Let's talk about GOBLINS!!!
I love mythology and so now that everybody is talking about Goblins because of Hogwarts Legacy, I thought I'd do a small Goblins 101.
European Folklore (and quite possibly, worldwide folklore, but I haven't studied those), is FULL of all kinds of goblins and goblin-inspired creatures. J. K. Rowling took most of her creatures from Celtic folklore (which is still very present in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, north of Portugal, and north-west Spain, amongst other places). Her elves, her gnomes, her ghouls, her goblins, her giants, her witches, her sirens, her mermaids... ALL of them have origins traced back to European folklore and mythology, and all of them have a very heavy Celtic influence.
So who the hell are the Celts? They were a civilization which expanded mainly in West Europe from 1200 b.C. Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish... Are all languages with a profound Celtic origin.
So Celts have been amongst us for roughly 3200 years. Their origins are still being disputed, because they arrived to different parts of Europe in different times, and because one thing is their origins in literature, another in the arts, another in the study of European languages and another in DNA studies. But recent studies have found that Celtic-related populations such as in Scotland, Ireland, the Bretons, the Basques and the Galicians, all share a common HLA system (Human Leukocyte Antigen), which is basically cells in the chromosome 6, which would be linked to them all coming from the Celts, as does their culture.
So when did goblins enter the picture? They've kind of always been there, associated to the Celts, although I am sure people in other cultures such as Asian will find their own variants of goblins associated to other civilizations. This is because goblins, like witches, druids and giants, belong to the collective unconscious, which is like an unconscious brain shared amongst all humans, putting into our minds common imaginery and ideas across the world. Let's also not forget that we're talking about 3000 years of history, and until pretty much yesterday, people would always look for explanations of things they didn't understand in God, the heavens, and myths. And this takes me back to the Goblins.
I've been holidaying in Galicia now and then for several years. I've also been to Cornwall and in all those occasions I've always been able to find books, in whatever house I was renting, about their local mythology and there would always be Goblins, Mermaids and pretty much everything you can find in the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, which peaked my interest. Both Tolkien and Rowling got heavily inspired by these mythological creatures, and is no wonder that territories where mythological stories about them are popular and common are also territories rich in literature and magical legends. It's just very inspiring. Anyway, I'll try not to digress.
The main thing to remember about Goblins is that they exist because back then people had some issue that they explained with this creature. For example in Galicia, they've got mythological explanations for everything. If something naughty happened, that was the biosbardo (like Peeves!), horrible storms were a product of the legromante, if a child died, it was the canouro, and so on. Goblins in Galician-Celtic mythology were for example:
Meniñeiro (or Cuines in Cantabria) were kind and generous goblins who played with children and could only be seen by children.
Sumicio or sumiciu, were goblins that could only be seen if they wanted to, could make people and things vanish and reappear as they liked, and if you pray to St Anthony, he can make this goblin return what's been taken. You'll find loads of mini sumicios for sale anywhere in Galicia, and this is how they're depicted:
Abelurio: these goblins love games and having fun, and live inside the houses. This is also how locals might call children who are like Fred and George.
Trasno: Very similar to the abelurio, and also not uncommon to hear locals tell their children "you're a trasno!" They're Galicia's most popular goblins, can look like many things, because they can change their looks, but mostly, they're tiny, with horns, beard and a red hat (like the little garden goblins people buy). They're not evil at all, but very naughty and shy.
Diaño burleiro: Something like the naughty demon. Again, someone who's just very naughty. They can appear as men, as donkeys... Anything. And they love having fun with humans (or rather, at humans' expense).
Tardo: Trasno's evil cousin. They're green creatures with sunken, black, cruel eyes, they have many sharp and dirty teeth, they have a small back, are very hairy and have long beards. I'd daresay Harry Potter's filmakers based their goblins in these. These tardos live underground and in caves (hello, Gringotts?), and they dig long tunnels into people's houses, where they like to make humans have nightmares. They sit on people's chests as they sleep and make them have the worst dreams.
Anyway, there are many more Celtic goblins! Many! So I thought I'd finish this with the most popular one: the Irish leprechaun!
These little dudes are very happy, make shoes for fairies, have a cauldron full of gold, they're usually ugly, are normally smoking, and love music and dance, but are quite isolated creatures, and are afraid of humans. You may find them in Harry Potter, Charmed, and many more modern media!
