A kilmoulis is, in the folklore of the
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands".
The ...
, an ugly version of the
brownie who is said to haunt mills.
['Notes on the Folk-lore of The Northern Counties of England and The Borders', William Henderson, Longmans, Green, 1866. pp. 214-215] He has an enormous nose and no mouth. This lack of an orifice forces him to inhale his food through his nose. The Kilmoulis works hard for the miller, but also delights in tricks and pranks. While his pranks may be a hindrance, he is generally enough help to offset the food he eats and the disturbances he causes.
In popular culture, it was used in the ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'' game as a fey creature. A version of the kilmoulis appears in the video game
''Folklore''. Kilmoulis also appears as a sentient monster in
Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books '' The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hun ...
's
Witcher books.
References
Sources
* ''Faeries'' - (H.C), Copyright 1978 Rufus Publications, Inc. Published in 1978 by Harry N. Abrams, Inc, New York.
Killmoulis
{{Fairies
Fairies
Northumbrian folkloric beings
Brownies (folklore)
Anglo-Scottish border