82 motifs match “herself”  ·  back to the chapters

• Goddess in anger breaks herself into five parts: hence, five branches of a river. A934.11.3
• Relatives kill animal-husband but wife throws herself into pyre. B691
• Woman transforms herself into a bird and lends her female organ to a boy. He fails to return it and she becomes a man when she resumes human form. D11.2
• Fairy transforms herself into a monstrous being with head of an ape, thin legs, sharp claws, fish scales and bristles. D49.3
• Swan Maiden. A swan transforms herself at will into a maiden. She resumes her swan form by putting on her swan coat. (It is difficult to tell in most Swan Maiden tales whether the primary form is swan or maiden: the incident may belong at D161.) D361.1
• Despondent mother curses herself and children into trees. D525.1
• Goddess repeatedly transforms herself. D610.1
• Queen transforms herself to defeat god of death. D651.1.3
• Steaks cut from live cow who heals herself by magic. D2161.2.1
• Fairy avenges herself on inconstant lover (husband). F302.3.3.1
• Ghost conceals herself with dwarfs. F451.5.4.1
• Hair so long that girl can cover herself with it. F555.3.3
• Well rises so maiden can draw without exerting herself. F933.1.3.1
• Witch killed as whale. She herself is sitting at home. G252.1
• Charms to cause witch to reveal herself. (Cf. G271.) G257
• Burning object forces witch to reveal herself: sympathetic magic. G257.1
• Reading Bible backwards causes witch to reveal herself. (Cf. D1985.2.) G257.2
• Turning table, cutting notches in it causes witch to reveal herself. G257.3
• Taking tile from witch's house forces her to reveal herself. G257.4
• Person places three notched elder twigs under bowl. Witch is forced to remove them, thus revealing herself. G257.6
• Devil appears when a woman looks at herself in the mirror after sunset. G303.6.1.4
• Girl married to a devil. Despairing of ever finding herself a husband, the old maid exclaims: "I would marry even the devil, were he to marry me." The devil takes her at her word. G303.12.5.1
• Devils arrange a wedding feast for a woman who hanged herself. G303.25.17.3
• Recognition by overheard conversation with flax. By comparing her fate with that of the flax the heroine is able to reveal herself. H13.2.6
• Girl sleeping naked awakened: is she a goddess? If mortal, she will cover herself; if a goddess, will not. H45.5
• Maiden queen promises herself to the man who heals her husband and kills his bewitcher. H346.1
• Disguised real wife orders motley wear for her husband when he goes to fetch new bride-to-be: prospective father-in-law takes him for a fool and real wife reveals herself to husband. J1112.1.1
• The cynic and the fig tree. Man tells friend that his wife has hanged herself on a fig tree. Friend: "Give me a shoot of that tree!" J1442.11
• The cynic's wish. When he learns that a woman has hanged herself from a tree he explains: "Would that all trees bore such fruit!" J1442.11.1
• Husband and wife burn their mouths. A wife served overhot soup, forgets and burns herself so that tears come to her eyes She says that her departed father liked soup so much that she weeps when she eats it. The husband is also burned and weeps: "I am weeping because your accursed mother didn't take you with her when she died." J1478
• The priest makes the omen come true. A woman crosses herself when she meets a priest, as if he were the devil. She says that meeting a priest always brings her bad luck. The priest knocks her down and steps on her. "As ye believe, so shall it be." J1624
• The cat's only trick. She saves herself on a tree. The fox, who knows a hundred tricks, is captured. J1662
• One basket of wit better than twelve carloads of it. Female jackal saves herself and husband by quick thinking. (Cf. K622.1.) J1662.1
• Ugly woman sees beautiful woman reflected in water and thinks it is herself. Prides herself on her beauty. J1791.6.1
• The boat gets tired. The woman tries to tire out her rival's boat so as to win the race, but only tires herself. J1884
• Woman's garments cut off: does not know herself. J2012.2
• Woman in tar and feathers does not know herself. J2012.3
• Queen grieves herself to death over fate of her children after her death. J2063.1
• Woman disdainfully throws away pills; punished with sores on body, must use the pills to restore herself. J2075.3
• One woman to catch squirrel; the other to get the cooking pot. One falls from the tree and kills herself; the other breaks the pot. J2661.3
• The cup with two and three handles. When the servant girl presents the cup to the emperor she holds the handle herself. When there are two handles she holds one in each hand, and when there are three she holds the third one toward her. J2665.1
• Blind Dupe. A blind man's arrow is aimed for him by his mother (or wife) who deceives him into thinking that he has missed his aim. She eats the slain game herself. K333.1
• Woman gives friend dried comb while she herself eats the honey. K476.7
• Woman puts figures of paramour and herself in bed. Husband attacks them. Woman uses it as a lesson to "reform" husband. K525.1.1
• Bride substitutes wooden picture while she herself escapes sleeping groom. K525.1.2
• Paramour unwittingly drinks sleeping potion. Is thought dead and placed in a chest. Chest is stolen. When he escapes he is accused of being a robber. He is saved by his mistress's maid who explains all, transferring the role played by her mistress to herself. K675.1
• Giantess killed with the spear she herself has given hero. K818.2
• Girl asks importunate lover for weapon to use against her father. Instead, she uses it to defend herself against the suitor. K1218.5
• Chaste woman substitutes corpse for herself in the bed of an insistent suitor. K1223.4
• Girl tells physician-seducer she cannot meet his wishes until after he bathes. Prepares the bath herself and pours acid into it. K1227.4.1
• Girl shows herself naked in return for youth's dancing hogs. K1358
• Princess tricked into engaging herself to suitor rejected by her father. K1372.1
• Wife of philanderer gets revenge by having an affair herself. K1510.2
• The husband locked out. An adulteress returns home late at night and her husband refuses to admit her. She threatens to throw herself into the well. The husband goes after her. She enters the house and bars him out. K1511
• Husband catches paramour in pitfall. The wife sends her maid to investigate. The maid falls in and finally the wife herself. The husband calls the neighborhood to see them. K1562
• Husband twits wife regarding "bought kiss"; she makes him buy one from her by disguising herself. K1814.4
• Wife sends mistress to her husband disguised as herself. K1843.1.1
• Wife substitutes an old woman for herself in her husband's bed. K1843.3
• Woman saves herself from soldiers by receiving them joyfully rather than fearfully. K2361
• Chaste woman promises herself to her lover when the rocks leave the coast. (They are moved by magic.) M261
• Chaste woman promises herself to her lover when he can make a garden bloom in winter. (Cf. H352.) M261.1
• Curse: "What I carry may you carry; what you carry may I carry." Cat thus causes ungrateful pregnant woman to bear cats and herself to bear twin girls. M437.1
• Prince first sees heroine as she comes forth from her hiding-box. She has concealed herself until the favorable moment. N712
• Concealed wife. Unknown wife supernaturally conceals herself until the favorable moment to come forward. N741.1
• Husband frees wife who has sold herself into slavery in order to ransom him. R151.1.1
• Woman disguised as man sells herself into slavery in order to ransom (free) her husband (lover). (Cf. K1837.) R152.2
• Burned and underbaked bread. Wishing to rid herself of her father-in-law, the daughter-in-law starts to feed him burned bread; but the old man begins to thrive on it. When she tries underbaked bread, he dies very soon. S54.1
• Girl promises herself to animal suitor. S215.1
• Girl offers to sacrifice herself to dragon in place of her parents. S262.4
• Woman drowns herself as sacrifice to water-gods to save husband's boat from capsizing. (Cf. S263.5.) S264.1.2
• Princess elects herself husband from the young men present. (Cf. H311, H362, T131.0.1.) T55.7
• Girl kills herself after lover's death. T81.6
• Woman sacrifices herself in order to save beloved. T89.2
• Woman drowns herself as sacrifice to water-gods to save husband's boat from capsizing. T211.1.1
• Female deer offers herself instead of her mate, who has been captured. Hunter, struck by her sacrifice, lets both go. T211.1.4
• Wife throws herself on husband's funeral pyre. T211.2.1
• Faithless wife pays her paramour for enjoying herself with him. T232.5
• Belfagor. The devil frightened by the shrewish wife. A man persuades his shrewish wife to let herself be lowered into a well. When he comes to pull her out he raises a genie (devil) who is glad to escape from the woman. Later he frightens the devil by telling him that his wife has escaped. T251.1.1
• The hypocritical wife. Shows what she has done for her husband, but not what she has done for herself. T263
• Man is killed defending sweetheart's honor. She kills herself. T326.2
• Princess gives herself to Turks of her own accord in order to save her people. T455.7
• The old maid in bed. On one side is a bundle of straw (her husband) and on the other a dog (her child). She gives the straw bundle a push and thereupon falls on the floor herself. X752