Brownies — Household Helper Spirits
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BrownieBrownies are household helper spirits in the folklore of Scotland and northern England, a kind of fairy. They got their name from the brown color of their skin or the fur that covers their bodies. These creatures are small, standing around 90 cm tall, with blue eyes, shaggy and unkempt, usually dressed in rags of green, blue, or brown. Descriptions of brownies vary from region to region, but most agree that they can look comical or have some physical quirk (missing toes, a hole instead of a nose, long ears, and so on).
Brownies live in clans, in burrows, caves, and forests near human settlements. There are no females among them, though some tales do mention them. Brownies try to stay unseen by people, and sometimes turn invisible. They may become attached to a household if they take a liking to a particular family.
Brownies are hard-workingBy day, brownies tend to their own business: gathering berries and grain in the fields, and looking after their community. But at night comes the time for their main duty — housework: they watch over livestock and poultry, guarding them from predators, check that the farm tools are in working order, bake, cook, clean, and so on. In return for their help, these spirits expect only a small token of thanks — a glass of milk or heavy cream, and they are especially fond of honey cakes. But homeowners must know how to treat such helpers properly, for brownies are extremely sensitive and easily offended creatures. Food may never be offered to them directly — it may only be left where they will find it, and in small portions, so that the brownie does not mistake it for payment for its help; otherwise it will take offense and leave to find a new household.
Brownies expect no paymentIt is not entirely clear why brownies take on housework in the first place. Some tales suggest they see it as a kind of servitude. But on the other hand, no one forces them to do it.
Interestingly, legends differ sharply on how brownies react to being offered freedom by their household: some stories say the family tried to free their brownie by giving it a new shirt (sometimes a hooded cloak), only for the creature to grow furious and offended and leave the house on its own. Other legends tell of people who overhear the brownie's sorrowful song about freedom and deliberately gift it clothing, which it gladly puts on and happily vanishes.
Brownies are sensitive creaturesIf a brownie senses that it is being watched, exploited, or that its work is being taken for granted, it may fly into such a rage that it destroys all its work before fleeing.
In extreme cases, brownies are capable of turning into malicious boggarts and doing harm to their former households.
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