leprechaun
Kobold is a term for house and nature spirits .
Mythological
The Middle High German kóbolt or kobólt is probably a darkened composition, the first part of which is etymologically derived from kobe (= hut, stable, shed), while the second part is to hold (= raised, good, as in "Unhold" or "Frau Holle") or to rule (= rule, own) belong. In the latter case, the name actually means "caretaker, housekeeper".
The goblin is a house ghost who protects the house, but likes to tease its residents, but without causing damage. For example, it can appear in the form of a feather that falls on your nose while sleeping, causing a sneeze . In the Erzgebirge he appears during the day as a withdrawn black cat, while at night he drives out of the chimney as a dragon-like creature to bring money to his owner. As a result, beneficiaries of goblins often become wealthy but cannot die until they have given the goblin to someone else.
Mythologically, goblins belong to the "lower mythology" and thus to the albums (also elves, elves or alves) as a philological categorization in contrast to the "higher mythology" of the gods . The albums also include the Klabautermann as the "goblin of the ship". In the division of mythological creatures and are mermaids , dwarfs , elves , forest male or country specific gravity ( Old Norse : landvaettir) similar to goblins Elvish nature spirits. According to popular belief, they were given a bowl of milk or other food overnight, which was an act of sacrifice to the household spirit.
Sometimes the folkloric sources also contain mythical fusions between the house spirit and the spirit of the builder of the court. The concept of the goblin therefore often does not make a precise distinction between the natural spirit and the ancestral spirit.
The name "nightmare" and the related derived " nightmares " are the expression of other elven spirits negative imaginary nightmares (cf. Engl.. Nightmare , dark or black and albums) (Old Norse: Svartalf ) representing disease demons.
Irish leprechauns are closely related to the mythological idea of the goblin .
There are strong similarities with the house spirit Cofgod (plural: Cofgodas; English cove gods ) from the Anglo-Saxon religion .
Literary figure
The descriptions and ideas of goblins as literary figures range from good and hard-working, small, green men to evil - always silent about their plans - insidious, pointy-eared villains.
Often one can distinguish the goblins from the brownies , because goblins are not always friendly and helpful towards humans. In literature, too, goblins annoy people and destroy their work. Some goblins, such as Pumuckl von Ellis Kaut , consider it a grave insult to be called brownies. In Karl-Heinz Witzko's Die Kobolde , goblins are associated with changeling .
In many fantasy universes there are goblins of one kind or another, mostly they are little sneaky jokers. In the Harry Potter novels, goblins are small, intelligent magical creatures. They do business at Gringotts Bank on Diagon Alley in London. The house-elves residing at Hogwarts boarding school are much closer to the definition of actual goblins, but are not associated with goblins.
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels , goblins are used in technical devices, for example in Kommandeur Mumm's “Disorganizer” or in cameras, where they quickly brush the images they see through the optics onto canvases (e.g. in The fifth elephant in traffic monitoring)
In today's fantasy , goblins are also called "lutin" ( le lutin = French for goblin). There are versions in which the lutin is represented as a small shapeshifter with animal components (head, tail), for example of foxes.
In the famous role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons , goblins also appear. Here, however, they are more like reptiles that inhabit underground caves and mines, and they are known as nasty but cowardly slave owners, trappers and dragon worshipers.
Conceptual derivations
The names of the chemical elements cobalt and nickel ("Nigl") are derived from goblins, because in earlier times goblins enchanted silver or copper ores so that they could not be smelted with the technology used at the time, or they would eat silver and his Place silver-colored ores precipitated. This "nickel" and "goblin ore" contained other metals to which these names then got stuck. See also Etymological List of Chemical Elements .
See also
literature
Overall representations of Germanic mythology:
- Vilhelm Grønbech : Religion of the Teutons .
- Jan de Vries : Outline of Germanic Philology .
- René Lodewijk Maurit Derolez : gods and myths of the Germanic peoples (original title: De godsdienst der Germanen , translated by Julie von Wattenwyl). English, Wiesbaden 1976, DNB 760368341 .
- Paul Hermann , Thomas Jung (Ed.): Deutsche Mythologie , Anaconda, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-86647-916-6 .
- Leprechaun . In: Concise dictionary of German superstition .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Duden 7, The dictionary of origin. Mannheim 2007.
- ^ Wolfgang Pfeifer: Etymological Dictionary of German , dtv-Verlag, Munich, 8th edition, 2005.
