Billy Blind (also known as Billy Blin, Billy Blynde, Billie Blin, or Belly Blin) is an English and Lowland Scottish

household spirit A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit int ...

, much like a brownie. He appears only in

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

s, where he frequently advises the characters. It is possible that the character of Billy Blind is a folk memory of the god ''

Woden Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Emp ...

'' or ''

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

'' from Germanic mythology, in his "more playful aspect""The Critic, Volume 21" Carolyn Shipman, Charles Waddell Chesnutt, The Critic Printing and Pub. Co., 1894, page 435 and is speculated to have been the same character as Blind Harie, the "blind man of the game" in Scotland.

In Child Ballads

*'' Gil Brenton'' (no. 5c). Billy Blind advises the hero that the latter's bride is not the woman laying beside him (who is a

virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

) . The bride is hiding in her bower and already

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

. *'' Willie's Lady'' no. 6), Willie's wife has been in labour and cannot deliver because Willie's mother, a rank witch, is preventing her. Billy Blind advises Willie to make a wax figure of a baby and invite his mother to the christening. In her rage, the mother demands to know how all her magic was undone, listing all the things she's done, and Willie is able to undo them. *'' Young Bekie'' (no. 53C). He advises Burd Isobel that Young Bekie is about to marry another bride, and gives her assistance in the magical journey to reach him in time. *''

The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter "The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter" is an English ballad, collected by Francis James Child as Child Ballads, Child Ballad 110 and listed as List of folk songs by Roud number, number 67 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Synopsis A knight persuade ...

'' (no. 110). He appears in many of the variants to reveal the true births of the marrying couple: much higher than was apparent.Francis James Child, ''English and Scottish Popular Ballads''
"The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter"
/ref>

Modern depictions

*In modern

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, Billy Blind appears in Peter S. Beagle's '' Tamsin'' (1999), in which his main characteristic is to give advice. *In the British TV Series '' Renegade Nell'' (2023) about highwaywoman Nell in 18th century England, Billy Blind, played by

Nick Mohammed Nicholas George Mohammed is a British actor, comedian and writer. He has portrayed the character Mr. Swallow across both stage and television for over a decade. He is the creator of the Sky One comedy series ''Intelligence (British TV series), ...

, appears as a fictional fairy based on the same name character, and gives advice to Nell and superhuman capabilities during times of emergency.

References

External links

''Young Bekie''
(third version) {{Fairies Northumbrian folklore Northumbrian folkloric beings Ballads English legendary creatures English folklore Scottish folklore Odin Household deities Brownies (folklore)