ATU 511 One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes
Open in the ATU tale-type index →
The tale in brief
Two-Eyes, ill-treated by her mother and her sisters One-Eye and Three-Eyes, goes hungry herding the goats until a wise woman gives her a magic table laid with food; the sisters spy on her, but only she can pick the fruit of a wonderful tree, and she marries a count.
Summary written for RunoVerse from Antti Aarne’s list of tale types of 1910 and the Finnic texts linked on this page.
Runosong types
The SKVR or ERAB type index cites this tale type in its description of these song types:
- Paimenen kivinen kakku Shepherd's Stone Loaf · SKVR · 41 poems
Possibly related: the songs of these types match a passage of this tale, often words a character says or sings (as judged by a language model).
- Syöjätär ja tyttö Syöjätär (the Ogress) and the Girl · SKVR · 20 poems
Finnic and Finland-Swedish sources cited in the catalogue
The entries of the catalogue’s list of literature and variants that concern Finnic tradition.
Finnish Rausmaa 1982ff. I, No. 69
Finnish-Swedish Hackman 1917f. I, No. 82
Estonian Aarne 1918
Livonian, Wepsian Kecskeméti/Paunonen 1974
Full references:
- Rausmaa 1982ff.: Rausmaa, Pirkko-Liisa (ed.): Suomalaiset kansansadut 1–6. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1982–2000.
- Hackman 1917f.: Hackman, Oskar (ed.): Finlands svenska folkdiktning I A: Sagor. Referatsamling 1–2. Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 1917–1920. Read online ↗ (National Library of Finland)
- Aarne 1918: Aarne, Antti: Estnische Märchen- und Sagenvarianten. Verzeichnis der zu den Hurt'schen Handschriftensammlungen gehörenden Aufzeichnungen. FF Communications 25. Hamina: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1918.
- Kecskeméti/Paunonen 1974: Kecskeméti, István; Paunonen, Heikki: Die Märchentypen in den Publikationen der Finnisch-ugrischen Gesellschaft. Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 73 (1974), 205–265.
Motifs and related tale types
Motifs: Treasure Found in Slain Helpful Animal B100.1·Animal with Horn of Plenty B115·Magic Object Received from Animal B505·Cow as Nurse Cares for Children B535.0.1·Tabu: Breaking Twig C513·Magic Tree Furnishes Treasure D1461·Provisions Received from Magic Object D1470.2·D590·Attempt to Learn About Magic Object by Spying D830.1·Person with One Eye F512.1·Three-Eyed Person F512.2.1.1·Trees of Extraordinary Material F811.1·Only One Man Is Able to Pluck Fruits from Tree H31.12·Lowly Heroine Marries Prince (King) L162
Combines with: ATU 300 The Dragon-Slayer·ATU 313 The Magic Flight·ATU 314 Goldener (previously The Youth Transformed to a Horse)·ATU 314A The Shepherd and the Three Giants·ATU 327A Hansel and Gretel·ATU 403 The Black and the White Bride·ATU 409 The Girl as Wolf·ATU 432 The Prince as Bird·ATU 480 The Kind and the Unkind Girls (previously The Spinning-Women by the Spring. The Kind and the Unkind Girls)·ATU 510A Cinderella·ATU 510B Peau d'asne (previously The Dress of Gold, of Silver, and of Stars [Cap o' Rushes])
Related types: ATU 720 The Juniper Tree (previously My Mother Slew Me; My Father Ate Me)
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 ↗
Runosong types cited in the type indexes: the song-type indexes of SKVR and ERAB.
Possibly related runosong types: a reading of the song types by a language model (Claude Opus 5.5, 2 November 2026); only links it rated high or medium in confidence are shown.
Motifs and combinations with other tale types: the Trilogy dataset, from Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature and the ATU catalogue.
The plot summary, the notes and the arrangement of this page are RunoVerse’s own.