Moreover, these proper names are not from Normandy, where the word gobelin, gobelinus first appears in the old documents. Norman surnames Beuzelin, Gosselin, Étancelin, etc.) Īlternatively, it may be a diminutive or other derivative of the French proper name Gobel, more often Gobeau, diminutive forms Gobelet, Goblin, Goblot, but their signification is probably 'somebody who sells tumblers or beakers or cups'. Norman gobe 'hollow in a cliff', with simple suffix -lin or double suffixation -el-in (cf. English cove 'hollow in a rock', English 'sheltered recess on a coast', Old Norse kofi 'hut, shed' ) which means originally a 'hollow in the earth'. German Kobold contains the Germanic root kov- (Middle German Kobe 'refuge, cavity', 'hollow in a rock', Dial. It may be related both to German kobold and to Medieval Latin cabalus - or *gobalus, itself from Greek κόβαλος ( kobalos), 'rogue', 'knave', 'imp', 'goblin'. The word goblin is first recorded in the 14th century and is probably from unattested Anglo-Norman *gobelin, similar to Old French gobelin, already attested around 1195 in Ambroise of Normandy's Guerre sainte, and to Medieval Latin gobelinus in Orderic Vitalis before 1141, which was the name of a devil or daemon haunting the country around Évreux, Normandy.

The term 'goblette' has been used to refer to female goblins. 2.2 Goblin-like creatures in other culturesĪlternative spellings include gobblin, gobeline, gobling, goblyn, goblino, and gobbelin.

Goblin in firelords