The Aarne-Thompson-Uther Type Index

The Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index (ATU Index) is a comprehensive classification system used by folklorists and scholars to organize and catalog folktales, fairy tales, and other traditional narratives from around the world.wikipedia+1

Origins and Development

The system emerged from more than a century of scholarly work beginning with attempts to bring order to the vast collection of stories that had been collected from various cultures. The most direct precursor was devised by Austrian consul Johann Georg von Hahn in 1864, who analyzed approximately 40 tale “formulae” as a framework for organizing Greek and Albanian folktales.wikipedia

Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne developed the first comprehensive classification system in 1910, publishing it as Verzeichnis der Märchentypen (“List of Fairy Tale Types”). Aarne’s approach was revolutionary in that it identified recurring narrative motifs—the “building blocks” of traditional stories—and grouped tales by recognizing patterns that appeared across different cultures and time periods.wikipedia

American folklorist Stith Thompson translated Aarne’s work into English and substantially revised and expanded it in 1928, and again in 1961 (creating what was known as the “AT” or “Aarne-Thompson” system). Thompson also developed the complementary Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, a more granular classification system.bookriot+1

German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther further revised and expanded the index in 2004, publishing it as The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography. This most recent edition, with its 2024 supplement, represents the most comprehensive and current version of the system.folklorefellows+1

How the System Works

The ATU Index classifies tales using numerical codes that reflect both the tale type and the hierarchy of categorization. The system is organized into seven major categories based on narrative genre:retellingthetales+1

Animal Tales (1-299): Stories featuring animals as main characters, such as Aesop’s fables and trickster tales.

Tales of Magic (300-749): Enchanted narratives featuring supernatural elements, magic, and fantastic adventures. This is where most familiar fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty reside.

Religious Tales (750-849): Stories with religious themes and moral or spiritual lessons.

Realistic Tales (850-999): Stories grounded in everyday life and realistic situations without supernatural elements.

Tales of the Stupid Ogre (Giant, Devil) (1000-1199): Humorous tales featuring foolish giants, devils, or similar creatures.

Anecdotes and Jokes (1200-1999): Brief humorous stories and witty anecdotes.

Formula Tales (2000-2399): Stories built on repetitive patterns and formulas, such as cumulative tales.

Subcategories and Specific Tale Types

Within each major category are numerous subcategories that further refine the classification. For example, within Tales of Magic (300-749), there are divisions for:techmonkeybusiness

Supernatural Adversaries (300-399)
Supernatural or Enchanted Wife/Husband/Relatives (400-459)
Supernatural Tasks (460-499)
Supernatural Helpers (500-559)
Magic Objects (560-649)
Other Tales of the Supernatural (700-749)

Each tale type is assigned a specific number. For instance, ATU 510A is assigned to “Cinderella,” which groups together versions of the Cinderella story from different cultures—the European Cinderella, the Chinese Yeh-Shen, and the Egyptian Rhodopis are all classified under this single ATU number despite their unique cultural details.cmreid1.substack+1

ATU 334 is designated as “Household of the Witch,” which is where Mother Trudy/Frau Trude is classified.cmreid1.substack+1

Tale Types vs. Motifs

An important distinction exists in folklore classification between a tale type and a motif:cmreid1.substack

A tale type is a complete, traditional story with its own distinct plot structure and narrative arc. It represents the entire story from beginning to end.

A motif is a smaller, recurring element—such as a magical object (a glass slipper), a specific character archetype (a wicked stepmother), a particular event (a transformation), or a narrative device (a forbidden room). A single tale can contain multiple motifs, and the same motif may appear in many different tale types.

For example, in Cinderella (ATU 510A), the motifs include: a persecuted heroine, a magical helper/godmother, glass slippers as tokens, a slipper test, a ball or gathering, and a prince seeking a bride. These same motifs appear in other tales with different overall plots.cmreid1.substack

Scope and Purpose

The ATU Index is designed to catalog international types, which are practically defined as tale types identified among three or more cultural or national groups. The system includes descriptions of the main plot points for each tale type, variations in details that exist across different versions, and citations of essential research on that particular type.folklorefellows

The catalog is contained in three volumes (as of the 2024 edition) and is considered one of the most important tools in folklore research. It serves multiple purposes: enabling folklorists to organize and classify narratives, facilitating comparative analysis of tales from different cultures, identifying how stories have evolved across time and geography, and supporting deeper scholarly understanding of narrative traditions.folklorefellows+1

Value and Application

The ATU Index is invaluable for researchers seeking to understand how similar stories emerge across unrelated cultures and time periods, suggesting either ancient shared origins or universal patterns in human storytelling. It is also used by writers, educators, and storytellers who want to understand the fundamental structure and variations of traditional tales for purposes of retelling, adapting, or creating new works grounded in folkloric tradition.reddit+1

The system represents more than a century of international scholarly collaboration in mapping the landscape of global narrative tradition, making it an essential infrastructure for understanding how stories work across human cultures.

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