No mythic origin tale is recorded in the supplied sources. Lexically, Salesbury's 1547 Welsh–English dictionary records koblyn translating to "a goblin," and modern summaries state the word is related to English "goblin" and may derive via French Gobelin from a Germanic source akin to German Kobold. Beyond this etymological placement, the supplied material does not give a traditional creation or founding narrative for coblynau.
Described as short (between half a yard tall and just shorter than humans), very ugly, and often dressed in miner's clothing while carrying tools which they use to imitate mining work ineffectually. An anecdotal surface sighting recorded a group of fifteen to sixteen coblynau dressed in red with yellow-spotted red handkerchiefs around their heads, one individual described as having a copper-coloured face; this is reported as a single field account rather than a universal costume.
Coblynau produce a peculiar knocking sound underground which miners interpret as indicating rich veins of ore or treasure. They imitate mining labor enthusiastically but ineffectually, and are generally considered helpful or "friendly fairies" and a source of good luck to miners. They are morally responsive: they may cease their helpful knocking if miners appear overly greedy, and may throw rocks at miners if disrespected—these actions are described as annoyances rather than seriously harmful attacks.
Weaknesses
- otherNo recorded vulnerabilities
Wards
- conditionRespectful conduct and avoidance of greed
Bluecap
A small blue flame-like mining spirit from Anglo-Scottish border and North East England folk belief that inhabits coal mines and pits. Appearing as a flickering blue flame, Bluecaps guide miners to rich seams, warn of cave-ins, and expect payment in the form of a working man’s wages left in a secluded corner of the mine.
Gnome (tradition)
A class of animate subterranean beings from early-modern European natural-philosophical and miners' lore. Treated by Paracelsus as earth elementals (gnomi) and recorded in German mining tradition as Bergmännlein / Berggeist, these small, humanlike mountain-spirits explain and personify phenomena in mines — from mischief to the discovery of ore.
Kobold
The German household and mine spirit — a mischievous but potentially helpful small being who attaches to a household, bringing luck or disaster depending on how it is treated.
Goblin
A class of small, often grotesque humanoid beings in European folk belief that range from household helpers to tricksters and violent figures. Goblins occupy liminal spaces—hearths, cellars, ruins and wild places—and their behavior toward humans depends on region, story, and reciprocal treatment.
Abandinus
Abandinus is a locally attested Romano‑Celtic theonym known from a single inscribed bronze feather (votive object) dedicated at Godmanchester (the Roman fort Durovigutum) in Cambridgeshire. Scholars interpret him as a local god or male spirit tied to a specific place and possibly associated with a nearby spring or stream; this association is tentative and based on etymological readings of the name.
Abarta (Ábartach)
Abarta (also Ábartach) is a figure of Irish myth who, in surviving accounts, tricks Fionn mac Cumhaill's warriors by giving them a supernatural grey horse that bears them into the Otherworld. Sources variably identify him as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann or as a Fomorian; after the incident he is compelled to release the captured warriors and is refused entry to the Fianna.
Abcán (Abhcán)
Abcán (modern spelling Abhcán) is a named dwarf poet and musician of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish myth. He appears in a small number of narratives as a musician whose art has soporific power and as the ferryman who brings the goddess Ruad from the Otherworld to the human world.
Abdiel
Abdiel (Hebrew עֲבְדִּיאֵל) is primarily a theophoric Hebrew personal name meaning "servant of El/servant of God," attested once in the Hebrew Bible (1 Chronicles 5:15). In later literature—most notably John Milton's Paradise Lost—Abdiel is reimagined as a faithful seraph who opposes Satan's revolt. The provided sources do not treat Abdiel as an autonomous folkloric spirit type or record rituals or wards associated with the name.
Abhean
Abhean is a named poet of the Tuatha Dé Danann in medieval Irish literature, described as a poet in particular of Lugh and recorded as having been killed by Óengus before Midir in a poem by Fland Mainistreach preserved in the Lebor Gabála Érenn.
Abiel
Abiel is attested in the supplied sources only as a male given name — borne by several historical American individuals and listed as two minor biblical figures. The provided materials contain no evidence presenting Abiel as a supernatural, mythological, or folkloric entity.
Abigail
Abigail is a female figure in the Hebrew Bible portrayed in 1 Samuel 25 as the intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal who intervenes to prevent David from committing violence; later tradition regards her as one of the Tanakh's seven female prophets and as a model of beauty and wisdom.
Abnoba
Abnoba is a Gaulish theonym and toponym attested in Roman-era sources and inscriptions: a localized deity associated with woods, springs and the sources of rivers (notably the Danube) and simultaneously the name applied to a mountain or mountain range in the Black Forest/Baar/Odenwald region. Roman altars equate her with Diana, reflecting syncretic cult practice in frontier provinces.
Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Achall
Achall is an eponymous mortal woman in the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature whose grief-induced death is given as the origin of the hill-name Achall (identified with the modern Hill of Skryne). She appears as a genealogical and etiological figure tied to Tara and later legendary events at the hill, rather than as a recurring supernatural agent.
Achtland
Achtland is a figure from Irish tradition who, according to the surviving account, was a mortal woman famed for rejecting mortal suitors who married a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and crossed into the síde to become immortal as his wife.
Adar Llwch Gwin
Legendary large, intelligent birds from Welsh tradition said to understand human speech and obey their master's commands; best known for tearing their master Drudwas ap Tryffin to pieces when bound by a literal order in an Arthurian battle narrative. The term later came to be applied to raptors and metaphorically to brave men in medieval Welsh poetry.
Community Record
- [1]Coblyn — Wikipedia. Wikipedia, "Coblyn" (summary citing Wirt Sikes and other folkloric references)wiki
- [2]Salesbury's Welsh–English dictionary (1547) entry 'koblyn' cited. William Salesbury (1547) cited in sources: koblyn = "a goblin" (as reported in the provided research notes)folk
- [3]Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (as cited in Wikipedia summary). Wirt Sikes, British Goblins — folkloric descriptions of coblynau appearance, knocking behavior, and the Bodfari Morris-dancing account (as summarized in the provided notes)folk