ATU 773 Contest of Creation between God and the Devil

ATU 773

Contest of Creation between God and the Devil

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

Motifs the recorded variants carry

Devil and God create animals. Wolf created as God's dog. The devil creates goats to destroy things. 20 variants
Devil's unsuccessful attempt to vivify his creations as God has done. Succeeds only in making animal. 20 variants
The devil's animals and God's. In the contest between God and the devil, certain animals are made by each. 20 variants
Devil produces animals only in God's name. He tries unsuccessfully without using God's name. 20 variants
Devil's animals devour God's. God makes white fish, devil a pike to eat it up; God a worm, devil a frog to eat it, etc. (Cf. A1751.) 20 variants
Animals created through opposition of devil to god. 15 variants
Animal characteristics result of contest between God and devil. 10 variants
Color of devil's cows changed while he sleeps so that he does not know them. Only those not changed (all black, all red, etc.) belong to the devil. 10 variants
Devil's unsuccessful creation produces certain animals. (Cf. A1811, A1833.1, A1862, A1893.) 4 variants
Creation of cat. 4 variants
Devil makes wolf; God gives him life. (Cf. A1755.) 4 variants
Creation of ape. 4 variants
Creation of mole. 4 variants

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.