Moss people inhabit deep forests, trees, ancient rocks and rills. Nature spirits of German mythology, they can appear in various forms and temperaments. Although they're independently mobile, moss people love their forest homes and don't go far.
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Moss people (Ger: Moosleute) are also known as wild folk (Ger. wilde Leute) wood people or wood folk (Holzleute) or forest folk (Waldleute). They belong to the Faerie, related to elves, fairies, dwarfs and Kobolds. In German folklore moss people have an intimate connection to trees and forest.
Moosfräulein or Moss Women may accompany the otherwise solitary Buschgroßmutter or Bush Grandmother when she goes out in her rickety wagon. Buschgroßmutter dwells deep in the forest and appears to humans only once every hundred years. She's sometimes seen as a leader of the Moss People.
Despite their wariness of humans, Saxon folklore tells of the Holzfräulein ("Wood Women") who come out of the forest during epidemics, to teach people use of medicinal herbs to prevent or treat sickness. Also in this region, when the fog drifts through the trees it's said the Holzfräulein are baking bread.
Moss People can be any gender, usually hoary and covered in moss, and range in size from almost invisible to the height of a normal person. They can be mistaken for mossy rocks or logs. If a clumsy traveler steps on them or damages their homes, they cause the miscreant to lose the way, feel ill, or stumble and fall.
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Some Moss People appear as beautiful humanoid forest spirits, cautious of mortals. In later folklore Moss People dress as little men and women, with fully human features or traits. Perhaps this last is driven by the rise of tourism and commercial opportunity in the human realm.
In German a type of moss spirit may be called Schrat or Waldschrat, derived from Indo-European goblin or demon. The term is used throughout Europe including Iceland, with regional differences.
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These wild people appear in the bark of trees and faces of rocks and can run through the forest like flashes of shadow. If one should run across the path, the traveler should walk backward through that spot to cancel any residual trickster magic.
Most moss people rarely travel and only with good reason. Essentially they're homebodies and enjoy cultivating their environment. Like some Faerie folk they may use doe's milk for drinking or baking as deer are associated with Faerie magic.
Moss people are social with those of their kin and other forest spirits. Although they gather in their own communities and stay away from humans, a person might see their fairy lights at night or hear laughter as they dance in groves and glens.
If surprised they can be caught, but will not be helpful even if you threaten to throw them on the fire, for they have strong protective magic. You might get an allergic reaction such as itchy rash. This can also happen if you accidently kick or step on a moss person in the woods.
Moosmutter (Moss Mother)
The Moss Mother is a facet or aspect of the eternal Earth Goddess Nerthe (Erthe, Erde), one of the elemental creator deities. She appears at harvest time, a small hunchbacked hag looking like a cross between an old lady and a stump covered in moss. Moss Mother is generally of good humor. She travels on foot or magically from village to village during Harvest festivities and leaves a blessing.
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She doesn't show herself to humans except as a bent old woman, and then infrequently. When not doing her autumn rounds she spends her time in the Neverending Forest in the company of birds, animals, tree spirits and moss people. Occasionally she may go visiting. She brews her own beer and likes to share. Moss Mother appears in the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series.
She has a quirky sense of humor, having once turned a Dwarf into a bush because he said he wanted to worship at her feet. Generally she's a benevolent mossy hag.
Befriending moss people takes a lot of time and patience as they fade into the environment if ever a human comes near. Unlike some spirits they aren't tempted by food or gold. They're active early to collect morning dew, and enjoy music such as reed or pan flutes.
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