ATU 670 The Man who Understands Animal Languages (previously The Animal Languages)
Open in the ATU tale-type index →
The tale in brief
A man learns the languages of animals; his wife wants to know his secret, and the rooster's advice saves him.
Summary written for RunoVerse from Antti Aarne’s list of tale types of 1910 and 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 670: Oskab loomakeelt (ATU 670) · 2 records · canonical reference
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. 126
Finnish-Swedish Hackman 1917f. I, No. 145
Estonian Loorits 1959, No. 128
Livonian Loorits 1926
Wepsian, Lydian, Karelian 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)
- Loorits 1959: Loorits, Oskar: Estnische Volkserzählungen. Fabula, Supplement-Serie A: Texte 1. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1959.
- Loorits 1926: Loorits, Oskar: Livische Märchen- und Sagenvarianten. FF Communications 66. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1926.
- 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: Animal Languages Learned from Serpent (Not Eaten) B165.1·Knowledge of Animal Languages B216·Grateful Animals B350·Helpful Cock B469.5·Helpful Serpent B491.1·Tabu: Revealing Knowledge of Animal Languages C425·Secrets Overheard from Animal (Demon) Conversation N451·Enigmatical Smile (Laugh) Reveals Secret Knowledge N456·Cock Shows Browbeaten Husband How to Rule His Wife T252.2·Nagging Wife Drives Husband to Prepare for Suicide T253.1
Combines with: ATU 207A A Donkey Induces Overworked Ox to Feign Sickness·ATU 671 The Three Languages
Related types: ATU 517 The Boy who Understands the Language of Birds (previously The Boy who Learned Many Things)·ATU 673 The White Serpent's Flesh
Example tales
English example tales of this type in the Trilogy folktale corpus; their texts can be read in the ATU tale-type index.
- Frederigo da Pozzuolo Is Pressed by His Wife to Tell a Secret · Giovanni Francesco Straparola · Straparola, The Facetious Nights, translated by W. G. Waters, vol. 4 (London: Privately printed for members of the Society of Bibliphiles, 1891), day 12, tale 2, pp. 96-102.
- Ramai and the Bonga · India · Cecil Henry Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (London: David Nutt, 1909), no. 157, pp. 393-95.
- The Billy Goat and the King · India, Andrew Lang · Andrew Lang, The Olive Fairy Book (London: Longmans, Green, and Company, 1907), pp. 211-15.
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.
Motifs and combinations with other tale types: the Trilogy dataset, from Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature and the ATU catalogue.
Example tales: the Trilogy folktale corpus; each tale’s own source is named beside it.
The plot summary, the notes and the arrangement of this page are RunoVerse’s own.