For alternate uses, see: brownie (disambiguation)

A brownie is a legendary kind of elf popular in folklore around England and Scotland. He is the British counterpart of the Scandinavian tomte and the Russian domovoi. Customarily they are said to inhabit houses and aid in tasks around the house. However, brownies do not like to be seen and will only work at night, perhaps in exchange for small gifts or food. They usually abandon the house if their gifts are called payments, or if they are offered gifts of clothes (no matter how shabby their own clothes are). In some stories, brownies have no noses.

Brownies were popularized in the humoristic poems of Canadian artist and author Palmer Cox.

By extension, the name of Brownies was given to the junior branch of the Girl Guides (American Girl Scouts).

When a person does nice favors for another (especially for an authority figure), the person can be said to earn brownie points, a phrase which seems to have originated from the reward system used in the Girl Guides' junior branch.

The Cleveland Browns are often called the Brownies by their fans.

The House Elves featured in the Harry Potter series have characteristics of brownies.

See also

• Tomte (Scandinavia)
• Domovoi (Russia)
• Domowije (Poland)
• Haltija or tonttu (Finland)
• legendary creature, elf
• Sprite (fantasy)

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