ATU 326A* Soul Released from Torment
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The tale in brief
The soul of a dead person cannot rest and appears to a fearless man, who does what it asks; the soul is set free, and the man is rewarded, often with money the dead had hidden. In the Estonian legends a moaning or whirling bone asks to be buried as a Christian and in return shows where a treasure lies.
Summary written for RunoVerse and checked against the Finnic texts linked on this page.
Estonian treasure legends
Types of Estonian treasure legends that RunoVerse links to this tale type. A canonical reference rests on a catalogue number in the legend type’s name; strong parallels and experimental matches rest on a shared plot or shared motifs.
- P 611: Oigava kondiga (Aa S 780) · 28 records · canonical reference
- P 721: Sundametis valvaja · 43 records · strong parallel
Sources
Tale-type number, title, classification, related types and the Finnic sources: Hans-Jörg Uther, The Types of International Folktales (FF Communications 284–286, Helsinki 2004). · Uther 2004, part I (FF Communications 284), free online ↗
Treasure-legend links: RunoVerse’s matching of the Estonian treasure-legend types with the tale types.
The plot summary, the notes and the arrangement of this page are RunoVerse’s own.