Goblins and Hobgoblins
Medieval to Modern · European Folk Tradition
- First attested
- 12th centuryOrderic Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica; Gervase of Tilbury, Otia Imperialia.
Earthy, instinctual energies demand respectful relationship lest they manifest as destructive mischief.
Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies (1976).
Subterranean and domestic trickster spirits inhabiting dark caves, mine shafts, and forgotten hearths.
Documented across medieval Anglo-Norman, Germanic, and French folklore (deriving from the Old French gobelin), goblins denote grotesque, mischievous subterranean and domestic wights. In mining regions like Cornwall (the Knockers) and the German Harz Mountains (Kobolde), they guarded mineral veins, knocking on rock walls to warn miners of cave-ins or lead the greedy astray. While hobgoblins like Robin Goodfellow often performed domestic chores in exchange for cream, unappeased goblins inflicted nightmares, sour milk, and poltergeist disturbances.
Light
Discerning practical warnings, humility, and playfulness when confronting unrefined earthy instincts.
Shadow
Spite, pettiness, paranoia, and obsessive hoarding of subterranean resentments.