Brownie
Also called Broonie, Browney, Browny, Brouny.
A Brownie is a small, shaggy household spirit of northern English and Scottish folklore that performs chores unseen at night in exchange for simple food, and turns mischievous if mistreated or improperly paid.
At a glance
- Tradition
- English folkloreScottish folklore
- Region
- Cornwall (sighted there)
- Trait family
- The Hearth-Bound
Near this figure
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Behaviour
- Domestic spirit helps or harms based on treatment
why
Outside the immediate family a Brownie was regarded with some caution, since one that felt slighted, underpaid, or otherwise offended could turn genuinely mischievous, undoing its own tidying or playing pranks on the household it had previously served faithfully.
- Bound to a specific household location
why
In some regional variants, Brownies are described as loyal to a specific family lineage, such as one attached to the Balfour family, known for pulling moored boats safely to shore during storms and building roads through difficult terrain
Utility powers
- Household blessing
why
Families that kept a Brownie in good favor were said to consider it a mark of good fortune, and losing one was regarded as a genuine misfortune rather than a mere inconvenience.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Trickster carries
3 citations
- Ad de Vries, Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery, s.v. "Brownie."
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Brownie."
- Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, s.v. "Brownie."