119 motifs match “destroy” — showing the first 100; narrow the words for the rest  ·  back to the chapters

• Devil and God create animals. Wolf created as God's dog. The devil creates goats to destroy things. A63.4
• Culture hero spares certain evil spirits. Old Age, Cold, Poverty, and Hunger beg the culture hero not to destroy them because of their real usefulness to man. A531.1
• World catastrophe. The world is destroyed. The incidents are usually the same whether a final destruction is thought of or a destruction which may be overcome by a renewal of the earth. A1000
• Animate and inanimate objects attempt to destroy humanity. A1009.2
• God's promise never to destroy world by water does not apply to local floods. A1011.3
• World-fire. A conflagration destroys the earth. Sometimes (as with the flood legends) the tradition is somewhat local and does not refer to an actual destruction of the whole earth; sometimes the fire marks the end of the world. A1030
• Rain invoked to destroy world-fire. A1035.1
• Continuous winter destroys the race. Spoken of as "Fimbulwinter". It ushers in the end of the world. A1040
• World destroyed by rain of stones. A1099.1
• God promises never again to destroy world by water. A1113
• Hole of winds: stopper destroyed. The hole is stopped with a wooden stopper, which is destroyed. The country dries up. A1122.1
• Mouse created by Lucifer; cat by Michael to destroy mouse. (Cf. A1811, A1853.) A1751.1
• Swallows lift Christ's crown of thorns from his brow: why their nests are not destroyed. (Cf. A2431.3.5.) A2221.2.4
• Beasts that destroy vineyards and steal fruit. B16.0.1
• Roc drops rock on ship. Rock is so large that it destroys ship. B31.1.2
• Devastating birds destroy grass. B33.1.2
• Black birds destroy crops. B33.1.3
• Animal's revenge for being criticized by a bird: nest destroyed. B275.4
• Venomous sheep destroy enemy. B776.1
• Tabu: destroying animal skin of enchanted person too soon. C757.1
• Transformation to destroy enemy's property. D651.3
• Girl destroys crab shape of husband and disenchants him permanently. D719.2
• Disenchantment by removing (destroying) covering of enchanted person. D720
• Disenchantment by destroying skin (covering). D721.3
• Disenchantment by destroying enchanter. D763
• Magic object destroyed. D866
• Magic object destroyed because of feigned sickness. D866.2
• Water of life destroyed to prevent immortality: too long life would become tiresome. D1346.1.1
• Magic object destroys pride. D1359.6
• Magic staff destroys obstacles. (Cf. D1254.) D1562.1
• Holy water destroys veil over well. (Cf. D1242.1.2.) D1562.6
• Magic spell destroys crops. (Cf. D1273.) D1563.2.4
• Magic dew destroys enemy's books. (Cf. D902.2.) D1599.6
• Talking statue, when destroyed, cannot be replaced for thirty thousand years. (Cf. D1268, D1620.) D1661.1
• Loosing sandals destroys fakir's power. D1782.3.1
• Raja told in a dream the stranger he seeks to destroy is his own son. D1810.8.2.5
• Murder by sympathetic magic. An object or an animal is abused or destroyed to bring about the death of a person. D2061.2.2
• Animals abused or destroyed to cause death of person. D2061.2.2.7
• House destroyed by magic. D2089.6
• Magic drought to destroy enemy. D2091.8
• Saint destroys disastrous insects. D2156.6
• Ghost laid when house it haunts is destroyed or changed. E451.8
• Life dependent on external object or event. Person's life is mystically connected with something else and comes to an end when that thing is destroyed. E765
• Fairies' underground palace cannot be burned by fire nor destroyed by water. F222.1.1
• Fairy mistress tries to destroy mortal's wife (mother) by sending her a magic belt. F302.5.5
• Fairy queen's beauty temporarily destroyed by intercourse with mortal. F304.2
• Fairies take revenge on mortals who destroy their homes. F361.12
• Fairies destroy crops. F369.5
• Home of dwarfs is endangered or destroyed. F451.4.4
• Thirty-Years War destroys home of dwarfs. F451.4.4.2
• Dwarfs interfere with mortal's work (destroy buildings, crops, etc.) (Cf. F420.5.2.5.) F451.5.2.5
• Giant destroyed by army. F531.6.12.6.1
• Strong man as gardener: destroys plants. F614.3
• Strong man as fisherman: destroys fish and nets. F614.5
• Enemy cured by poisoned cake he has sent to holy man in order to destroy him. F959.6.1
• La Belle Dame Sans Merci. Witch entices men with offers of love and then deserts or destroys them. G264
• Breaking spell by destroying image of victim used by the witch in torturing the victim. G271.4.3
• Witch can be destroyed only by burning her to death. G275.3.0.1
• Satan causes storm to destroy property of man he tempts. G303.9.4.0.1
• The devil destroys by night what is built by day. G303.14.1
• Devil destroys Adam's work by night. G303.14.1.1
• Administering sacrament destroys devil's power. G303.16.5
• Miscellaneous ways in which the devil may be escaped or his power destroyed. G303.16.19
• Devil destroys hunting party with terrible wind. G303.20.2
• Devil destroys church steeple. G303.24.4
• Amphibious tree-destroying monsters. G346.3.1
• Task: mouse to fight single-handed with king's state elephant and destroy it. H1161.3.1
• Wise man destroys serpent's eggs. J622.1
• Cats unite in battle against a wolf. They destroy wolf. J1025.2
• Creditor: "The destroyed bond was a cubit in size." Debtor: "That is a lie; it was only a span." J1141.1.3
• King cannot destroy the city. A philosopher of the city came to him asking mercy for it King said he would do nothing he asked. Philosopher then asked him to destroy the city. This saves the city. J1289.10
• Did the calf eat the man? A fool, liking the shoes on the feet of a man hanged on a gallows, cuts off the swollen feet in order to carry off the shoes. In the room in which he sleeps that night is a newborn calf. The next morning the man takes the shoes but leaves the feet. Peasants agree that the calf has eaten the man all but the feet. They burn the house to destroy the calf. J1815
• Fool thinks gold is being destroyed when snails crawl over it. J1816
• Numskull prepares brother's wedding (father's funeral). On the way home from town he destroys his purchases. (Cf. J1851, J1856, J1871.) J1846
• Foolish wish: to destroy all flies and spiders. J2079.2
• Quarreling heirs destroy the entire property involved. J2129.2
• The polluted clothes. A Brahmin washes clothes to purify them. As they hang to dry, a dog walks under them and the Brahmin fears that they are polluted. By putting himself on all-fours like a dog and fastening a leaf like a dog's tail he experiments and decides that the dog must have touched the clothes. He therefore destroys them instead of rewashing them. J2184
• Literal numskull destroys inherited property since his sister has instructions not to object to his actions. J2461.1.8
• Plowing above the tree. Told to plow above a certain tree (on the hillside), numskulls haul oxen and plow into tree and destroy them. J2465.12
• Gullible king gives large sums to minister for construction of imaginary weapon and then more to have it destroyed. K499.7
• Destructive magic belt tried on tree. Destroys tree. K525.8.1
• Trickster's false report of high prices causes dupe to destroy his property. K941
• Murder by destroying external soul. K956
• Dissension aroused in army by casting suspicion on general. A general destroys everything except what belongs to the general of the enemy. Thus he brings about suspicion that the two leaders are in league. K1088
• Dupe's property destroyed. K1400
• Dupe's goods destroyed. K1410
• Plowing the field: horse and harness destroyed. The youth is told to come home from plowing when the dog does. He beats the dog so that it runs home; then he destroys the horse and harness and goes home. K1411
• Repairing the house. House or furniture destroyed. K1415
• Dupe's animals destroyed or maimed. K1440
• [First Edition: K1490. Dupe's property destroyed – miscellaneous.] K1490[1st ed.]
• Lover claims payment for cloth in the presence of the husband. The woman returns the cloth but puts a live coal in it. Destroys his whole supply. K1581.5.1
• Woman destroys men's friendship by pretending to whisper to one. K2131.3
• Fire tied to foxes' tails: destroys enemy's cities and fields. K2351.1.1
• Treacherous priests prolong mass to let enemy destroy city. K2354
• Besieger scatters beads in protecting hedge: besieged destroy hedge to find beads. K2367
• Dungbeetle keeps destroying eagle's eggs. Eagle at last goes to the sky and lays eggs in Zeus's lap. The dungbeetle causes Zeus to shake his apron and break the eggs. L315.7
• Fox destroys nest of bird who boasts of nest's warmth. L462
• Vow to destroy kingdom by austerities. M193
• Contract with the devil destroyed. M218
• Divine promise not to destroy sinful city if righteous live there. M294