side | ||
| T541.12 | Birth from nine mothers | Iceland | |
| T550.1 | Monster child helps mother | Japanese | |
| T550.4 | Monstrous birth because mother sees horrible sight | England | |
| T554.1 | Tiger, spirit, and man sons of one mother | India | |
| T572.1.1 | Mother sits on stone to prevent premature birth | Ireland | |
| T575.1 | Child speaks in mother‘s womb | Angola, Aztec, India, Ireland, Jewish, Kaffir, Persian, Tupinamba, Warrau, Zulu | |
| T575.1.1 | Child in mother’s womb reveals crime | ||
| T575.1.1.1 | Child in mother‘s womb reveals murder | ||
| T575.1.1.2 | Child in mother’s womb reveals adultery | ||
| T575.1.1.3 | Child in mother‘s womb reveals unjust judgment | ||
| T575.1.2 | Future suicide weeps in mother’s womb | ||
| T575.1.3 | Twins quarrel before birth in mother‘s womb | Greek, Jewish, N. A. Indian | |
| T575.1.4 | Future poet chants spell in mother’s womb | Ireland | |
| T575.1.5 | Children in mothers‘ wombs praise God at birth of Christ | Ireland | |
| T575.1.6 | Child in mother’s belly guides her | Karib, Warrau | |
| T575.1.6.1 | Unborn child directs his mother on journey | Chiriguano, Karib, Tupinamba | |
| T575.3 | Child speaks from dead mother‘s womb | India | |
| T575.4 | Child in mother’s womb visible from outside | Buddhist | |
| T579.1 | Sheath and knife as analogy for mother and unborn child | Eskimo | |
| T579.4 | Mother of saint has healing spittle during pregnancy | Ireland | |
| T581.2.1 | Child born to an apparently dead mother in her grave | ||
| T581.10 | Twins born in tent; mother abducted | Iceland | |
| T584.0.5 | While saint‘s mother was giving birth to the child, she grasps a stout rod which roots and becomes a sturdy tree | ||
| T584.1 | Birth through the mother’s side | Bacairi, Egyptian, England, Haitian, Hindu, Ireland, Malagasy, Persian | |
| T584.2 | Child removed from body of dead mother | Oceanic, Greek, Iceland, India, Ireland, Japanese, Karib, Tupinamba, Yuracare, N. A. Indian | |
| T584.2.1 | Child born of dead mother in grave | Ireland | |
| T584.2.1.1 | Twins freed from dead mother’s body as body rots | New Hebrides | |
| T584.7 | Hero is born by splitting mother‘s womb | Chinese | |
| T584.8 | Child helps mother in severing his navel string | Jewish | |
| T585.1.1 | Child stronger than mother on day of birth | Ireland | |
| T585.4 | Infant saint rebukes mother’s impiety | Ireland | |
| T585.6 | Newborn child kisses dying mother | Iceland | |
| T589.9 | Child with several mothers | Iceland | |
| T595 | Sign hung out informing brothers whether mother has borne boy or girl | Italian | |
| T611.9 | Dead mother‘s breasts furnish sufficient nourishment for her baby during two years | ||
| T611.11 | Child nourished by sucking the eyeballs of snake-mother (frog-mother) who left it | Japanese | |
| T612 | Child born of slain mother cares for itself during infancy | Oceanic, N. A. Indian | |
| T615.4 | Precocious boy supports his widowed mother and himself by use of his wits | India | |
| T640.2 | Mother of illegitimate child given as pledge for his crime | Ireland | |
| T645.3 | Father orders the mother to send the expected illegitimate boy to him when he can perform certain feats | Greek, Ireland | |
| T672 | Adopted child reproaches his foster mother and is returned to his real mother | India | |
| T675 | Real mother preferred to foster mothers | ||
| T675.1 | Children prefer foster mother | ||
| U111.1 | Many books do not make a scholar: youth tricks mother by carrying many books | ||
| U121.2 | Hind, like his mother, flees before the hounds | ||
| U128 | Tiger son of human mother scratches her and licks her blood | India | |
| V211.1.8.3 | Christ as infant in mother‘s arms causes bare hillside to become field of wheat as protection | Ireland | |
| V229.2.3.1 | Saint as baby refuses to take mother’s breast on Wednesdays and Fridays | ||
| V233.1 | Angel of death spares mother who is suckling children | Estonian, Lithuanian, Russian | |
| V271 | Virgin Mary as foster mother | ||
| V511.2.3 | Girl sees vision of her mother in hell | ||
| W16 | Bishop exchanges places with prisoner so as to have him return to his mother | Italian | |
| W111.1.1.5 | Mother calls to daughter to tell her that she (daughter) is standing on a live coal | U.S. | |
| W111.5.1 | Lazy mother given shoes of cotton; son knows that she will not wear them out | ||
| W121.4 | Queen mother shames cowardly son and companions | Spanish | |
| X756 | The mother trains the old maid to speak properly | ||
| X1563 | City into which only married and mothers may enter | India | |
| X1856 | Lie: suckling children rock mother in cradle | ||
| Z39.6 | Mother ties bell on child; cat cuts it off | Cheremis | |
| Z49.1 | “I killed my grandmother because she refused to cook a hare | Spanish | |
| Z118.3 | River personified (Mother Ganges) | India | |
| Z122.2 | Mother of Time personified | Italian | |
| Z215 | Hero “son of seven mothers” | India |
About StorySearch
The Project
This website is a search engine of almost 50,000 patterns within stories world over called "Motifs" and several projects fueled by this search engine.
The Motif Collection
The work comes from a folklorist named Stith Thompson who spent his life reading and cataloging these stories which he published as the Motif Index of Folklore and Literature. You can read more about his work here: Wikipedia page for Stith Thompson
The Goal
While we have Mr. Thompson's motifs, we have yet to track down all of the stories he read, which is our ultimate goal. We then will provide the stories for all to read, explore and see the connections and commonalities between these stories which we hope to further understandings between cultures and deeper into ourselves.
The Stories
Of course, since there are a current total of 46,248 motifs, we've estimated there to be as many as 51,822 stories which might take some time to collect.
The Strategy
For now, we are working to build a crowdsourcing application to help us collect, organize these stories along with tagging the motifs within them.
Until then, please use the following FAQ.
Frequently Asked Questions about Story Search
What do you use this site for?
We use it to find stories, or to know there are stories worldwide with patterns in them. From there, we've found three common uses:
Lectures, Professional & other Metaphor Development
Another common request is from people wanting to tell better stories in their work. This might be someone trying to communicate a tricky idea which is in need of a good metaphor. Since we know these "story seeds" have proven themselves to be quite memorable, we try to adapt motifs to fit as a solid and simple metaphor. We've helped Scientists, Lawyers, Medical Organizations, and even those in the Financials Industry to help better convey what they are doing by telling a better story.
Storytelling, Mentoring & Narrative Therapy
And last (usually the most important in the story world) but not least, we do a lot of work with how people can grow and develop parts of who they are and the connection therein through story. So, we might tell research specific stories to tell a child or youth who is working through an issue, such as dealing with anger, attention issues, or life changes by carefully choosing a motif which can help them understand what they're dealing with. (This works well for adults too.)
If you find a new usage for these, please tell us.
What exactly is a Motif?
A Motif is a trait common between two stories. They can be from nearby places, but the interesting ones (we find) are from very different parts of the world. That is to say, two ideas that simultaneously erupted most likely independently. This is because we can then develop a theory about well, pretty much anything.
Let's give you an example of two excerpts from stories so you can spot their motifs.
Sedna - Eskimo
In this mortal peril the father determined to offer Sedna to the birds and flung her overboard. She clung to the edge of the boat with a death grip. The cruel father then took a knife and cut off the first joints of her fingers. Falling into the sea they were transformed into whales, the nails turning into whalebone. Sedna holding on to the boat more tightly, the second finger joints fell under the sharp knife and swam away as seals; when the father cut off the stumps of the fingers they became ground seals.
Handless Maiden - Germany
The devil still could not approach her, he was very angry, and ordered the miller, "Chop off her hands, so I can get to her."
The miller was horrified and answered, "How could I chop off my dear child's hands? No, I will not do it."
"Then do you know what? I will take you, if you don't do it!"
That frightened the miller terribly, and driven by fear he promised to do what the devil had ordered. He went to his daughter and said, "My child, the devil will take me if I don't chop off both your hands, and I have promised him that I will do it. I beg for your forgiveness."
"Father," she said, "do with me what you will," stretched forth her hands, and let him chop them off.
Interpretations
What could we infer about this story? Well, we might use it to interpret a major plot point in another storyline such as Star Wars, Winter's Bone or Game of Thrones.
We might see it as a symbol for the the loss of ability, that is to say, the loss of the ability to do things.
And so, it might be a useful story to tell someone who has issues with motivation, or the lack of the ability to do things.
We'd also be very curious what the relationship between the symbolic "father" is in each of these stories is, including the three newer stories we mentioned.
Where did you get all of the info about Motifs and Stories?
This search engine is a digitized version of the life work comes of a folklorist named Stith Thompson who spent his life reading and cataloging stories which he published as the Motif Index of Folklore and Literature. This book is very hard to come by, as are many of the books Mr. Thompson referenced. We will be collecting the stories (with the help of folks on the internet) to allow everyone to enjoy and educate themselves about this work.
I have a story I'd really like to find. Can you send it to me?
If we can find it, yes, we will definitely try to so you're always welcome to ask. We don't have digital copies of all of the books referenced in the search engine yet, but we currently have more than two thirds of the 800 or so. Feel free to use the contact form, and we will let you know what we can do.
When I be able to read all of the stories online?
That is hard to tell because it is dependent on two things: our helpers and funds.
Feedback - If you have feedback to offer as far as features you'd like, or requests for stories, this helps us polish the new systems we are putting in place in order to collect all of Stith's stories. Don't hesitate to use our contact form.
Donate Time - If you would like to donate some of your time to help comb stories, please fill out the form below.
Donate Funds - Or, you can use the fully tax deductible donation to our 501(c)3 non-profit hosting organization the Center for Symbolic Studies via a form at http://symbolicstudies.org
How can I help?
We've created a twitter feed for StorySearch, and since it is using his work, we've put the feeds under the name @StithThompson.
Every 15 minutes, a new random motif is tweeted. Below are the 20 most recent tweets:
Twitter Feed for @StithThompson
Updated every 15 minutes with a new random motif.
Video
Writing
TEDx - Lower East Side
Here is a talk by the creator of the Story Search, Richard Schwab, did on myth featuring stories about ways we use this site. October 25th 2013.