μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif
The motif on our shelf — written from the served texts; every claim cited  receipt

Thompson’s Greek citation for this address”) aims at the same sentence as his helpful-horse entry, and our wiring lands it one chapter off; the line closes the served account of the rout before Thebes: “Adrastus alone was saved by his horse Arion” — of the champions who marched, the one life brought out, and brought out by an animal, “That horse Poseidon begot on Demeter” [The Library (Bibliotheca), BOOK III, ch. VI]. A second served rescue is avian, verified by reading: Sigurd, tasting the dragon’s heart-blood, “straightway he knew the voice of all fowls”, and the first use the birds make of being understood is to save his life — “There lies Regin, minded to beguile the man who trusts in him” — whereupon Sigurd strikes off the betrayer’s head first [The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga), XIX]. Rescue by carrying and rescue by warning: the animal saves with its body in Greece, with its knowledge in the north. Thompson’s Panchatantra, Buddhist, Chinese, and Duala authorities all sit unresolved; two verified pages carry the address today, both shared with neighboring motifs — on a thin shelf the same lines must do double duty, and say so.

Witnesses: The Library (Bibliotheca), BOOK III, ch. VI · The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga), XIX

Scholars’ trail — 6references

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

Within the index
8 finer motifs beneath it
Animal warns of fatal dangerAnimal saves man from death sentenceAnimal saves man from pursuerAnimal overcomes man's adversaryAnimal spares man he is about to devourAnimal saves man from death by burningAnimal saves man from death by drowningAnimal saves person's life – miscellaneous
Travels with
Animal rescuer or retriever. Rescue person or retrieve lost objectFugitives aided by helpful animal. (Cf. B520.)
Keeps company with — shares receipted episodes
Bird language learned by having ears magically cleansedHelpful horseTabu: revealing secrets of godTabu: man looking at nude goddessTransformation: man to womanMan looks at copulating snakes: transformed to woman. (Cf. D12.)Sphinx propounds riddle on pain of deathRiddle of the Sphinx: what is it that goes on four legs in the morning, on two at midday, and on three in the evening. (Man, who crawls as a child, walks in middle life, and walks with a stick in old age.)Zeus smites Capaneus while he is climbing a ladderPunishment for splitting head and eating man's brainsPunishment: banishment (exile)Blinding as punishment
Carried in tale types

wander