You know, I‘ve been racking my brain, but I only know one folkloric explanation for missing objects: It Got Stolen By a Creature.

These thieving creatures come in two varieties and feature in folklore from all over the world.

1) The household spirits. These belong in a home and are usually friendly, unless offended. When they do take things, it’s usually a harmless prank or a sign they have been mistreated. For instance:

Brownies. Particularly in stories from Scotland and England, this generally helpful creature is known to steal items from its household when it is miffed with its inhabitants. Many stories state a brownie must be spoken of with kindness and be given offerings of food, or they will turn against you. When amends are made, the stolen items may be returned. The German kobold is much the same, although they can also be found on ships and in mines and are often a few sizes smaller. (Interstingly, the Dutch huiskabouter and the Scandinavian tomte and nisse, seem slightly less likely to steal things and tend to just leave when insulted.)

Knockers. Stretching the definition of “household” a bit, these are creatures from primarily Wales and Cornwall that share a lot of the brownie’s features, but live in mines and both help and hinder miners. One the one hand they are known to steal tools, but on the other they were often reported to give warning knocks to let miners know that there was a cave-in coming. Knockers should also be treated with kindness and be left a bite of food from the miner’s lunch.

Lutins. The French cousin of the kabouter or nisse, usually even including the red pointy hat. Unlike their cousins, lutins have a habit of disguising themselves as various domestic animals. In French-Canada, particularly Quebec they are blamed for various pranks including stealing things. Either because they have been offended, or because you just happen to have the misfortune of meeting a malevolent lutin.

2) The wild neighbours. These are the creatures humans share space with whether they like it or not.

Pixies and fairies. Various Gaelic-Celtic traditions tell of little fae who see the land humans live and work on as much more belonging to them and they often feel free to help them to crops, livestock or tools. Stories often include the nicer fae giving the item back after their victim has lamented loudly enough that they will never be able to find it, presumably because this has good comedic timing.

Trows. Nocturnal creatures somewhere between a Celtic fae and a Scandinavian troll from Northern Scotland (the Orkney and Shetland islands). They share the well-known traits of living in mounds, dancing and stealing musicians. But they look more like the small, weathered brownies that the beautiful elves. They were said to sneak into people’s houses at night, and sometimes stole things that they took a liking to.

Dokkaebi. Perhaps not quite belonging here, but very interesting nonetheless. Dokkaebi are Korean spirits that are formed by the possession of discarded household objects or items that have become stained with human blood. The object is now lost to the human world and the dokkaebi’s true shape becomes humanoid, sometimes ogre-like. They are most likely to inhabit abandoned buildings. While usually mischievous, some are said to be helpful to the good and malicious to the bad. Certain rituals and offerings can be made to please them.