86 motifs match “twelve”  ·  back to the chapters

• Moon is wife to all twelve brothers of the sun and they have her a month at a time because she ate up her sisters. A753.1.4.2
• Twelve iron pillars steady the earth. A841.3
• Hail-storm leaves twelve chief rivers in Ireland. A934.6
• Creator establishes twelve winds, each a different color. A1129.1.1
• Twelve-headed dragon. B11.2.3.5
• Twelve-headed serpent. B15.1.2.10.1
• Twelve-legged bird. B15.6.3.2
• Cow with two bags: one containing a one-legged bird; the other, a twelve-legged bird. B15.7.9.1
• Eagle with twelve wings and three heads. B15.7.16
• Cow gives twelve measures of milk for the twelve apostles of Ireland. B251.2.10
• Tabu: on looking at daughter for twelve years. C312.3
• Twelve stones unite to make one. [Inadvertant duplication of F1009.4.] D491.6
• Disenchantment by naked virgin undergoing frightful journey at midnight. She must come naked and alone on St. John's night between twelve and one, climb the castle walls, and enter the treasure chamber. D759.3
• Disenchantment if twelve men will not leave castle for a year. D759.4
• Twelve as magic number. D1273.1.5
• Magic clairvoyant windows. Twelve, each more powerful than the next. (Cf. D1145.) D1323.3
• Blood of twelve buffaloes vitalizes tiger. (Cf. D1016.) D1594.4
• Spear rushes out of joking raja's hand and pierces his visitor's chest; it is hungry for blood and has had no food for twelve years. D1601.4.2.1
• Garden that has not bloomed for twelve years does so when girl steps into it. (Cf. D961.) D1667.4
• Walking around a grave twelve times backward will raise the ghost. E386.4
• Trolls the size of ten or twelve year old child. F455.2.1
• Person with twelve eyes. F512.2.1.3
• Scylla. Breast and face of woman. From flanks has six heads and twelve feet of dogs. F526.2
• Baby giants four months old "two feet broad in the chest and twelve feet high." F531.2.14
• Twelve years' sleep customary to demons. F564.3.6
• Twelve berserks. (Cf. F610.3.4.1.) F610.3.3
• Fighting with twelve berserks. (Cf. F610.3.3.) F610.3.4.1
• Man with twelve men's strength. F610.4.2
• Strong hero suckled by mermaid. Gives him strength of twelve men. F611.2.2
• Twelve year old hero captures town of father's enemy. F611.3.2.6
• Man presses out twelve measures of oil without the help of bullocks. F639.7
• Palace gate so big it can only be opened by twelve buffaloes. F776.1.1
• Sun shines for twelve days and nights after death of holy person. F961.1.5.1
• Twelve stones unite to become one. (Cf. D931.) [Inadvertant duplication of D491.6.] F1009.4
• Person gets witch power by walking twelve times around a church backward at midnight. G224.8
• The devil has twelve wings. G303.4.2.2
• Gardener's son to marry princess if he remains in prison twelve years. H317.3
• Princess to be married to man who withstands twelve years' fight. H328.6
• Symbolic meaning of numbers one to seven (ten, twelve). E.g. One: sun; two: Moses' tablets; three: three Maries; etc. H602.1.1
• Symbolical interpretation of fight between one-legged bird and twelve-legged bird. One-legged bird symbolizes innocence; twelve-legged bird, guilt. (Cf. B15.6.3.3.2.) H619.5
• Riddle: tree with twelve branches, each with thirty leaves, black and white. Year, month, days and nights. H721.1
• Riddle: twelve cypresses with thirty boughs each. Years and months. H721.3
• Riddle: palace consisting of 8760 stones; twelve trees, thirty branches, each with black and white cluster of grapes. Year, months, days, hours. H721.4
• Riddle: one killed none and yet killed twelve. (Horse is poisoned; raven eats of him and dies; twelve robbers eat raven and die.) H802
• Task: bringing twelve cartloads of mud without the use of buffaloes. H1129.1.1
• Task: filling twelve bed-ticks with feathers. Done by helpful birds. H1129.2
• Task: stealing twelve horses out of stall. (Cf. H1151.13.3.) H1151.2
• God's punishment: the sinner may have twelve years of famine or twelve hours of heavy rainfall. J229.13
• Thirty years old for twelve years. Man claims to be thirty; has been doing so for the last twelve years. J1218
• Abbess has twenty-four nuns for twelve monks: twelve nuns therefore for the guests. J1264.9
• Plea for a good father. Mother of twelve on deathbed explains to family that not all her children are legitimate. Gives the paternity of each child. Youngest leaves his food to say: "Please, mother, give me a good father!" (Cf. J325.) J1279.1
• One basket of wit better than twelve carloads of it. Female jackal saves herself and husband by quick thinking. (Cf. K622.1.) J1662.1
• Fasting the first month. Numskull having enough food to last him eleven out of the twelve months fasts the entire first month so as to get the ordeal over. He starves with eleven months' supply on hand. J2135.1
• Idiot tells his mother he has been dead twelve years. J2311.11
• Equal share in the bed. Wishing to prove their equality twelve fools sleep on the ground and put their feet on the one bed provided for the chief. J2526
• Deceptive bargain: an ox for five pennies. A woman who has been left the ox on condition that she give the proceeds to the poor offers it for five pennies, but it must be bought along with a cock at twelve florins. She gives the five pennies to the poor and keeps the twelve florins. K182
• Twelve men in disguise as carpenters are engaged to build hall for the king's wedding: they abduct the bride. K1825.7
• Queen passes off girl-child as boy by having pandits say raja must not see his son for twelve years. K1923.6
• Prophecy of death not to come true if baby is married to girl of twelve years. M341.0.3
• Death at sight of son before twelve years. M341.1.7.1
• Prophecy: marriage when one is twelve years old. M369.2.3
• Prophecy wittingly fulfilled by wazir that he will murder the raja, but unwittingly causes his own death twelve years hence. M370.1.1
• Curse: god to live life of a cat for twelve full years in house of huntsman on earth. M414.13.1
• Curse: appetite of twelve men. Given with the gift of twelve men's strength. M416.1
• Curse: not to be able to love the same woman more than twelve months. M455.2
• Twelve brothers. P251.6.7
• One sister and six (seven, eleven, twelve) brothers. P253.0.5
• Twelve robbers. P475.1
• Wine as reward. Twelve jars of honey-sweet wine as reward for protection. (Cf. Q46.1.) Q135
• Child exposed with twelve years' supply of food and attendants. S334.1
• Children ten and twelve years old betroth themselves. T61.5.2
• King deflowers all twelve year old girls. T161.0.1
• Long pregnancy: twelve months. T574.1
• The Twelve Apostles of Ireland. V292.2
• Boy takes twelve years to wash off ascetic's dirt. V462.14
• Ehod mi yodea (One; who knows?); Le dodici parole della verità, Las doce palabras retorneadas. The numbers from one to twelve are brought into relation with various objects, often of religious significance. Z22
• The Twelve Days (Gifts) of Christmas: 1 partridge, 2 turtle-doves, 3 French hens, 4 colly birds, 5 gold rings, 6 geese, 7 swans, 8 maids, 9 drummers, 10 pipers, 11 ladies, 12 lords. Z22.1
• The Twelve kinds of Food: 1 partridge, 2 turtledoves, 3 woodpigeons, 4 ducks, 5 rabbits, 6 hares, 7 hounds, 8 sheep, 9 oxen, 10 turkeys, 11 hams, 12 cheeses. Z22.2
• Formulistic number: twelve. Z71.8
• Twelve articles of faith. Z71.8.1
• Twelve abuses of the world. Z71.8.2
• Formulistic number: "twice twelve years". Z71.8.3
• Formulistic number: twelve plus thirteen. Z71.8.4
• Formulistic number: twelve score. Z71.8.5
• Twelve years and thirteen days. Z72.7
• Twelve months as youths seated about fire. Z122.3