The international Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification of 2,247 folk tale types, cross-referenced with Estonian treasure legends. Browse the standard typology used by folklorists worldwide to classify narrative traditions.
What is the ATU Index?
The Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) classification system is the international standard for cataloguing folk tale types. Originally developed by Antti Aarne (1910) and revised by Stith Thompson (1928, 1961) and Hans-Jörg Uther (2004), it assigns a numeric code to each recurring tale plot found across world traditions. This page presents 2,247 tale types sourced from the Trilogy dataset.
Chapters and Categories
Tale types are organized into broad chapters: Animal Tales, Tales of Magic, Religious Tales, Anecdotes and Jokes, Formula Tales, and others. Use the chapter tabs at the top to filter by category. Each tab shows the number of tale types it contains. Click "All" to return to the full listing.
Searching
The search box filters tale types by ATU number, name, or description text. Results update as you type. The Random button picks a tale type at random for serendipitous browsing. You can also link directly to a search using the URL parameter ?q=your+query.
Card Details
Each tale type card shows: the ATU number and name, its chapter and division classification, a description summarizing the tale plot, optional remarks with scholarly notes, and provenance indicating geographic distribution (click to expand).
Treasure Legend Cross-References
Some tale types are linked to Estonian treasure legends (varandusemuistendid) in the RunoVerse corpus. These appear as gold-colored badges showing the legend name and record count. Click to open the Treasure Legends explorer.
TMI Motif Cross-References
Where available, each tale type lists its associated Thompson Motif Index (TMI) motifs as green badges. Click any motif ID to look it up in the Motifs (TMI) explorer. The "Combines with" row (orange badges) shows other ATU types that frequently co-occur in the same narrative tradition; click one to search for it.
Folktale Examples
Some tale types include an expandable example text from the Trilogy folktale corpus. Click the summary line to read the full tale. These provide concrete illustrations of each type's narrative pattern.
Most Shared Motifs
The section below the main listing shows the TMI motifs that appear across the greatest number of ATU tale types -- the fundamental narrative building blocks shared across folk traditions worldwide.