ATU 81 Too Cold for Hare to Build House in Winter
Open in the ATU tale-type index →
The tale in brief
A hare that freezes all winter resolves to build itself a house, but when summer comes it is warm enough without one, and the house is never built.
Summary written for RunoVerse and checked against 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:
- Mikä yksi? What Is One? · SKVR · 62 poems
RunoVerse’s note: A song that counts numbers. The SKVR editors name this tale type in their note on it, but no poem tells of a hare or a house.
Finnic sources cited in the catalogue
The entries of the catalogue’s list of literature and variants that concern Finnic tradition.
Finnish Rausmaa 1982ff. V, Nos. 81, 82
Estonian Kippar 1986
Full references:
- Rausmaa 1982ff.: Rausmaa, Pirkko-Liisa (ed.): Suomalaiset kansansadut 1–6. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1982–2000.
- Kippar 1986: Kippar, Pille: Estnische Tiermärchen. Typen- und Variantenverzeichnis. FF Communications 237. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1986.
Motifs and related tale types
Motifs: Too Cold for Hare (Dog) to Build House in Winter, Not Necessary in Summer: Must Go Without House A2233.2.1
Related types: ATU 43 The Bear Builds a House of Wood; the Fox, of Ice·ATU 1238 The Roof in Good and Bad Weather
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.
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.