Moss People: real forest-dwelling fairies

Hi, I'm Kate Moss. I just love green; there's no relation.

Kate MOSS, yes, she sounds familiar and related to us, all waifish, skin all lichen-like (crepey).

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Don't look at me. I'm not a Moss!

Trees are greening, flowers are blooming, birds are nesting – why? Spring is in the air! Despite the happy days this brings, be wary of what else may be lurking in deep, dark forests. From German folklore, let's explore the world of the moss people.

In German folklore, moss folk resemble dwarves (called kumbhandas in Buddhist cosmology and gnomes in much of Europe), nearly the size of human children. But they are covered in green moss, with skin that looks gray, and a lot of hair like lichen.

The mossy frog of Vietnam shows off its moss camo

I may be small and love green...

Their arms and legs appear as “knotted maple bark.” Centuries ago, humans considered them part of the fairy realm dedicated to trees and the forest in general.

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For unknown reasons, the moss people population consisted mostly of females. These “fairies” were known to borrow things from humans and, at other times, ask for help from them.

Maiden (Kettle Quill/Deviant Art)

Occasionally, they would ask humans for breast milk to feed their own moss babies. They repaid their benefactors with good advice or bread.

However, one had to be wary of their quick tempers. If one gave them caraway bread, for instance, they would become very angry and cry, “Caraway bread, our death!”

Some tales describe them as behaving like changelings in that they would sometimes steal very small human children. Female moss people, called Mossfraulein (“moss women”)... More: Moss People creeping out of forests

• visitcryptoville.com; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterlycosmology