A tale type is a traditional story pattern that appears in multiple versions. The characters, setting, and details may change, but the versions share enough of the same plot to be studied as members of one story family.
| Term | Tale type |
|---|---|
| Field | Folklore and comparative narrative studies |
| Meaning | A complete, recognizable plot found in multiple traditional stories |
| Not the same as | A motif, theme, title, or individual version |
| Major classification system | Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index |
What is a tale type in folklore?
A tale type is the underlying plot shared by a group of traditional stories.
It is not one authorized text. Storytellers may change the names, places, magical objects, animals, or events while keeping the story recognizable. If the central sequence continues to function as the same independent narrative, folklorists may classify the versions as the same tale type.
Cinderella is a familiar example. Her helper may be a fairy godmother, a magical tree, or an animal. The identifying object is not always a glass slipper. The celebration may last one night or several. Those differences create distinct versions, but many of them still belong to the tale type classified as ATU 510A.
Examples of tale types
| ATU number | Tale type | Familiar example |
|---|---|---|
| ATU 300 | The Dragon-Slayer | Stories in which a hero defeats a dragon or similar monster and rescues a captive |
| ATU 327A | The Children and the Ogre | Hansel and Gretel |
| ATU 333 | Little Red Riding Hood | Little Red Riding Hood |
| ATU 425C | Beauty and the Beast | Beauty and the Beast |
| ATU 500 | The Name of the Supernatural Helper | Rumpelstiltskin |
| ATU 510A | Cinderella | Cinderella |
| ATU 709 | Snow White | Snow White |
The familiar title is often used as a convenient name for the type, but the title does not define every version. A story classified as ATU 500 does not need to include a character named Rumpelstiltskin. It needs to follow the recognizable plot involving the discovery of a supernatural helper’s secret name.
What makes two stories the same tale type?
Folklorists look for a shared pattern of important actions and relationships. One matching detail is not enough. Two stories containing a magic ring may share a motif, but their plots may otherwise have nothing in common.
Stories are more likely to belong to the same tale type when they share a recognizable sequence such as:
- a similar problem or opening situation;
- the same kind of conflict or task;
- a related series of important events;
- similar roles for the central characters; and
- a comparable resolution.
The match does not need to be exact. Classification depends on the overall narrative structure, not whether every object, character, or episode appears in precisely the same form.
Tale type, motif, theme, and variant
| Term | Meaning | Cinderella example |
|---|---|---|
| Tale type | The complete recurring plot | ATU 510A, Cinderella |
| Motif | One distinctive element within a story | Supernatural help or recognition by a slipper |
| Theme | A broader idea explored by the story | Identity, injustice, transformation, or social mobility |
| Variant | One particular telling or recorded form | Perrault’s Cinderella or the Grimms’ Aschenputtel |
A tale type is therefore larger than a motif but more specific than a broad theme. A variant is one actual version of the type.
Can one story contain more than one tale type?
Yes. Storytellers combine plots as readily as they change details.
A tale may begin with one recognizable type, move into another, and borrow an ending from a third. Folklorists may assign more than one number to describe the combination. This does not mean the story has been classified incorrectly. It records the fact that traditional narratives are often assembled from material that also circulates independently.
How are tale types classified?
The most widely used international system is the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, commonly called the ATU Index.
Antti Aarne published the first major version in 1910. Stith Thompson translated and expanded it in 1928 and revised it again in 1961. Hans-Jörg Uther published the current major revision in 2004.
The index places tale types into broad numbered ranges. Animal tales occupy ATU 1–299, while tales of magic occupy ATU 300–749. Smaller divisions organize stories involving supernatural enemies, magical helpers, enchanted spouses, difficult tasks, jokes, formulaic repetition, and other recurring forms.
Why do folklorists use tale types?
Tale types give researchers a shared way to find and compare versions of a story across languages, collections, and countries.
Once related tales have been identified, researchers can ask:
- Which parts of the plot remain stable?
- Which characters or objects change?
- Where and when were particular versions recorded?
- How do oral and literary versions relate?
- What does each telling reveal about its cultural setting?
The classification does not answer those questions. It helps researchers locate the stories needed to ask them.
What are the limitations of tale types?
A tale type is a research tool, not a natural law.
The ATU system developed from European tale collections, and its categories do not represent every storytelling tradition equally well. Deciding where one type ends and another begins can also require interpretation. Stories resist filing.
A number can identify a shared plot, but it cannot preserve the teller’s voice, the audience, the occasion, or the meaning a story carries within a community. Those differences are not background noise. They are part of the story’s life.
Related terms
- Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index
- Fairy tale
- Folklore
- Folktale
- Motif
- Motif-Index of Folk-Literature
- Oral tradition
- Theme
- Variant
Sources
- Uther, Hans-Jörg. The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography. Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004.
- Aarne, Antti, and Stith Thompson. The Types of the Folktale: A Classification and Bibliography. Second revision, Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961.
- Thompson, Stith. The Folktale. Dryden Press, 1946.