TheSimonside Dwarfs, also known asBrownmen,Bogles andDuergar, are in English folklore a race ofdwarfs, particularly associated with theSimonside Hills ofNorthumberland, innorthern England. Their leader was said to be known asHeslop.[1]
In F. Grice's telling of the traditional storyThe Duergar inFolk Tales of the North Country (1944), one of them is described as being short, wearing a lambskin coat, moleskin trousers and shoes, and a hat made of moss stuck with a feather.
The legendary dwarfs of Simonside were mentioned in the local newspaper, theMorpeth Gazette, in 1889, and in Tyndale'sLegends and Folklore of Northumbria, 1930. They delighted in leading travellers astray, especially after dark, often carrying lighted torches to lead them into bogs, rather like aWill-o'-the-wisp.[1] The menacing creatures would often disappear at dawn.
The wordduergar is likely to be derived from the dialectal words for"dwarf" on theAnglo-Scottish border which includedorch,dwerch,duerch,Duergh andDuerwe amongst others[2][3][4] with a later, mistakenly added Norse-ar plural, perhaps as a result of linguistic misattestation.[2] It may also come from theOld Norse word for dwarf or dwarfs (dvergar). TheseBorder words for"dwarf", like theStandard English form, all derive from theOld Englishdweorh ordweorg via theMiddle Englishdwerg.[3][4][5]
In the 2004 filmVan Helsing, the Duergi are the minions ofCount Dracula.
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