Goblin

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For other uses, see Goblin (disambiguation).

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Goblin illustration by John D. Batten from "English Fairy Tales" (19th century)

A goblin is a monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple

European cultures, first attested in stories from the Middle Ages. They are
ascribed various and conflicting abilities, temperaments and appearances
depending on the story and country of origin. They are almost always small
and grotesque, mischievous or outright malicious, and greedy, especially for gold
and jewelry. They often have magical abilities similar to a fairy or demon. Similar
creatures include brownies, dwarfs, duendes, gnomes, imps, and kobolds.

Contents

 1Name

 2Goblins in folklore

o 2.1European folklore and collected folk stories

o 2.2Goblin-like creatures in other cultures

 3Goblins in modern fiction

 4Goblin-related place names

 5See also

 6References
  7Further reading

Name
Alternative spellings include gobblin, gobeline, gobling, goblyn, goblino,
and gobbelin. English goblin is first recorded in the 14th century and is probably
from unattested Anglo-Norman *gobelin,[1] similar to Old French gobelin, already
attested around 1195 in Ambroise of Normandy's Guerre sainte, and to Medieval
Latin gobelinus in Orderic Vitalis before 1141,[2][3] which was the name of a devil or
daemon haunting the country around Évreux, Normandy. It may be related both
to German kobold and to Medieval Latin cabalus - or *gobalus, itself
from Greek κόβαλος (kobalos), "rogue", "knave", "imp", "goblin".[2][4] Alternatively, it
may be a diminutive or other derivative of the French proper name Gobel, more
often Gobeau,[5][6] diminutive forms Gobelet, Goblin, Goblot, but their signification
is probably "somebody who sells tumblers or beakers or cups". [7] Moreover, these
proper names are not from Normandy, where the word gobelin, gobelinus first
appears in the old documents. German Kobold contains the Germanic
root kov- (Middle German Kobe "refuge, cavity", "hollow in a rock", Dial.
English cove "hollow in a rock", English "sheltered recess on a coast", Old
Norse kofi "hut, shed" ) which means originally a "hollow in the earth". [8][9] The
word is probably related to Dial. Norman gobe "hollow in a cliff", with simple
suffix -lin or double suffixation -el-in (cf. Norman surnames Beuzelin,[10] Gosselin,
[11]
 Étancelin,[12] etc.) The Welsh coblyn, a type of knocker, derives from the Old
French gobelin via the English goblin.[13][14] The term goblette has been used to
refer to female goblins.[15][16]

Goblins in folklore
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1920

From The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1920

European folklore and collected folk stories

 A redcap is a type of goblin who dyes its hat in human blood in Anglo-
Scottish border folklore.
 Hobgoblins are friendly trickster goblins from English, Scottish,
and Pilgrim folklore and literature.
 The Benevolent Goblin, from Gesta Romanorum (England)[17]
 The Erlking is a malevolent goblin from German legend.
 The Trasgu is a Northern Spanish and Northern Portuguese mythological
creature of Celtic and Roman origin.
 "The Goblin Pony", from The Grey Fairy Book (French fairy tale)
 "The Goblins at the Bath House" (Estonia), from A Book of Ghosts and
Goblins (1969)
 "The Goblins Turned to Stone" (Dutch fairy tale).[18]
 King Gobb (Moldovan Gypsy folktale)
 Goblins are featured in the Danish fairy tales:The Elf Mound, The Goblin and
the Grocer, and The Goblin and the Woman.
 Goblins are featured in the Norwegian folktale The Christmas Visitors at
Kvame.
 Goblins are featured in the Swedish fairy tales The Four big Trolls and little
Peter Pastureman, and Dag, and Daga and the Flying Troll of Sky
Mountain where they alongside sprites and gnomes live a