Goblin (United Kingdom & Ireland)
If you ask Wikipedia, it will tell you a goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. 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.
They often have magical abilities similar to a fairy or demon, such as the ability to shapeshift. 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. The term is sometimes expanded to include goblin-like creatures of other cultures, such as the pukwudgie, dokkaebi, or ifrit.[2]
Alternative spellings include gobblin, gobeline, gobling, goblyn, goblino, and gobbelin. The term “goblette” has been used to refer to female goblins.[3][4]
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a goblin is “an ugly or grotesque sprite that is usually mischievous and sometimes evil and malicious.” Though there are goblin-like creatures across cultural folklore, the term “goblin” comes from Europe, with the etymology of the word coming from the Anglo-Norman “Gobelin”.
Josh Funk wrote his delightful poem, GOBLIN vs. TROLL because we, the co–editors, told him we had no goblin or troll poems and wouldn’t it be great if he could write a goblin vs. troll poem? This request was in jest. BUT Josh, being Josh returned to us this gem of a poem! :-).
Have you had any encounters with this nasty hidden creature? I sure hope not. But do tell!
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