The cover illustration for West Point 3000 AD
10th - 11th Century - “Against a dwarf” charm features in the Ango-Saxon leechbook Lacnunga
12th Century - Historia Ecclesiastica by Oderic Vitalis mentions “gobelinus” as a spirit in Evreux
12th - 13th Century - “Green Children of Woolpit” describes in several historical chronicles
1549 - Di Animantibus Subterraneis by Georgius Agricola describes “cobalos” as creatures that look like diminutive miners
1555 - Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus by Olaus Magnus describes kobolds as being agents of the devil
1584 - The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginald Scott contains passing mentions to “goblins” and “hobgoblins”
1586 - A Treatise of Melancholie by Timothie Bright mentions goblins as a symptom of delusions
1589 - Bibliotecha Scholastica by John Rider uses “goblin” as part of the definition of the Latin “cacodaemon”
1594 - The Terrors of the Night by Thomas Nashe mentions goblins while listing supernatural creatures
1595 - A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare; the character Puck is referred to as “goblin” and “hobgoblin”
1641 - Pandaemonium, or the Devil’s Cloyster by Richard Bovet mentions goblins repeatedly but does not otherwise define them
1755 - A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson; Johnson’s etymology of the word linked it to feuding factions in Italy
1781 - The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli is a painting of a woman, supine on a bed; atop her chest rests a goblinlike incubus
The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli
1809 - The Goblin Groom by RO Fenwick, a story of a fox-hunt in which a goblin appears
1823 - German Popular Stories, the first English translation of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, uses “frightful hobgoblin” to translate the German word “gespenst”
1838 - “The Goblins of Emmaburg” in Ruins of the Rhine by Alfred von Reumont, translated by Charles White, features a group of poltergeists that the story refers to as “goblins”
1839 - The Penny Magazine includes a story in which a man in Ireland encounters little green men
1844 - The Goblin’s Moonlight Walk by JG London features a goblin in the shape of a cat headed man leading a traveler astray
1850 - The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Freedrich Englels first translated by Helen Macfarlane; like Charles Taylor before her, Macfarlane translated the word “gespenst” to “frightful hobgoblin”: “A frightful hobgoblin stalks throughout Europe.”
1852 - An article in the British newspaper Morning Post mocks fears of a French invasion by describing the French soldiers as “little green men” and jokingly attributes to them supernatural powers
1859 - The Goblin Snob by Henry L. Stephens, a poem featuring an ogre who calls himself “the Goblin Snob”
1862 - The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti, a poem about two sisters who must resist the temptations of the titular market
1865 - The Goblin’s Grave by Edwin Waugh, an account of a Lancashire apparition
1865 - Ye Ancient Mystery by Mark Twain, an account of a man who blames various crimes on a “goblin”
1866 - The Galaxy contains an account of a woman not looking for little green men under stones
1868 - The Ghost, the Gallant, the Gael, and the Goblin by WS Gilbert features a polka dotted goblin that torments an Englishman
1869 - “The Six Goblin Eggs” in Prince Ubbely Bubble’s New Story Book by John Templeton Lucas centers around six implike goblins who serve the protagonist until he begins to abuse them
An illustration from “The Six Goblin Eggs” in Prince Ubbely Bubble’s New Story Book
1872 - The Princess and the Goblin by George Macdonald, a early forerunner to modern fantasy literature, featuring an underground race of goblins plotting against the kingdom above
1876 - Johnnykin and the Goblins by Charles Leland is a Wonderland-esque story in which Johnnykin goes to an enchanted kingdom peopled by supernatural creatures, all of whom are called “goblins” (though one is named Goblin, specifically)
1878 - Goblin Tales of Lancashire by James Bowker follows the folklorist trend of using “goblin” to mean basically anything; intriguingly, its opening illustration looks like a Japanese oni
The frontispiece from Goblin Tales of Lancashire
1880 - British Goblins by Wirt Sikes, primarily an account of Welsh folklore that uses “goblin” to mean “any supernatural creature”
1884 - Davy and the Goblin by Charles E. Carryl features a little man in a green outfit as its goblin
1889 - The Theosophist mentions goblins in a list of supernatural creatures
1892 - The Fairy Mythology by Thomas Keightley describes goblins as a type of house spirit
1899 - “Billy Reed and the Giants” by Winthrop Packard describes trolls as “little green men”
1900 - Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland by John Campbell declares the goblin a type of house spirit, alongside the Scandinavian Nise and the German kobold
1911 - The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by WY Evans Wentz continues the pattern of goblins featuring in lists of supernatural creatures but being otherwise undefined
1912 - "Rumpel-Stilts-Ken" in Marian Edwardes’ revision of German Popular Stories uses “hobgoblin” to describe Rumpelstiltskin, called a “mannchen” in German
1917 - “Little Green Men,” a poem by Dorothy Grenside, about pixies
1933 - Arthur Rackham creates illustrations for “The Goblin Market”
Arthur Rackham’s illustration of The Goblin Market
1935 - The Green Goblin Book by Enid Blyton; the goblins here are green because they wear green, but otherwise look like tiny humans
1937 - The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien features goblins as one of the primary antagonists
1940 - “West Point, 3000 AD” by Manly Wade Wellman; Amazing Stories cover illustration for this story makes the Martians very goblinesque
1945 - “I Remember Lemuria” by Richard Sharpe Shaver is published in Amazing Stories. It is the first appearance the goblin-like dero, and features a goblinlike creature on its cover illustration
1954 - The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien; here, “goblins” are switched to “orcs” and compose the bulk of the villainous Sauron’s armies
1955 - The Hopkinsville Goblin Incident - the initial newspaper report describes the creatures only as “little men”
1964 - Amazing Spider-Man #14 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko; this marks the first appearance of the supervillain the Green Goblin, who is a man in a goblin suit
The first appearance of the Green Goblin
1964 - “The Gnomes of Zurich” first used to describe Swiss bankers
1975 - Tim Kirk’s illustrations for a “Lord of the Rings” calendar; he illustrates the orcs as having green skin
1977 - Monster Manual by Gary Gygax, a rulesbook for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, features goblins a possible antagonist; they wear vaguely European armor and have broad, flat faces and red or orange skin
1977 - The Hobbit animated movie; the goblins here are bulbous, grey skinned creatures
1978 - Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee; the goblins here are small, humanlike creatures with exaggerated features
1980 - Deities and Demigods, an expansion book for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, vaguely describes the goblin pantheon
1981 - Outside, Over There by Maurice Sendak features goblins - who look otherwise like babies - abducting a child and replacing it
1983 - Warhammer, a fantasy table top game, is released; goblins are a potential antagonist
1984 - Forces of Fantasy, an expansion for Warhammer, features a recognizable version of the “classic” fantasy goblin
1985 - Legend, a live-action fantasy film, releases; it features a trio of goblins who serve the main antagonist. The main goblin, Blix, has green skin, a long nose, and pointed ears, but Pox has a pig’s head and Blunder is a dwarf disguised by armor
1986 - Labyrinth releases. It revolves around protagonist Sarah’s attempt to rescue her brother from the Goblin King, Jareth, played by David Bowie; the rest of the goblins are puppets.
This poster for Labyrinth features three goblins, believe it or not
1988 - Uncanny X-Men #234; Madelyne Pryor becomes the Goblin Queen; her title reflects her new, sinister nature
1988 - Warhammer 3rd Edition Armies features goblins as part of the orc faction; both have green skin and wear European armor
1989 - Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel and Trina Hyman, centering around a Jewish man celebrating Hanukkah in the face of attacks by goblins
1990 - Troll 2 releases. The goblins here are a race of pseudo-vegetarians who turn people into plants before eating them; they are led by the druid Creedence
1995 - Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition; the goblins still have reddish-brown skin, but now lack noses entirely
1995 - Warcraft II features goblins as part of the orc faction
1997 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling includes goblins as the proprietors of the British wizarding world’s sole bank, Gringrotts; they are described as short, swarthy, and having long fingers and toes
1999 - Bodyguard of Lightning by Stan Nicholls has a heroic orc as its protagonist
1999 - Goblins Don’t Play Video Games by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Jones, part of the Bailey School Kids series of middle grade novels. The goblin here is a pale skinned, nerdy adult (who may not be a goblin at all)
The cover of Goblins Don’t Play Video Games
2000 - Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition goblins look mostly like the 2nd edition goblins, with orange skin, ramshackle European armor, and nonexistent noses
2001 - Lord of the Rings film; the orcs here come in a variety of colors, wear makeshift armor, and are exaggeratedly ugly
2001 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone film; this is the first time we see a Potterverse goblin, as the book descriptions were relatively vague
2005 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion features goblins as a recurring enemy type; they have yellow skin and apelike features
2008 - Goblins! is a webcomic by Ellipsis Stephens, centering on the goblins’ perspective
2016 - Goblin Slayer by Kumo Kagyu is a light novel set in a Dungeons and Dragons inspired world, wherein the titular Goblin Slayer has hyperspecialized in slaying goblins
2023 - Baldur’s Gate III is the latest iteration of Dungeons and Dragons goblins; it puts them more in line with “standard” goblins, giving them exaggerated noses and greenish yellow skin
2023 - “The Church on Ruby Road” Doctor Who Christmas special features a ship of time-travelling goblins who kidnap babies to feed to their king, a giant goblin