Fairy Tales, Their Origin and Meaning; With Some Account of Dwellers in FairylandBunce, John Thackray
History
Fairy Tales, Their Origin and Meaning; With Some Account of Dwellers in Fairyland
Bunce, John Thackray
Fairy tales -- History and criticism
The Brownies, though mischievous, like the Boggarts, were more helpful,
for they did a good deal of house-work; and would bake, and brew, and
wash, and sweep, but they would never let themselves be seen; or if any
one did manage to see them, or tried to do so, they went away. There are
stories of this kind about them in English folk-lore, in Scotch, Welsh,
in the Isle of Man, and in Germany, where they were called Kobolds.
One Kobold, of whom many accounts are given, lived in the castle of
Hudemuhler, in Luneberg, and used to talk with the people of the house,
and with visitors, and ate and drank at table, just like Leander in the
story of "The Invisible Prince;" and he used also to scour the pots and
pans, wash the dishes, and clean the tubs, and he was useful, too, in
the stable, where he curried the horses, and made them quite fat and
smooth. In return for this he had a room to himself, where he made
a straw-plaited chair, and had a little round table, and a bed and
bedstead, and, where he expected every day to find a dish of sweetened
milk, with bread crumbs; and if he did not get served in time, or if
anything went wrong, he used to beat the servants with a stick. This
Kobold was named Heinzelman, and in Grimm's collection of folklore there
is a long history of him drawn up by the minister of the parish. Another
Kobold, named Hodeken, who lived with the Bishop of Hildesheim, was
usually of a kind and obliging turn of mind, but he revenged himself on
those who offended him. A scullion in the bishop's kitchen flung dirt
upon him, and Hodeken found him fast asleep and strangled him, and put
him in the pot on the fire. Then the head cook scolded Hodeken, who in
revenge squeezed toads all over the meat that was being cooked for
the bishop, and then took the cook himself and tumbled him over the
drawbridge into the moat. Then the bishop got angry, and took bell, and
book, and candle, and banished Hodeken by the form of exorcism provided
for evil spirits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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