Domovoi/Domowik - Felt Sculpture
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This post was last edited/updated in March 2021. I’d since been commissioned to make another Domowik, and greatly improved upon my original art. If you’d like to see the second one, check out this post.
My interpretation of a domovoi, or domowik in Polish
I've always been fascinated with mythical creatures of legend and lore. Every culture on this planet has them, surprisingly even the one of my heritage. Especially considering Christianity hasn't been too fond of perpetuating such stories, and Poland has been a Catholic country since 900AD. Only a few legends remain, like the dragon in Krakow, or the mermaid in Warsaw. Update 2021: oh… I found new sources with so many more stories! If you can read Polish, I highly recommend getting this book that I just got. Unfortunately, there's no English translation available. This book is amazing.
I personally do fear the genocide of cultural history. Even if it's not as blatant as smashing ancient sculptures due to fears/claims of idolatry the way Isis is doing, once the stories are forgotten, that's it. I had NO idea that the Slavic people even had a mythology of their own (much like the Norse, or Greeks, or Egyptians, or Romans, or Celts) until I was an adult - this was before wikipedia, which now has several pages on this topic. Thankfully someone continued to tell the stories, and they were written down.
I want to needle felt the creatures of myth and legend and lore, starting with the Slavic ones.
So, a bit about the Domovoi (which is Russian, in other Slavic languages it's “Damavik” - Belarus; “Domowik/Domovik/Domovyk” - Polish/Slovak/Ukranian; “Domaći” - Serbian; “Dědek” - Czech). He is similar to brownies in English/Scottish culture, the tomte in Scandinavian culture, and the Heinzelmännchen in German culture. He's a friendly little house spirit, one who hides under the threshold or behind the central brick stove that was used both to heat the entire house and for cooking meals (my grandfather had one of these in his old house). Well, "friendly" in the sense that as long as he was kept happy, through the upkeep of the home and leaving him some table scraps, he caused no trouble.
Each family had one. It was a mutually symbiotic relationship, in that he'd then protect the family from more malevolent spirits and might even help out with a bit of household work (much like my kids do I'd imagine... which is not very much, but sometimes they'll pick up a piece of trash and throw it away). Now, if one were to anger them, they would smash things and make a lot of racket. Also like having kids. Especially if the family moved and neglected to inform and invite him to come along with them, he would be very upset and cause a lot of trouble for the next family that would move in, getting into fights with their domovoi and smashing up their good china. You know what? I think it's basically like having a perpetual toddler in your house that looks like an old man, though maybe a bit more capable in some ways.
He is fully detailed, complete with limbs, hands, feet, etc. under all that beard
Now, originally he just looked like a little old man, the size of a child, with glowing eyes. I tried to stay as close to the description I found on this page, though I did give him black glass eyes because I thought he looked cuter with it. Also, I decided to keep the horns, even though the horns were a much later addition (along with a tail, which I did not add), thanks to Christianity trying to associate him with the devil and devilish-type things. But in this case, I thought the horns looked cute and would help to differentiate him from simply being a doll of an old man, or a naked gnome without a hat.
And I do mean naked. I left nothing behind... okay, I did consider making him anatomically correct, but use your imagination.
If you'd like more information, please visit this page. It's the most comprehensive post I've found on the topic, complete with bibliography.
