Goblin is a
general term that can apply either to the ugliest members of the fae, or to
certain sub-races. Those included the Scottish Trows, English Spriggans, Welsh
Knockers, Cornish Knockers, German Kobolds and Wichtlein, the Irish Phooka and
even Shakespeare's infamous Puck .
According to some tales or mythology, goblin comes from Gob or Ghob, who happened to be the king of the gnomes, His inferiors were called Ghob-lings.
Though "The Concise Oxford
Dictionary of Current English" the name is probably derived from the
Anglo-Norman language gobelin (medieval Latin gobelinus), which
is probably a diminutive of Gobel, a name related to the word kobold.
Goblin is also related to the French lutin.
Goblins belong to the Unseelie Court, and are at war with
fairies. In some circles, Goblins are considered to be the cousins of gnomes,
except there is a belief that gnomes are stupid and that no one in their right
mind would confuse the two.
Goblins grow up to 30 cm. They are covered with a
thick coat of black/grey hair. Goblins can usually be found wearing very dark
colored cloths, plus a tall cap similar to that of the Gnome. They can appear
as animals. They have a somewhat bestial or grotesque appearance: their brow is
fully covered with thick hair and their mouth filled with yellowed, crooked
teeth. Female goblins are referred to as "hags" or
"crones". They mimic human actions in their sardonic way, twisting
human rituals and culture to show the worst aspects. In recent depictions,
Goblins have been portrayed as green in color, though there is no proof they
ever were colored this way.
Goblins are associated with Earth, which is close to
Death. But they are said to correlate with fire, or have the ability to create it
too.
Goblins are pranksters. They rearrange items in the
house, tangle up horses, bang pots and pans, strip humans of their clothing as
they sleep, knock on doors and walls, and even dig up the graves and scatter
the bones around. Goblins like to borrow horses and ride them all night. If a
horse is tired in the morning, it is said a goblin rode it. This is also connected
to witches too in legend. If a horse is panicking, the goblin is trying to
mount it.
Goblin women steal human babies and replace them with
ugly goblin babies (changelings). Goblin changelings are sometimes known as
"oafs" or "crimbils".
Mine goblins make knocking noises by striking pickaxes
and hammers against the stones. Some miners take the resulting sounds as a sign
of good luck, that they are indicating presence of rich ore deposits. Others
believe that they (Kobolds and Wichtlein) just imitate the miners to fool them.
As a death companion he is sometimes accused to cause underground fires or warn
for the coming deaths. To avoid the Knockers' wrath, a pastie (traditional
miner meal) is always left out for them. It is said that a goblin’s smile can curdled
blood, while a goblin’s laugh sours milk and causes fruit to fall from trees.
The English Hobgoblin loves to live in homes, making a
lot of trouble for the people living there. Others reside in mines where they
search for treasure, along for trouble. Still others of the family prefer
grottos, often residing in the same one their entire life.
One myth puts the orgins of Goblins in France, in a cleft of the Pyrenees, from which
they spread rapidly throughout Europe. They
hitched a ride with Viking ships to Britain. Bryn y Ellyllon 'The Hill of the Goblins' is a place in Somerset. The Gap of Goeblin is a hole and
underground tunnel in France.
JRR Tolkien based the orcs in The Hobbit on George Macdonald's portrayal of the creatures The
Princess and the Goblin. He coined the word 'Orcs' for goblins in The
Lord of the Rings.
4 comments:
great article on goblins. a lot of neat articles here. look forward to reading more.
Thank you, Edward.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
You're welcome, Mary.
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