Fabula 2023; 64(1–2): 44–63 Julien d’Huy, Jean-Loïc Le Quellec, Marc Thuillard, Yuri E. Berezkin, Patrice Lajoye, and Jun’ichi Oda Little Statisticians in the Forest of Tales: Towards a New Comparative Mythology https://doi.org/10.1515/fabula-2023-0013 Abstract: A new trend has been swelling in the ocean of comparative mythology. Different research has been carried out using statistics to reconstruct the (pre) history of myths and mythological motifs (replicable episodes of traditional nar- ratives) and to understand how they have evolved. The results obtained by using these different approaches converge and make it possible to intertwine numerous strands of evidence. We will try to summarize it in this paper, with special focus in the first part on the research on motifs, in the second part, on the research on different versions of a same myth. Folklore and mythology form an autonomous sphere of culture being largely independent from outer factors. The transition of folklore and mythology motifs between generations does not require material resources. Accordingly, they can be preserved during an indeterminately long period of time and this ability to be preserved can become a major asset in the study of the human past. Zusammenfassung: In der vergleichenden Mythologie lässt sich seit einiger Zeit eine neue Tendenz beobachten: Unterschiedliche Forschungsbeiträge haben sta- tistische Verfahrensweisen eingesetzt, um die (Vor-)Geschichte von Mythen und mythologischen Motiven (wiedererkennbare Episoden traditioneller Erzählungen) zu rekonstruieren sowie ihre Entwicklung zu erfassen. Die durch diese unter- schiedlichen Ansätze erlangten Ergebnisse ergänzen einander und ermöglichen es, etliche Argumentationsstränge zu verknüpfen. Das möchten wir in diesem Beitrag Dr Julien d’Huy, Collège de France, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale (CNRS, EHESS), Paris, France. E-mail: dhuy.julien@yahoo.fr Dr Jean-Loïc Le Quellec, Directeur de recherches émérite au CNRS, IMAf, Aubervilliers, France. E-mail: jllq@me.com. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1654-8145 Dr Phys. Marc Thuillard, Ind. Researcher, La Colline, CH-2072 St-Blaise, Suisse. E-mail: thuillweb@hotmail.com Dr Yuri E. Berezkin, Head of the American department in the Museum of Anthropology & Ethno- graphy (Kunstkamera) and professor of European University at Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: berezkin1@gmail.com. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6001-7339 Dr Patrice Lajoye, CNRS. E-mail: patrice.lajoye@gmail.com Dr Jun’ichi Oda, Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Research Institute for Language and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo, Japan. E-mail: odaj@aa.tufs.ac.jp