The Domovoy
In Slavic tradition, every home has its own domovoy, a small bearded spirit who lives behind the stove and must be kept happy.
What was reported
In Russian and wider Slavic folklore, the domovoy is a household spirit, usually imagined as a small, hairy old man with a beard, who lives behind the stove or under the threshold. A happy domovoy looks after the family and animals; an offended one causes noises, broken dishes and nightmares.
Families left him bread and milk, and when moving house, people would invite the domovoy to come along, sometimes carrying embers from the old stove to the new one.
Explanations offered
The domovoy is a folklore figure that reflects respect for home and hearth. Unexplained household noises, the creaks of wooden houses settling, and the feeling of pressure in sleep paralysis may have helped keep the stories alive.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Villages of northern Russia
- Witnesses
- Slavic tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.