ATU 856 The Man with Four Wives (previously The Girl Elopes With the Wrong Man)

ATU 856

The Man with Four Wives (previously The Girl Elopes With the Wrong Man)

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

Man intercepts love letter and takes lover's place in elopement. 4 variants
Menial disguise of princess's lover. 4 variants
Expulsion to avoid fulfillment of prophecy. 4 variants
Lover steals bride from wedding with unwelcome suitor. 2 variants
Princess accidentally elopes with wrong man. 2 variants
Man transformed to animal kept as pet by heroine. (Cf. D658.) 2 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.