Brown Man of the Muirs

Brown Man of the Muirs
Ilustrasi editorial · interpretasi artistik AI

Ringkasan

Brown Man of the Muirs adalah kurcaci dalam folklor perbatasan Inggris-Skotlandia yang menjadi roh pelindung hewan liar.

The Brown Man of the Muirs is a dwarf of Anglo-Scottish border folklore who acts as guardian spirit of wild animals.

Kisah dan tradisi

Dalam folklor perbatasan Inggris-Skotlandia, Brown Man of the Muirs adalah kurcaci yang menjadi roh pelindung hewan liar. William Henderson, dalam Folklore of the Northern Counties (1879), memuat kisah dari surat sejarawan Robert Surtees kepada Sir Walter Scott: setahun sebelum Pemberontakan Besar, dua pemuda dari Newcastle berburu di padang tinggi di atas Elsdon, dan salah satunya melihat seorang kurcaci yang sangat kuat, berpakaian cokelat seperti pakis layu, berambut merah keriting, berwajah garang, dan bermata menyala seperti mata banteng. Kurcaci itu menegur sang pemburu karena memasuki wilayahnya dan membunuh makhluk-makhluk rakyatnya, mengatakan bahwa ia sendiri hanya makan buah beri, kacang dan apel, lalu mengundangnya pulang. Pemuda itu nyaris menyeberangi sungai ketika suara temannya menghentikannya, dan kurcaci itu menghilang; diyakini bila ia menyeberang ia akan dicabik-cabik. Ia tetap meninggal dalam setahun karena mengabaikan peringatan itu. Walter Scott menduga Brown Man berkerabat dengan duergar Northumberland. Kisah ini bersumber dari surat Surtees kepada Scott yang dimuat Henderson, atas keterangan seorang perempuan tua bernama Elizabeth Cockburn. Henderson menempatkan sang kurcaci sebagai penghuni padang rawa liar yang misterius. Dalam folklor ia tampil sebagai peri penyendiri, sedangkan dalam sastra dongeng ia anggota suku makhluk serupa.

In Anglo-Scottish border folklore the Brown Man of the Muirs is a dwarf who guards the wild creatures. William Henderson, in Folklore of the Northern Counties (1879), gives a tale from the historian Robert Surtees's letter to Sir Walter Scott: a year ahead of the Great Rebellion, a pair of Newcastle lads out shooting on the upland moors above Elsdon stopped to rest, and one saw a very strong, stocky dwarf dressed in brown like withered bracken, with frizzled red hair, a fierce face and eyes glowing like a bull's. The dwarf rebuked the hunter for trespassing on his lands and killing the creatures who were his subjects, said he himself ate only whortleberries, nuts and apples, and invited him home. The youth was about to leap the brook when his friend's voice stopped him, and the dwarf vanished; had he crossed, it was thought, he would have been torn apart. He died within the year all the same, for ignoring the warning. Walter Scott suggested the Brown Man was akin to the duergar of Northumberland. The tale comes from Surtees's letter to Scott as printed by Henderson, on the authority of an old dame named Elizabeth Cockburn. Henderson sets the dwarf among the mysterious denizens of the wild moorlands. In folklore he appears as a solitary fairy, whereas in fairy tale literature he belongs to a tribe of similar beings.

Fakta utama

Budaya / Culture
Tradisi Northumbria
Kawasan / Region
Eropa
Negara / Country
GB
Klasifikasi / Classification
Guardian
Habitat
Mountain

Tahukah kamu? / Did you know?

Brown Man of the Muirs konon hanya makan buah beri, kacang dan apel, dan menegur pemburu yang membunuh hewan rakyatnya.

The Brown Man of the Muirs reputedly ate only berries, nuts and apples, and rebuked hunters for killing his subjects.

Makhluk terkait / Related beings

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