Goblins have at times been conflated with the jinn, specifically ifrit and ghilan, of Islamic culture.In South African mythology, the tokoloshe (or tikoloshe or tikoloshi) is a dwarf-like creatures similar to a goblin.In Bangladesh, Santal people believe in gudrobonga which is very similar to goblins.In South Korea, goblins, known as dokkaebi (도깨비), are important creatures in folklore, where they reward good people and punish the evil, playing tricks on them.The muki is a pale goblin who lives in caves in the Andes in Quechuan folklore.A pukwudgie is a type of goblin from Wamponoag folklore.The trasgu is a Northern Spanish and Northern Portuguese mythological creature of Celtic and Roman origin.The Erlking is a malevolent goblin from German legend.Hobgoblins are friendly trickster goblins from English, Scottish, and Pilgrim folklore and literature.A redcap is a type of goblin who dyes its hat in human blood in Anglo-Scottish border folklore.Goblins are common in English, Scottish, and Irish folklore, serving as a blanket term for all sorts of evil or mischievous spirits.The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1920 European folklore The Welsh coblyn, a type of knocker, derives from the Old French gobelin via the English goblin. Moreover, these proper names are not from Normandy, where the word gobelin, gobelinus first appears in the old documents. Norman surnames Beuzelin, Gosselin, Étancelin, etc.) Īlternatively, it may be a diminutive or other derivative of the French proper name Gobel, more often Gobeau, diminutive forms Gobelet, Goblin, Goblot, but their signification is probably "somebody who sells tumblers or beakers or cups". Norman gobe "hollow in a cliff", with simple suffix -lin or double suffixation -el-in (cf. 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". German Kobold contains the Germanic root kov- (Middle German Kobe "refuge, cavity", "hollow in a rock", Dial. It may be related both to German kobold and to Medieval Latin cabalus - or *gobalus, itself from Greek κόβαλος ( kobalos), "rogue", "knave", "imp", "goblin". The word goblin is first recorded in the 14th century and is probably from unattested Anglo-Norman *gobelin, 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, which was the name of a devil or daemon haunting the country around Évreux, Normandy. The term "goblette" has been used to refer to female goblins. EtymologyĪlternative spellings include gobblin, gobeline, gobling, goblyn, goblino, and gobbelin. The term is sometimes expanded to include goblin-like creatures of other cultures, such as the pukwudgie, dokkaebi, or ifrit. Similar creatures include brownies, dwarves, duendes, gnomes, imps, leprechauns, and kobolds, but it is also commonly used as a blanket term for all small, fay creatures. They often have magical abilities similar to a fairy or demon, such as the ability to shapeshift. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on the story and country of origin, ranging from mischievous household spirits to malicious, bestial thieves. Batten from " English Fairy Tales" (19th century)įairies, demons, brownies, dwarfs, duendes, gnomes, imps, and kobolds.Ī goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures.
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