{"id":14073,"date":"2025-07-23T20:19:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T02:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=14073"},"modified":"2025-07-23T20:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T02:19:04","slug":"did-an-english-childrens-author-describe-the-house-wights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=14073","title":{"rendered":"Did an English Children’s Author Describe the House Wights?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A miniature wood stove for sale on eBay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When<\/strong> I was 5, my older sisters were 12 and 15. Sarah, then 12, was reading Mary Norton’s “Borrowers” books, as her older sister probably had before her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t confuse this English Mary Norton (1903\u20131992)<\/a> with the prolific American SF\/fantasy writer Alice Mary Norton (1912\u20132005) who wrote as “Andre Norton.”1<\/a><\/sup> (At one time, I did.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To quote Wikipedia, the original novel T<\/a>he Borrowers<\/em> and its sequels “feature a family of tiny people<\/a> who live secretly in the walls and floors of an English house and ‘borrow’ from the big people in order to survive.” I heard my sisters talk about the books, and later I think I read the first one, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To complicate things, my mother had a miniature wood stove and pots on a shelf in my parents’ room, and I thought it had something to do with the Borrowers, like this was their skillet. As an aside, you see these miniature stoves sold as both toys and as salesmen’s models. Dealers will slap on whichever label makes a sale, since the domestic antiques trade is totally unregulated.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Norton also wrote such novels as The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons<\/em> (1944) and sequels, which inspired the Disney movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks <\/em>(1971). “Becoming a witch” seems to have been A Thing in the 1940s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given <\/strong>that, maybe she was “telling true lies.” It seems commonplace now for people with an interest in the paranormal or who sometimes have one foot over the edge to deal with their own “borrowers.” I call them “the critters.” Others might say “the house wights.” All much the same, as far as I can tell. Maybe Mary Norton took her own experiences and turned them into children’s lit \u2014 why not? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbara Fisher, author, artist<\/a>, editor, and co-host of the 6 Degrees of John Keel<\/em> podcast<\/a>,2<\/a><\/sup> once devoted some time talking about the perennial topic: the more look you into the Other, the more it looks back. And getting extra attention from the “tiny people” appears to be part of that. Maybe they are just delighted to have someone who takes the seriously and will give them Skittles <\/a>and a wee dram now and then. That’s how I pay my “critter tax,” but I’m not buying them household appliances!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a couple more stories to tell in upcoming posts. Stay tuned. Follow and subscribe — you know the drill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Andre Norton’s “Time Traders<\/a>” series may have been the first science fiction — or at least the first series — that I ever read. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Currently on hiatus, but back episodes are available. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When I was 5, my older sisters were 12 and 15. Sarah, then 12, was reading Mary Norton’s “Borrowers” books, as her older sister probably had before her. Don’t confuse this English Mary Norton (1903\u20131992) with the prolific American SF\/fantasy writer Alice Mary Norton (1912\u20132005) who wrote as “Andre Norton.” (At one time, I did.) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Andre Norton's \\\"Time Traders<\/a>\\\" series may have been the first science fiction -- or at least the first series -- that I ever read.\",\"id\":\"325c60c9-85e7-411a-af74-f0bc14d62752\"},{\"content\":\"Currently on hiatus, but back episodes are available.\",\"id\":\"1ba8b93d-969a-42ec-a692-d98c90119604\"}]"},"categories":[1],"tags":[470,314,469,468,12],"class_list":["post-14073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-children","tag-fantasy","tag-tiny-people","tag-wights","tag-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-3EZ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4003,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=4003","url_meta":{"origin":14073,"position":0},"title":"Andre Norton Revisited","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was about 11 years old, I wandered up to the science fiction section of a hole-in-the-wall branch of the Jefferson County (Colorado) Public Library. I came away with two books by the author Andre Norton, The Time Traders and Galactic Derelict. Written in the late 1950s, they are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"writing\"","block_context":{"text":"writing","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=writing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":866,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=866","url_meta":{"origin":14073,"position":1},"title":"The Wight-Hand Path","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Robin Artisson has an interesting posting on house-wights and land-wights:Land wights and house wights are kin to humans, in many ways. They are another population of sentient beings that share our world, and we spring from the same source, the same web of life. The same Gods that preside over\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Paganism\"","block_context":{"text":"Paganism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=paganism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":240,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=240","url_meta":{"origin":14073,"position":2},"title":"The Rehabilitation of Rosaleen Norton","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in the 1950s, the artist and occultist Rosaleen Norton was the witchcraft scene in Australia, at least according to some of the older books I have read. Her relationship with Sir Eugene Goosens, conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, was a scandal, as were her paintings, some of which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"art\"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11724,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=11724","url_meta":{"origin":14073,"position":3},"title":"Rosaleen Norton Documentary Film about to Release","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Witch of Kings Cross, a documentary on the life of Australian artist and witch Rosaleen Norton (1917\u20131979), directed by Sonia Bible, is being premiered in Paris as part of L'Estrange Festival. Often described as Australia's \"most persecuted artist,\" Norton blended art and magic in a way often called \"demonic,\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"art\"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/rosaleen-norton-pie.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14085,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=14085","url_meta":{"origin":14073,"position":4},"title":"The Case of the Paranormal Pincushion","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In my last post, I mentioned the English writer Mary Ann Norton's \"Borrowers\" books, which my sisters and I treated as enjoyable kids' books. It was a long time before it occurred to me that possibly she made up a story around actual events. I have had a quite a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"paranormal\"","block_context":{"text":"paranormal","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=paranormal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pin-cushion.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pin-cushion.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pin-cushion.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pin-cushion.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2278,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2278","url_meta":{"origin":14073,"position":5},"title":"Around the Pagan Blogosphere","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u2022 Ways of leaving offerings for land wights, at Golden Trail. \u2022 Hermes versus the Internal Revenue Service (and a great poem) at The Alchemist's Garden. \u2022 \"Animist Human Diplomats\"\u00a0 at Adventures in Animism. Are you asking more than you are giving? \u2022 Still on the theme of place: Dealing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"animism\"","block_context":{"text":"animism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=animism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14073"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14083,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14073\/revisions\/14083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}