Duendes: Folklore's Sinister Earth Spirits | Acmi

Duendes are elusive gnome or dwarf like figures that exist cross-culturally. They are difficult to characterise with certainty, due to huge variations in they way they are described. Curiously, they are not strictly mythical. While they derive from written and oral histories of Latin American and Filipino folklore, duende lore persists into present day. Many Latin American, Mexican and Filipino people believe that duendes truly exist and operate in the modern world, including highly educated folks.

The appearance of a duende is ambiguous, however almost unanimously they are described as humanoid figures, with a stature not beyond 2 feet tall, and often with the face of an old man. Their bodies are comparable to that of a small child and they can often be spotted with a pipe or bottle in hand, wearing animal-skin clothing and a wide brimmed or pointy hat.

In a large part of south America, they are known to be missing their thumbs and frequently have their feet pointing backwards. The description of a duende is not limited or unchanging however, as duendes can shape-shift. Some say they can alter their size to be as tall as a mortal, or even morph themselves into ananimal, such as a horse, cow, ram or a human baby.

Native to the woods, duendes are active mostly at night, some believing they spend just a single hour in daylight at noon, before retreating back into their hideouts. They are known to be highly protective of their property and fickle in temper should you cross them, particularly in their territory. They live on a diet predominately comprising of figs and other fruit.

Deviant

Spellbinder

Described as rogue and often sinister earth spirits, they are capable of all number of wrongdoings; they might kill your pets or livestock, steel your belongs, set traps to capture you or led you off a cliff if you attempt to follow them. Conversely, depending on their mood, they might help you find your way home when lost in the forest, or even aid you with chores around your home.

Duendes are capricious characters. No duende is all good or all evil. In-fact, for all the malice they inflict they are also diligent laborers and protectors of children. Children are of a particular interest to duendes, they are often attracted to living in the walls of children’s bedrooms and observing them. You might even say duendes love children, unless they find their relationship with a particular child doesn’t meet their standards, in which case they might inflict serious harm on them. Duendes are invariably protective and il-natured when it comes to children. In fact, in Latin America children are often encouraged to seek out assistance from duendes when they are scared or lost, to animate or direct them.

Most of all, duendes are stubborn and fiercly autonomous, ridding oneself of a duende is no simple task. Common ways to evict a duende from your residence include assigning them a task that they cannot complete, such as requesting them to fetch water by providing them with a woven basket. They cannot return if they are unable to complete the task that is set. You might also consider exposing them to your human feaces in an effort to repel them.