"Udea and her Seven Brothers" is a Northern African (Libyan) fairy tale collected by Hans Stumme in Märchen und Gedichte aus der Stadt Tripolis.
One day, an older child taunted her for driving her brothers away, who were forever roaming the world; she questioned her mother and set out to find them.
She asked for a lump of burning coal from the elderly man tending the fire, but he was in fact a "man-eater" (cannibal) and demanded a strip of blood from her ear to her thumb in return.
[15] Lithuanian folklorist Bronislava Kerbelytė, in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, locates type AaTh 451A as an oikotype that appears "mainly" in the Baltic region.
Their mother gives birth to a sister, but a wicked witch named Suyettar (Syöjätär) puts up an ax to trick the youths into leaving home.
As she burns, the witch curses the brothers by saying that grasshoppers shall come out of her eyes, crows from her ears, magpies from her hairs and ravens from her toes, to damage and destroy the properties of people.
[27] In a later revision of the catalogue, professor Bronislava Kerbelytė renames it as type AT 451A, Sesuo, ieškanti devynių brolių ("Sister Seeking Nine Brothers"), with 79 variants registered.
Laume reaches the shore first, puts on Onutte's clothes and the girl has to wears the other's slimy skin, with the ring their brothers gave her.
[31] A similar story is found in Latvia, also classified as type AaTh 451A, Māsu pazīst pēc dziesmas ("The Sister is recognized by her song"): the heroine goes to visit her nine brothers accompanied by her pet (a puppy or a rabbit).
[32] In the Estonian Folktale Catalogue, the type is known as Ee 451A, Üheksa velje sõsar ("The Sister of Nine Brothers"), withdrawn from the international index.
[34][35] In a Lutsi Estonian tale collected by linguist Paulopriit Voolaine [et] titled Üheksa venna õde ("Sister of Nine Brothers"), a couple has nine sons.
Their mother gives birth to a girl and hangs a woolen thread, but the "Old One" ("Vanakur", in the original), trades it for an axe and causes the brothers' departure.
Years later, when the girl is old enough, she decides to look for her elder brothers and leaves home with nine sets of garments in a bag, a little dog for companion, and some bread rolls.
Anticipating his death, the father distributes his wealth among them, including his animals (horse, hound, a cow, a ram and a ewe), some ploughing tools, a boat and a net, an ax and a sleigh.
When the siblings awake the next morning, they recognize the shirts as their mother's sewing, and find Suojatar in the middle of the room, who passes herself off as their sister.
When she is herding the pigs in the forest, she sights a flock of geese flying overhead and sings a sad song to them, lamenting that her brothers have welcomed an imposter in their midst.
A girl is born to their mother and she places a spinnig wheel, but the witch Syöttäri trades it for a pickaxe, causing the sons to leave home.
The true sister, while taking the cows to graze, sings a lament to the flocks of birds flying overhead, mentioning her father and mother and how the witch Syöttäri replaced her.
[42] Scholar S. S. Sabitov located a similar narrative in the "Catalogue of Tales of Magic from the Mari people", indexed as type 533, "Подмененная сестра" ("Changed Sister"): a girl goes to meet her brothers (seven or three), but is replaced by the devil's daughter ('iya üdyr') when they trade clothes; the ruse is eventually discovered.
She curses them, saying that parts of her body shall be transformed into other things: her head into a hill, her ears into a shell, her stomach into a flour vat, her feet into a hoe.
"), with an etiological bent: when the daughter of the Water Spirit is punished in this tale, she curses her body parts to become hills, mountains and valleys.
One day, the mother is pregnant, and the sons ask her to announce the birth of their new sibling: if a girl, hang a spool and a carding comb; if a boy, a plow and a harrow.
[48] Russian author Stepan V. Anikin [ru] published a similar Mordvin tale titled "Сыре Варда" ("Gray Varda"), a peasant couple have three sons, who helped their father in the fields.
The girl, dresses in beautiful clothes, begins her journey and finds on the road an old, hunchbacked woman named Gray Varda, who joins her.
[49] Professor Ulrich Marzolph [de], in his catalogue of Persian folktales, listed 4 Iranian tales he grouped under type *451, "Das Mädchen sucht seine Brüder" ("The Girl Seeks her Brothers").
[52][53] In a Tunisian tale titled Oudiâ Mtellfa Sbiâ and translated into French as La Doucette qui fit perdre les sept, seven brothers tell their mother they will leave home if she does not give birth to a daughter, and propose a signal to announce their sibling's birth: a sickle for a boy, and a red cloth for a girl.
The woman fills snail shells with her tears, string a necklace with them, gives it to her daughter and tells her never to take it off, then orders a Black servant to accompany Oudiâ Mtellfa Sbiâ in a camel.
Before they leave, the siblings ask their mother to signal their cadet's birth: a red veil for a girl (and they will return) and a sickle for a boy (and they will depart).
She decides to search for her brothers, gains some provisions for the road (including a cauri, an amulet) and leaves in the company of a black couple (man and woman) on a camel.
When they reach the brothers' palace, the siblings welcome the black woman as their sister, and place the tarred Oudiâa to herd their horses.