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Hobgoblin

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A hobgoblin is a household spirit , appearing in English folklore , once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his A Midsummer Night's Dream as a hobgoblin.

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23-430: The term "hobgoblin" comes from " hob ". The earliest known use of the word can be traced to about 1530, although it was likely in use for some time prior to that. Hobgoblins seem to be small, hairy little men who, like their close relatives the brownies , are often found within human dwellings, doing odd jobs around the house while the family is asleep. Such chores are typically small tasks like dusting and ironing. Often,

46-465: A hobhole ; this hob was believed to be able to cure young children of kink-cough ( whooping cough ). Parents would bring their ailing young to the hob's cave dwelling and recite the following: Hobhole Hob! Ma' bairn's gotten 't kink cough, Tak't off ! tak't off! Hobs are generally considered household spirits, who preferred to be about at night. Hobs were not tied to a particular place, but seemed to come and go as they chose. A hob would help

69-524: A pejorative sense to denote that someone or something is weak or childish. For example, one of the last Western Roman emperors was Romulus Augustus , but his name was diminutivized to "Romulus Augustulus" to express his powerlessness. In many languages, diminutives are word forms that are formed from the root word by affixation . In most languages, diminutives can also be formed as multi-word constructions such as " Tiny Tim ", or "Little Dorrit". In most languages that form diminutives by affixation, this

92-422: A diminutive form of the name " Robert ". "Hob" is sometimes a generic term given to a goblin , bogle or brownie . The name "Hob" became associated with the mythical creature as "a piece of rude familiarity to cover up uncertainty or fear"; essentially, calling a mystical creature by a common nickname was a way to make the concept less frightening, and the nickname eventually became the common term. As well as

115-499: A domestic hobgoblin or brownie, known as a Lubbar Fend (or lubber fiend ) and described as strong and hairy, threshes the corn then lays by the fireplace enjoying his bowl of cream that he earns as payment. In the earlier play The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607) by Francis Beaumont , a similar being is known as Lob-Lie-by-the-Fire , described as a giant and the son of a witch . Folklorist K. M. Briggs stated that

138-440: Is a Scottish domestic hobgoblin that is mischievous and belligerent but also very helpful when the need arises. The bwbach (or boobach, plural bwbachod) is a Welsh domestic hobgoblin that will perform household chores in return for bowls of cream. They are good-natured but mischievous and have a dislike of clergymen and teetotalers , upon whom they will play relentless pranks. In the poem " L'Allegro " (1645) by John Milton

161-511: Is a productive part of the language. For example, in Spanish gordo can be a nickname for someone who is overweight, and by adding an -ito suffix, it becomes gordito which is more affectionate. Examples for a double diminutive having two diminutive suffixes are in Polish dzwon → dzwonek → dzwoneczek or Italian casa → casetta → casettina ). In English,

184-448: Is a source of (often imagined) fear or trouble. The best-known example of this usage is probably Ralph Waldo Emerson 's line, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds", from the essay Self-Reliance . Hobgoblins exist in the works of Tolkien as a larger kind of orc , though they are not prominently featured. In the preface of The Hobbit , he states that " Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but

207-424: Is a word-formation device used to express such meanings. A double diminutive is a diminutive form with two diminutive suffixes rather than one. Diminutives are often employed as nicknames and pet names when speaking to small children and when expressing extreme tenderness and intimacy to an adult. The opposite of the diminutive form is the augmentative . In some contexts, diminutives are also employed in

230-622: Is usually translated goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kinds)". In The Spiderwick Chronicles , a hobgoblin is portrayed as a selfish character, always hungry, insulting to others, and annoyed with always being confused for a goblin. Hob (folklore) A hob is a type of small mythological household spirit found in the English Midlands , Northern England , and on the Anglo-Scottish border , according to traditional folklore of those regions. They could live inside

253-579: The brownie , another cognate exists in the Scandinavian nisse or tomte ; all are thought to be derived from the household gods of olden times, known in England as the cofgodas ( Old English for "house-gods") of which the brownie and hob are indeed a survival. Hobs have been described as small, hairy, wizened men. Hobs were viewed as kind but mischievous spirits, helpful to local people in need. One famous hob lived near Runswick Bay in

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276-615: The North York Moors is separated from its neighbour Rosedale to the east by a high but relatively level moorland promontory known as Blakey Ridge. On the east side of that ridge is a topological feature known as Hobb Crag, overlooking the village of Rosedale Abbey . A local story relates how a farmer in Farndale was so troubled by a Hob that he decided to relocate to another farm – just to get rid of that Hob. He loaded his cart with furniture and farm equipment and set off. On

299-969: The alteration of meaning is often conveyed through clipping , making the words shorter and more colloquial . Diminutives formed by adding affixes in other languages are often longer and (as colloquial) not necessarily understood. While many languages apply a grammatical diminutive to nouns , a few – including Slovak, Dutch , Spanish , Romanian , Latin , Polish , Bulgarian , Czech , Russian and Estonian – also use it for adjectives (in Polish: słodki → słodziutki → słodziuteńki ) and even other parts of speech (Ukrainian спати → спатки → спатоньки — to sleep or Slovak spať → spinkať → spinuškať — to sleep, bežať → bežkať — to run). Diminutives in isolating languages may grammaticalize strategies other than suffixes or prefixes. In Mandarin Chinese , for example, other than

322-406: The country – it is possible that these were introduced by migrant workers while moving between employments, especially those involved with mining and railway construction. The habitation was usually a topological feature, such as a hill, crag, hole, cave or island. Often the feature would be within view of the farm or local settlement: WiKtionary: The name element hole might relate to: It

345-420: The farmer in the field or the shopkeeper in his store. The householder had to be careful in dealing with a hob, so as not to offend it. If a farmer were to speak poorly of a hob on his farm, the hob might retaliate by breaking dishes and turning loose livestock. Most importantly, a hob must not be given a gift of clothing, as this would be greatly resented and might cause a helpful hob to leave immediately. This

368-404: The house or outdoors. They are said to work in farmyards and thus could be helpful; however, if offended they could become nuisances. The usual way to dispose of a hob was to give them a set of new clothing, the receiving of which would make the creature leave forever. It could, however, be impossible to get rid of the worst hobs. "Hob" is a diminutive form of the name " Robin ", which is itself

391-415: The nominal prefix 小- xiǎo- and nominal suffixes -儿/-兒 -r and -子 -zi , reduplication is a productive strategy, e.g., 舅 → 舅舅 and 看 → 看看 . In formal Mandarin usage, the use of diminutives is relatively infrequent, as they tend to be considered to be rather colloquial than formal. Some Wu Chinese dialects use a tonal affix for nominal diminutives; that is, diminutives are formed by changing

414-756: The only compensation necessary in return for these is food. While brownies are more peaceful creatures, hobgoblins are more fond of practical jokes. They also seem to be able to shapeshift, as seen in one of Puck's monologues in A Midsummer Night's Dream . Robin Goodfellow is perhaps the most mischievous and most infamous of all his kind, but many are less antagonizing. Like other fairy folk , hobgoblins are easily annoyed. They can be mischievous, frightening, and even dangerous. Attempts to give them clothing will often banish them forever, though whether they are offended by such gifts or are simply too proud to work in new clothes differs from teller to teller. The bauchan

437-456: The two creatures are generally equated. Briggs's own fantasy novel, Hobberdy Dick (1955), is about a hobgoblin that lives in the home of a 17th century Puritan family. In a 1684 hymn Bunyan couples the hobgoblin with "a foul fiend ", as two monstrous beings who try (and fail) to "daunt the Pilgrim's spirit". The term "hobgoblin" is used sometimes to mean a superficial object that

460-590: The way he met a neighbour who exclaimed, "What's thoo doin' George, flittin'?" And a voice from the churn called out, "Aye, lad, we're flittin'!" So the farmer turned his horse and cart round and went back to his farm, knowing that the hobgoblin would always be with him. Note the local dialect word flittin which may be derived from the Old Norse language. "Hob-trush Hob ! Where is thou ? . . ."Ah's tying on mah left-fuit shoe; An' Ah'll be wiv thee—Noo!" J.C.Atkinson – Cleveland Dialect . It

483-570: Was common for Hob place names to be associated with tumuli : Many topological features, especially in North Yorkshire , are named " Hobs ". Diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment , and sometimes to derogatorily belittle something or someone. A diminutive form ( abbreviated DIM )

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506-475: Was customary for a local hob to have a local name and a local habitation. Some " Hob " names may suggest their mischievous personality: The name Hob-thrush may be derived from Hobbe Hyrste or Hob o' t' hyrst – "Hob of the hurst". See also WiKtionary : Old English < hyrst > ..."hurst, hillock, eminence, height, wood, wooded eminence". The following names may be derived from Hobbe Hyrste : Similar names are found in disparate parts of

529-581: Was said to have happened at Sturfit Hall in Yorkshire, where the well-meaning family left a small hat and cloak for their helpful hob; however, when he encountered the gift, he exclaimed "Ha! a cap and a hood, / Hob'll never do mair good!" and was never seen again. Another Yorkshire hob, this one at Hart Hall, refused with a warning when offered a work shirt: "Gin Hob mun hae nowght but a hardin' hamp, / He'll come nae mair nowther to berry nor stamp." Farndale in

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