The Brownies (Tomtar)
In Swedish folklore, tomtar (also called brownies or nisses) are small, elderly-looking men about the size of a three- or four-year-old child, dressed in gray clothes with red caps. They live on farms, usually in barns or pantries, and work tirelessly to maintain the household. They wake servants for threshing, help in forges by signaling when to turn the iron, and watch over the cattle. Where there is order and prosperity, the tomte thrives; where there is disrespect or uncleanliness, he leaves. One story tells of a farmer whose harvest never ran out. Hiding in the barn, he saw a crowd of tom