The old ways are not forgotten in Iceland,<\/a> it still remains tradition that before major construction projects, someone is brought in to consult the local wights or elves to make sure that they have their blessings to build there, and if the elves object they must enter into negotiations which sometimes cause the humans to alter and adapt their plans.<\/p>\nThese wights are the Landsv\u00e6ttir, <\/strong>but there\u2019s also wights that may live with you in the house. The Anglo-Saxons called their house wights Cofgodas. Cofgodas, are hard workers and hate lazy humans. Generally they were seen as being a helpful addition to a home, but they could also get into mischief and cause harm as well.<\/p>\nUltimately, humans must figure out how to navigate these relationships. Just as in Rowling\u2019s Harry Potter series, not every home has a house-wight. Think of it like this, even though there may be 100 homes in your neighborhood, at any time you may have a couple of homes vacant because no one currently lives there. Unlike Rowling\u2019s house-elfs, house-wights are not \u2018enslaved\u2019 to the person(s) living in the house.<\/p>\n
For homes with house-wights living in them, the relationship can be good, or it can be bad. If the people living in the home are lazy, disrespect the home, are prone to violence (punching holes in the walls, screaming at people all the time, abuse their spouse\/child\/pet) the house-wights won\u2019t be happy and they\u2019ll respond negatively. If the people living in the house though respect one another and the house, and especially if they show consideration to the house-wights as well, the wights will most likely respond positively.<\/p>\n
Unhappy house-wights tend to act out in various: items may begin breaking or shattering, items may start to go missing. You may suddenly become plagued with insect infestations, a number of home repair bills, and potentially health problems. Similarly, house-elves also act out in their own ways as well.<\/p>\n
The Malfoys certainly did not treat their house-elf Dobby kindly. While he was \u2018trapped\u2019 into servitude with them, he also tried wherever he could to find ways of acting out against them when he didn\u2019t agree of what they were about which we see clearly in The Chamber of Secrets. He acted out by trying to find a way to save Harry Potter. When Harry tricks Lucius Malfoy into freeing him, and then dares to attack Harry\u2026 we see for the first time in the series the power of a house-elf\u2026 that is able to neutralize Lucius\u2019 attack.<\/p>\n
When we look to the house-elf of Grimmauld Place, Kreacher, we see our animagus Padfoot not being his good-natured self, but rather being rather cruel to Kreacher. Sirius no doubt was transferring some of his animosity towards his purist mother towards the house-elf who was fiercely loyal to her even in death. In part, being forced into a position where he had to return to a home he so despised, probably put him in a very bad mood too. While these are not excuses\u2026 it does become understandable that Kreacher would begin to find ways to act out against Sirius, and ultimately helps to lead Harry to the Ministry of Magic\u2019s Department of Mysteries that will get Sirius killed when he goes to rescue his entrapped god-son.<\/p>\n
Yet we can see how the animosity of the relationship between human and house-elf can change when one tries to negotiate a means of co-existence. Considering Kreacher\u2019s part in Sirius\u2019 death, as well as his tendency to parrot the hate-filled idioms of the late Mrs. Black Harry really didn\u2019t care for the elf. But when he showed the elf some kindness, and gave to him something that had belonged to Regulus Black, someone the house-elf had rather liked, Kreacher\u2019s demeanor towards Harry changes. The elf stops parroting hateful things, he is cleaner and appears happier, and the food he makes even improves as well. While Harry does not fully trust him and instead sends him to Hogwarts for a while\u2026 things have improved enough that in the final grand battle, Kreacher chooses to assist Harry Potter & Co. against the invading Death-Eaters at the school.<\/p>\n
Just as a happy house-elf lends itself to a more comfortable home environment, happy house-wights can also lend a helping hand. Have you misplaced your passport? Set out an offering and ask them to help you find it. Your toddler manages to climb out of the crib, and unlock the backdoor while you\u2019re sleeping in the middle of the night,\u00a0a happy\u00a0house-wight is more inclined to\u00a0find some way to make noise to wake you up.<\/p>\n
Approaching house-wights with respect is always a good idea. But also be sure you\u2019re not there to meddle or try to dictate to them their way of life. That was Hermione\u2019s mistake, her staunch efforts at S.P.E.W. and attempts to \u2018liberate\u2019 the house-elves made all the Hogwarts\u2019 house-elves abandon cleaning Gryffindor tower, except for Dobby.<\/p>\n
Traditional offerings for house-wights were milk and honey. But house-wights may have regional tastes, or have even picked up unusual tastes from a previous\u00a0individual they interacted with. If you\u2019re not sure what to share with them, whatever you are eating and drinking is always a good place to start.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite the unfortunate acronym that Hermione\u2019s Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.) may possess, in the relationships of people to the house-elves in the Harry Potter Universe we can see examples of HOW TO and HOW NOT TO interact with the wights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":312,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[2680,384,497,544,762,2696,810,844,845,912,977,1058,1225,1374,1838,1911],"class_list":["post-2084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paganism","tag-asatru","tag-cofgodas","tag-dobby","tag-elf","tag-harry-potter","tag-heathen","tag-hogwarts","tag-house-elf","tag-house-wight","tag-j-k-rowling","tag-kreacher","tag-lucius-malfoy","tag-northern-tradition","tag-pop-culture","tag-vaettir","tag-wight"],"yoast_head":"\n
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