Domovoi

A 19th-century folk figure, not a pagan-era god

The domovoi ("house one") is documented in East Slavic peasant belief recorded by 19th-century ethnographers, including Afanasyev, as the guardian spirit of a specific household, tied to the family that lives there rather than to the building itself. No pagan-era chronicle mentions him; he belongs to the folklore of household spirits alongside the leshy of the forest and the vodyanoy of the water.

Character

Usually imagined as a small, hairy, old-man-like figure who lives behind the stove, under the threshold, or in the cellar, the domovoi was believed to look after the house and its livestock, sometimes braiding a favored horse's mane, and to warn the family of coming misfortune through strange noises or by appearing briefly before a death. He was treated with small, regular courtesies (a bit of bread and salt left out, greetings when moving to a new house (inviting him along by leaving the old stove's embers for him to "ride")) and thought to turn mischievous, hiding objects or making noise at night, if neglected or insulted.