Rune Oracle

Slavic folklore

Domovoi

The grandfather who lives behind the stove

the home and hearthfamily lucklivestockancestorshousehold order

Also called Domovoy, Dedushka (Grandfather), Khozyain (the Master).

The tale

Every Russian house was said to have its own domovoi, a small, hairy old man who lived behind or under the stove and cared for the family and its animals. If he was pleased the household thrived; if he was offended he banged pots, hid things and tormented the horses. When a family moved, the eldest woman might carry embers from the old stove to the new one, or offer him a ride in an old bast shoe, and speak aloud to invite him along. It was said he sometimes pressed on a sleeper's chest at night, and if you asked him whether it was for good or ill, he would answer with a warm touch or a cold one.

When they are met

  • when moving house
  • on feast nights and at the new year
  • after a quarrel in the house
  • whenever the household seems out of sorts

Staying on their good side

  • bread and salt
  • milk or a little porridge left by the stove
  • a clean, peaceful house
  • polite words, calling him Grandfather

Honouring them, or keeping safe

  1. When you move, invite him to come with you by carrying something from the old kitchen, as families once carried embers or an old shoe.
  2. Leave a small dish of bread, salt or porridge by the cooker or hearth on a special evening.
  3. Keep the house kind: tradition says he dislikes swearing, shouting and neglected animals.
  4. Greet the house when you come home and thank it before you leave on a journey.

What their tales teach

  • a settled, happy home
  • looking after pets and animals
  • warnings of trouble ahead
  • settling into a new house

Symbols

  • the stove
  • a small grey-bearded old man
  • a bast shoe used to carry him
  • embers from the old hearth

Drawn from 19th-century Russian ethnography; details vary widely from village to village.

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