Thread: Why are goblins associated with Halloween?

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From what I know they're mainly brought up in fairy tales and Middle Earth lore. But how exactly do they fit into Halloween? Vampires come out to suck your blood. Ghost come out to frighten you. Werewolves want to eat you. Witches want to put a spell on you. And Goblins want to challenge your kingdom for territorial rights? Doesn't add up if you ask me. Not to mention that there's no well known goblin stories in the public domain. Of course I could be wrong about that part. In which case could someone educate me about that?

Well, fairy tale goblins and fantasy goblins seem to be different breeds, as it were, I think...Tolkien mixes it up more with goblins, orcs, trolls, Uruk-hai, on and on and on. The fantasy genre ones seem to be different..I think the Halloween "goblins" are more intended to be in the vein of boogeyman type creatures or nature spirits, ones that lurk in the darkness or the woods, closets, etc etc. Nasty little monsters as opposed to the kind of cave-dwelling fantasy race.

I think pretty much anything goes when it is halloween. Besides, goblin is just fun to say

Because they're mischief-makers, and on Halloween, mischief-makers, demons and other deliciously scary things are supposed to be about, taking advantage of the temporary thinness of the curtain between the living and the dead/supernatural.

Originally Posted by Regions Beyond

Well, fairy tale goblins and fantasy goblins seem to be different breeds, as it were, I think...Tolkien mixes it up more with goblins, orcs, trolls, Uruk-hai, on and on and on. The fantasy genre ones seem to be different..I think the Halloween "goblins" are more intended to be in the vein of boogeyman type creatures or nature spirits, ones that lurk in the darkness or the woods, closets, etc etc. Nasty little monsters as opposed to the kind of cave-dwelling fantasy race.

This! This is exactly how I think of it.

"Goblin" comes to English from the German "Kobold". I could go through the dry as dirt and boring as all get out linguistics of the consonant and vowel shifts if you want, but the meaning boils down to troublesome or malevolent beings/spirits. Kobold is also the origin of the element name cobalt and nickel derives from the German diminutive name Nikolaus--often used for the devil. All of this is related to miners' folklore about spirits/demons in silver mines and the fact that cobalt and nickle were of little or no value until the modern era and thus 'troublesome'.
And mom said I'd never use the German mythology class I took in college.