Goblins, Imps, Brownies, Trolls, Pixies, and Bogies †Yesterday and Today :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Goblins, Imps, Brownies, Trolls, Pixies, and Bogies – Yesterday and Today In modern day, one is not likely to encounter a goblin in one’s travels, except perhaps those found scurrying after candy on Halloween night. However, goblins, as well as imps, brownies, trolls, pixies, and bogies were once considered as much a part of daily life as cows and chickens.(Briggs, These were the fairies, the half-natural, half supernatural beings that helped and haunted mankind throughout most of the world. The Scottish divided these fairies worldS into two groups, the Seelie Court, those helpful to humans, and the Unseelie Court, those who were mischievous, misleading, or downright evil. At the lowest rungs of the Unseelie court, one would find the goblins. (Briggs, 357) The goblins have changed, however, since these dark times, and it is the purpose of this paper to show the evolution of these monsters from medieval fairy, to subterranean miner, to Sauron’s horde of minions, and into other various modern-day incarnations. Additionally, the cul tural driving forces of feminist theology, Freudian psychology, political agendas, and technological fears will be used to explain several of the more notable goblin literary works. Finally, it will be shown how the medieval concept of the goblin, the fairy trickster, will resurface after a hundred years of exile in the form of the gremlin. The goblin as a fairy has its roots mainly in Britain, although they had counterparts in most of Europe. The French had goeblins, the Germans kobolds, the Welsh pwca (pooka), and even the Japanese had the tengu. However, the name ‘goblin’ is attributed to an Italian origin. The story goes that in Florence there were two infamous houses, the Guelfs and the Gibelins. So malicious were the members of these families that mothers would warn unruly children that the Guelfs and the Gibelins would come to get them if they did not behave. Thus the modern words ‘elves’ and ‘goblins’ were born. (Latham, p. 48) The fairy goblin ranged in disposition from the truly sinister to the near-harmless trickster. An example of the nastier medieval goblins is the legend of Redcap, a vicious goblin who inhabited a deserted castle. He was described by William Henderson in Folklore of the Northern Countries as a â€Å".