Domovoi (literally, "one of the house") are house spirits found in Slavic folklore. They are usually pictured as gnomelike: small (perhaps one to three feet in height), friendly, old men, sometimes covered in hair all over. According to some traditions, the domovoi take on the appearance of a current or former owners of the house in question and possess a grey beard, sometimes with tails or tiny horns. There are stories of neighbors seeing the master of the house out in the yard while in fact the real master is in bed asleep. It has also been said that the domovoi can take on the appearance of cats and dogs, but reports of this are fewer than the previous occurences.
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Traditionally, every house is said to have its own domovoi. They are not considered a malicious presence unless they are angered by a family's sloppy management of the household, abusive language or neglect. They are seen as protectors of the home, and they sometimes help with household chores and fieldwork. Some families even treat them as a part of the family, albeit an unseen one, leaving them gifts such as milk and cookies in the kitchen overnight.
The favorite place for these spirits to live is either the threshold under the door or under the stove. The center of the house is also their domain. The domovoi is responsible for maintaining peace and order, and rewards the properly run household. Peasants made sure to feed him nightly in return for being well taken care of and protected. When a new house was constructed, the Polish homeowner would attract one of the domovoi by placing a piece of bread down before the stove was put in, and the Russian one would coerce the old house's domovoi to move with the family by offering an old boot as a hiding place. Special care was taken to make sure to only obtain pets and farm animals he liked, as the domovoi would torment the ones he didn't care for. Salted bread wrapped in a white cloth would appease this spirit, and putting clean white linen in his room was an invitation to eat a meal with the family. Hanging old shoes in the yard would make him happy as well.
The domovoi also functioned as an oracle in the household, as his behavior could foretell or forewarn about the future. He would pull hair to warn a woman of danger from an abusive man. He would moan and howl to warn of coming trouble. If he showed himself, it forewarned of death, and if he was weeping it was said to be a death in the family. If he was laughing, good times could be expected, and if he strummed a comb there would be a wedding in the future.
The domovoi does have a darker and more mischievous side. Although one's own domovoi could be considered an ally, the domovoi from a neighboring household brought no happiness. Russian folklore dictates that a domovoi could harass horses in the stable overnight in mischief, as well as steal the grain of a neighbor to feed his own horses. Still, the domovoi made friends amongst one another and were said to gather together for loud winter parties.
An unhappy domovoi is a very negative thing. If a domovoi becomes unhappy for some reason, it plays mischievous tricks on the members of the household. These pranks include moving and rattling small objects, breaking dishes, leaving muddy little footprints, causing the walls of a house to creak, banging on pots and moaning. If the family can determine the cause of their domovoi's discontent, they can rectify the situation and return things to normal. If not, the spirit's tricks may escalate in intensity, coming to more closely resemble those of a poltergeist (cf. Tomte), or he may threaten to stifle people in their beds (likely a myth based on sleep paralysis). More often than not, however, families live in harmony with the spirits, and no problems are encountered.
The domovoi are said to dislike mirrors and goats.
The kikimora is his wife.
InArtemis Fowl, Domovoi is the name of Artemis's faithful bodyguard, known only as "Butler". His full name is Domovoi Butler.
InQuest for Glory 4, a Domovoi is involved in one of the side quests needed to complete the game and was found at night in the inn.
Herbert Gottschalk: Lexicon Der Mythologie. Safari-Verlag. Berlin. 1973.
