Brownies (Family: Homunculidae)
These kindly and dependable creatures (also called lobs, hobs or, if female, silkies) attach themselves to human households, where they help with chores and protect the well-being of people living on "their" land.
Fiercely loyal, brownies will defend a home and its surrounding estate from burglars and goblins. They live somewhere on the land they protect, perhaps in an abandoned barn, an unused closet, or within the walls. Despite their love of cleanliness, brownies are rather shabby in appearance, often going shoeless or wholly unclothed. Even so, they expect no payment other than scraps of food and a bowl of milk left out at night; in fact, further gifts are likely to induce adverse effects.
Shuffling sounds at night can be a sign of a brownie; the careful observer may be able to spy one at work if he or she can sneak up quietly enough. Even if not actually seen, the brownie may disappear in the middle of completing a task, leaving proof in the form of half-finished mopping or partially washed dishes.
Unusual organization of items is also common in houses with brownies. A brownie may alphabetize books by the middle initial of the author's names or file records by the titles of favorite songs.[[Skifflewhim|
]]
Industrious themselves, even the gentlest of brownies hates laziness in others. If taken advantage of, or otherwise ill-used, the brownie may become a boggart.
Known species
- Common House Brownie (Custos domesticus)
Additional facts from Aurthur Spiderwicks...
To get evidence of Brownie activity in your house, you can scatter sugar or flour on the floor, which may obtain small footprints the next morning. The only problem with this method is that the Lob might just clean up the
mess.
A favorite Brownie food is porridge, which can be used to obtain a Brownie in your house if you do not already have one.
Apparently, there is an organization called the Society of Brownie Fanciers, who specialize on keeping Brownies as "pets". (From care and feeding of sprites not aurthur spiderwicks...)
Known Brownies
Thimbletack was apparently the most famous Brownie/Boggart, and was highly involved in the adventures of the Grace children.
Arthur Spiderwick studied a Brownie
called Tam Turtledove while working with the Field Guide. He also encountered another one called Dandersnuff.
Skifflewhim was also a Brownie, however he turned into a Boggart.
Behind the scenes
In English and Scottish folklore, a Brownie or Urisk is a small house spirit that
helps with chores.
The folklore Brownie resembles the folklore Hobgoblin. In folklore, the term "Hob" is used loosely to designate many benevolent household Faeries. This seems to be reflected in Spiderwick, as the Field Guide clearly says that both Brownies and Hobgoblins are otherwise known as Hobs.
In addition to turning invisible, brownies are also able to shape-shift into similarily sized creatures and have mild telekenesis.
Appearances
- The Field Guide (First appearance)
- The Seeing Stone
- Lucinda's Secret (Mentioned only)
- The Wrath of Mulgarath
- Notebook for Fantastical Observations
- Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide
- Care and Feeding of Sprites (Mentioned only)
- The Nixie's Song (Mentioned only)
- The Wyrm King (Mentioned only)