Barrow Wight

Barrow Wight
Etymology
Pronounciation	bar-row white
Plural	Barrow Wights
Wikipedia	Barrow-wight
About
Element	Land Fae
Appearance	pale and pretty; diminutive and strong
Habitat	burial mounds
Abilities	strength, limited shape shifting / glamour
Series References
Novels	Rosemary and Rue A Local Habitation An Artificial Night Late Eclipses One Salt Sea The Winter Long A Red-Rose Chain Once Broken Faith The Brightest Fell The Unkindest Tide
Short Stories	Of Things Unknown Strangers in Court

Barrow Wights are a species of land fae known for their presence at burial mounds. They are first referenced in A Local Habitation.

About

Barrow Wights are "pretty, if pale" and much stronger than they look, presumably so they can move heavy stones to access the burial mounds in which they live. They largely keep to themselves; a Barrow Wight who loved another fae would be considered strange.

Barrow Wights have two faces: a more human-looking one, and a gargoyle-like face with a mouth full of teeth. Their "second face" is how they look naturally, when alone in their burial mounds - changelings depending on the balance of their blood may or may not inherit that second face. They seem to reveal their more terrifying aspects when feeling intense emotions like anger.[1] They have wings.

Characters

Stacy Brown

Stacy is a 1/4 Barrow Wight changeling. She is thin-blooded enough that she does not seem to have inherited any abilities beyond the ability to see Faerie. However, this was revealed to have been a lie as Stacy was revealed to have been a heavily geased version of Titania.

Minna

Minna is the handmaiden of Kabos and Verona of Highmountain and served as their assassin. She uses her preternatural strength to break Kabos's neck and drag Verona off a ledge and to their mutual death.

Avebury

Avebury is Minna's younger sister and presumably also a Barrow Wight.

Unnamed Characters

• Toby committed breaking and entering on a Barrow Wight household during her private investigator days.
• Marcia taught a young Barrow Wight how to bake at Goldengreen.
• A Barrow Wight changeling overdosed on goblin fruit.
• A Barrow Wight night-haunt, possibly Minna, addresses April in Tamed Lightning.

Quotes

Rosemary and Rue

• “Stacy stumbled against me. Being little more than a quarter-Barrow Wight, she didn’t have Kerry’s alcohol tolerance to help her cope with the number of drinks she’d had.” (Ch. 2)
• “Swearing, I fumbled the glove compartment open, pulling out a spray bottle of marsh water mixed with antifreeze. I’d used it for a case two weeks earlier that required a little breaking and entering, along with the usual assortment of small misdemeanors. Fortunately for me, Barrow Wights aren’t really in much of a position to press charges.” (Ch. 13)

An Artificial Night

• “Stacy comes from Barrow Wight stock; Mitch is part Nixie. Neither breed is known for seeing the future. Where the hell did this little curveball come from?” (Ch. 23)

One Salt Sea

• “I stuck my head into the kitchen. Marcia was at the counter, directing a pair of Urisks and a young Barrow Wight through the process of making bread.” (Ch. 22)

Chimes at Midnight

• “There was a girl lying sprawled in the garbage. Her skin and hair were the ivory color of old bleached bones, with a faint waxy sheen: she was half Barrow Wight. Only half; her height, and the square lines of her jaw, came from her human parent.” (Ch. 1)

Once Broken Faith

• “The Barrow Wight from Highmountain walked by, despondent as always, a heavy tray in her arms. I did a double-take: a very heavy tray. It looked like she was carrying an entire roast suckling pig.” (Ch. 17)
• “Trolls were that strong. Trolls, and Goblins, and Huldra, and Barrow Wights. Barrow Wights . . .” (Ch. 18)
• “The Barrow Wight had been the attacker, at the orders of her lieges. Her heritage explained the strength behind the attacks. Barrow Wights are surprisingly strong for their size, probably because they need to be able to move heavy stones in order to access the burial mounds where they traditionally make their homes.” (Ch. 19)
• “The handmaid lowered her hands from her face. She was pretty, if pale, in the way of Barrow Wights; most of them stayed in their mounds, avoiding the company of the living, who moved too fast and wanted too much. Stacy’s ancestors, whoever they may have been, would have been considered strange by their pureblood kin for loving another of the fae, even if it had only been for a night. Barrow Wights kept to themselves.” (Ch. 19)
• “The Barrow Wight handmaid was next to him, breathing heavily, her features distorted into something more gargoyle than human, her mouth bristling with teeth. I stared. I’d heard stories of the Barrow Wights and their true faces, but Stacy’s Barrow heritage was distant enough that she had no second face to hide—only the one she wore on the outside. This was what they were, down in the dark, where passing for human had never been a concern.” (Ch. 19)
• “Neither Barrow Wights nor Daoine Sidhe could teleport, which meant that wherever Verona, her handmaid, and the boys had gone, they had gone there on foot.” (Ch. 19)
• “Minna reached out and grabbed Verona’s arm, digging in her fingers until the other woman yelped and squirmed, trying to get away. “My hands were clean! My sister’s hands were clean!” Her face was starting to distort, becoming the monstrous mask she had worn when she killed the king.” (Ch. 20)
• ““I’m sorry,” she said, and jerked me forward with all of her Barrow Wight’s strength. There was no time to catch myself before we were falling, all three of us, caught in the unyielding grasp of gravity.” (Ch. 20)

Of Things Unknown

• "“Why should we?” demanded another night-haunt, a female Barrow Wight with wings like cobwebs strung over elm leaves and hair the color of blackened oak.”

Mythology

Barrow-wights originate from J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. They are wraith-like creatures inspired by Norse mythology, which told that the dead went on living in their tombs as protective spirits who should be offered sacrifice.

"Barrow" is a Neolithic word for a burial mound, while "wight" is Old English for a person. Thus, their name translates to "person of the burial mound." Tolkien stated in his Nomenclature that "barrow-wight" was an "invented name" The naming convention is similar to that of the Celtic Aes Sidhe and Daoine Sidhe.

"Suddenly he saw, towering ominous before him and leaning slightly towards one another like the pillars of a headless door, two huge standing stones... He had passed between them almost before he was aware: and even as he did so darkness seemed to fall round him."