ATU 501 The Three Old Spinning Women (previously The Three Old Women Helpers)

ATU 501

The Three Old Spinning Women (previously The Three Old Women Helpers)

Aarne–Thompson–Uther tale-type index · Tales Of Magic · The full type description is not served here; the number and name are the classification facts.

Motifs the recorded variants carry

Tasks assigned because of mother's foolish boasting. The mother foolishly boasts to the king that the daughter can perform an impossible task (often spinning). 3 variants
Tasks assigned because of girl's (boy's) own foolish boast. 3 variants
Task: spinning impossible amount in one night. (Cf. H1022.2.) 3 variants
Magic spinning. Usually performed by a supernatural helper. 1 variant
Three witches (hags) deformed from much spinning. 1 variant
Witch spins. 1 variant

Type numbers and names after Aarne–Thompson–Uther, via Hagedorn, trilogy (2022), CC-BY-NC-SA; motif links weighted by the dataset’s recorded tale variants. Served as classification facts with attribution.