The term "hobgoblin" comes from "hob".[a][b]The earliest known use of the word can be traced to about 1530, although it was likely in use for some time prior to that.[2]
Hobgoblins seem to be small, hairy little men who, like their close relatives thebrownies, are often found within human dwellings, doing odd jobs around the house while the family is asleep. Such chores are typically small tasks like dusting and ironing. Often, the only compensation necessary in return for these is food.
While brownies are more peaceful creatures, hobgoblins are more fond of practical jokes. They also seem to be able to shapeshift, as seen in one of Puck's monologues inA Midsummer Night's Dream.Robin Goodfellow is perhaps the most mischievous and most infamous of all his kind, but many are less antagonizing. Like otherfairy folk, hobgoblins are easily annoyed. They can be mischievous, frightening, and even dangerous.[1](p100) Attempts to give them clothing will often banish them forever, though whether they are offended by such gifts or are simply too proud to work in new clothes differs from teller to teller.
is a clever hobgoblin or brownie found in severalballads collected byF. J. Child. Billy Blind helps humans in dramatic situations by offering valuable information and advice.[4][5][6][7]
Blue Burches
is the name of a shapeshifting hobgoblin who played harmless pranks in the home of a shoemaker and his family on theBlackdown Hills inSomerset. His usual form was that of an old man wearing baggy bluebreeches but he also took the form of a white horse, a black pig and a wisp of blue smoke. The family took his presence in good stride but some clergymen learned of his existence and banished him from the house.[1](p27)
Robin Roundcap
(not to be confused withRobin Redcap) haunted Spaldington Hall inSpaldington,East Riding of Yorkshire, and was a hearth spirit of the true hobgoblin type. He helped thresh the corn and performed other domestic chores, but when he was in the mood for mischief he would mix the wheat andchaff again, kick over the milk pail, and extinguish the fire. He is said to have been confined in a well for a stipulated number of years through the prayers of three clergymen. This well is known as Robin Roundcap's Well.[8]
Dobby
is another term for hobgoblin inLancashire andYorkshire according to the folkloristElizabeth Mary Wright, especially one that is a relentless prankster. Much like theboggart, a dobby's pranks may become so troublesome that a family decides to move elsewhere, only to find that the dobby has followed them (one version of this tale involves Robin Roundcap). However, one Yorkshire dobby (orhob) lived in a cave and was noted for curing children of thewhooping cough. Dobbies could be just as industrious as other hobgoblins andbrownies, which led to the expression"Master Dobbs has been helping you" whenever a person has accomplished more work than was expected.[9] The term is also referenced in the character of thehouse-elfDobby in theHarry Potter series.
Thebauchan is aScottish domestic hobgoblin that is mischievous and belligerent but also very helpful when the need arises.[10]
Thebwbach (or boobach, plural bwbachod) is aWelsh domestic hobgoblin that will perform household chores in return for bowls of cream. They are good-natured but mischievous and have a dislike of clergymen andteetotalers, upon whom they will play relentless pranks.[11]
In the poem "L'Allegro" (1645) byJohn Milton a domestic hobgoblin or brownie, known as aLubbar Fend (orlubber fiend) and described as strong and hairy, threshes the corn then lies by the fireplace enjoying his bowl of cream that he earns as payment.[12] In the earlier playThe Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607) byFrancis Beaumont, a similar being is known asLob-Lie-by-the-Fire, described as agiant and the son of awitch.[13] FolkloristK. M. Briggs stated that the two creatures are generally equated.[1](p270) Briggs's own fantasy novel,Hobberdy Dick (1955), is about a hobgoblin that lives in the home of a 17th centuryPuritan family.[14]
Ina 1684 hymnBunyan couples the hobgoblin with "a foulfiend", as two monstrous beings who try (and fail) to "daunt the Pilgrim's spirit".[15]
The term "hobgoblin" is used sometimes to mean a superficial object that is a source of (often imagined) fear or trouble. The best-known example of this usage is probablyRalph Waldo Emerson's line, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds", from the essaySelf-Reliance.[16]
Hobgoblins exist in the works ofTolkien as a larger kind oforc, though they are not prominently featured. In the preface ofThe Hobbit, he states that "Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kinds)".[17]
InThe Spiderwick Chronicles, a hobgoblin[c] is portrayed as a selfish character, always hungry, insulting to others, and annoyed with always being confused for a goblin.
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InDungeons & Dragons, the name "hobgoblin" is used for a vaguely ape-faced humanoid species that live in militarized tribal societies or as leaders of goblin tribes.[18]
^abAhob, is also flat metal shelf at the side or back of a fireplace, having its surface level with the top of the grate and used especially for heating pans, so a hobgoblin may simply refer to a household goblin, or a spirit that resides in this particular location in a household.
^A "hobgoblin" is a variety ofgoblin, a "mischievous and ugly fairy". "Hob" was simply a friendly name for the countryside goblin, so named in a rustic tradition described by one etymologist as "a piece of rude familiarity to cover up uncertainty or fear".[2] "Hob" is generally explained as a diminutive for "Robert",[2]and here short for "Robin Goodfellow,"[3] but see also note[a].
^The hobgoblin, named 'Hogsqueal', is a prominent character in the second and fifth books in the series,The Seeing Stone, andThe Wrath of Mulgarath. In the books, Hogsqueal says that hobgoblins are born without teeth, so they often stealbaby teeth from under children's pillows. In thefilm adaptation, which condenses the events of the series to one film, Hogsqueal is voiced bySeth Rogen.[citation needed]
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