A History of Goblins

This book examines the history of goblins from the Middle Ages to the present. It shows that goblins—whether interpreted as creatures, objects, ideas, or people—were historically contingent and grounded in an often-hazy interplay between folkloric and folkloresque traditions. As products of their historical environ­ments, goblins have been imagined and reimagined throughout history. Their various incarnations include demons working on behalf of Satan, residents of Fairyland making mischief for humans, and cave-dwelling villains in Tolkien’s or Dungeons & Dragons ’ fantasy universes. Some authors, often early modern and modern Anglophone elites, used goblins as crude, destructive mimicries of what they deemed abnormal. They chose to label certain humans as goblins to indicate those people fell outside of normative ideas about proper appearances and behavior. In the twenty-first century, however, goblins have seen a sympathetic reappraisal; now, they are often portrayed in ways that see these longstanding stereotypes as assets in an age of unreasonable societal expectations.

This book examines the history of goblins from the Middle Ages to the present. It shows that goblins—whether interpreted as creatures, objects, ideas, or people—were historically contingent and grounded in an often-hazy interplay between folkloric and folkloresque traditions. As products of their historical environ­ments, goblins have been imagined and reimagined throughout history. Their various incarnations include demons working on behalf of Satan, residents of Fairyland making mischief for humans, and cave-dwelling villains in Tolkien’s or Dungeons & Dragons ’ fantasy universes. Some authors, often early modern and modern Anglophone elites, used goblins as crude, destructive mimicries of what they deemed abnormal. They chose to label certain humans as goblins to indicate those people fell outside of normative ideas about proper appearances and behavior. In the twenty-first century, however, goblins have seen a sympathetic reappraisal; now, they are often portrayed in ways that see these longstanding stereotypes as assets in an age of unreasonable societal expectations.