The house and courtyard of an ancient Slav and a Russian medieval man represented a complex, well-thought-out system of magic-spell symbols and protective measures that had been created for centuries. With their help, the family of every Slav sought to ensure satiety and warmth, safety and health for themselves. This "small world" of the ancient pagan was equipped as a fortress awaiting an unexpected attack from evil spirits - ghouls, vampires, navias. Everywhere benevolent deities were placed as guards: in the courtyard there was a "courtyard", in the barn - an "ovinnik" ("Svarozhich"), on the threshing floor - a "bean man", in a bathhouse - "bannik".
The commander of this army, the commandant of the manor fortress was a personified ancestor - "brownie", or "kutny god" ("devil" - a mansion ").
According to general concepts, the brownie represents a supernatural being, a wingless, disembodied spirit in every house, in every family.
In the explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language of Vladimir Dal, we read: “Brownie - Domovik - grandfather, bed, lizun, lived at home, owner, wen … near, batanushka, guardian spirit and offender at home. … There is a shed, a stable, a peasant and a hair witch. All this is undead (in Russian mythology: fantastic creatures), neither a man nor a spirit, residents are spontaneous. This includes the field, the goblin, the kikimora, mermaids, jokes, the water one, etc. The brownie lives in the sub-furnace. The stove was the main guardian of the family inside the house. The brownie is the patron saint of the house, its sacred master.
The stove column - "konik" near the stove was a sacred place in the hut.
The Belarusians called the corner pillar of the stove "grandfather" and to some extent identified him with the brownie.
The very word "brownie" was often replaced by the words "columnar", "old", "gentleman".
The stove pillar turned into a representative of the patron ancestors. Ancestors are our own, native dead, invariably friendly, grandfathers, patronizing their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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In Russian epics, the stove pillar is referred to as the place on which the witch sits, casting a spell.
Small wooden idols have been found during excavations in Russian and Polish medieval houses. These schematic wooden figurines of bearded men in hats can rightfully be considered images of brownies. The waist figures of bearded brownies are made of one piece with stands and, undoubtedly, were intended to be installed on a fixed shelf. Perhaps they were placed on the corner shelves in the "red corner", "red kutu" (kut - corner) - a special sacred place of the house, where icons were later placed. Among the Hutsuls this shelf - "goddess" was called very characteristic - "dids", that is, ancestors, "brownies".
The goddess in the red kutu was the most suitable place for such an ancient “kutny god”, “the devil of a knight” - a brownie.
Wooden brownies are quite consistent with the image of the "brownie grandfather". These are bearded old men, quite suitable for the generalized concept of ancestors - grandfathers, ancestors.
The brownie differs from Satan in that he does not do evil, but only jokes, even provides services if he loves the owner or mistress …
If the brownie fell in love with the family, then he warns of misfortunes, watches over the house and yard, otherwise he hits and pounds dishes, shouts, stomps.