It seemed appropriate that the Oxford Dictionary revealed its Word of the Year for 2022 – goblin mode – earlier this week on the eve of St Nicholas’ feast day or, as we goblins like to call it, Krampusnacht.
I thought that, after a lengthy hiatus, how better to return to these bloggish halls than with a word for Wednesday and a quick etymological romp with some ghoulies and ghosties and European folkloric beasties.
Firstly, goblins. The Oxford Dictionary linguists and lexicographers put the choice of Word of the Year to the public for the first time and were deluged with resounding support for ‘Goblin Mode’. Their president acknowledged that it “resonates with all of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed at this point.” So what, exactly, is goblin mode? They define it as a slang term for ‘a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.’
Because … goblins lounge about on sofas, in their pyjamas, binge-watching Netflix, and eating whole packets of Tim Tams. Probably while doing their best Edith Piaf impersonation… Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.
Actually, while they are commonly found scattered through fictional fantasy realms and role-playing games, goblins are quite elusive on the etymological front. The Online Etymology Dictionary says that the word may originally stem from a Medieval Latin reference to ‘Gobelinus’ – a spirit haunting the Evreux region of France. Given that the city of Evreux was repeated sacked and burnt down in the Middle Ages, during the wars between Normandy and France, it’s not surprising that the spirit may have been responsible for spawning the Norman French word ‘gobelin’ which was first recorded in the early 14th Century as meaning “a devil, incubus, mischievous and ugly fairy.”
Goblin has come to be a catch-all term for mostly malicious creatures and there’s a lot of line blurring between folkloric tricksters and Hellish minions. Goblins, kobolds, knockers, trow, hobgoblins, phooka, bogey, sprites, brownies, gremlins … oh, there’s a whole parcel full of these delightful things that we must unpack one day. But, for now, what about the Krampus?
The banner image above is cropped from a lovely portrait of this beastie by Gerold Pattis, whose work can be found on Pixabay. The figure of the Krampus has become a pop culture icon, particularly since the 2015 release of the eponymous US horror film. In European Alpine and Germanic traditions, St Nick gives presents to good children and Krampus gives the bad children coal or puts them in his sack and beats them with a birch rod or throws them in an icy river or drags them off to Hell.
Seems legit.
There are plenty of regional variations on Krampus including the Bavarian Klaubauf (who prefers to bake children in pies), Knecht Ruprecht (who hits them with a bag of ashes), and Zwarte Piet from the Low Countries who puts children in his sack and, inexplicably, takes them to Spain rather than Hell.
We’ve also got some gender balancing with tales of the iron-beaked Christmas witch, Perchta, showing it’s not just hairy, horned, man-monsters that get to make the holiday season gory and bright. Perchta or Bertha or Frau Holle or Hulda is sometimes described as a goddess or a shapeshifter, with one large foot that shows her nature as both a swan maiden and a spinner whose foot is enlarged from too much hard-core treadling.
Perchta gets out and about in December and early January on her annual domestic workplace inspections which she takes very seriously indeed. If you haven’t spun all your flax, before the Christmas holidays, she shows up and tramples the unspun flax to punish you. If you’re also a messy housekeeper, she will slit your belly open with the knife she hides in her ragged skirts, pull out your guts, and stuff the hole with straw and stones. Or maybe just beat you with stinging nettles, if you’re lucky.
Here’s a delightful summary of Frau Perchta including the description of her creeping “through the house like a mad Martha Stewart crossed with the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” Perchta also has an entourage – the Perchten – that is part Wild Hunt and part horde of Krampuses doing her bidding as she goes around on Twelfth Night, looking for slovenly spinners to punish. It’s kind of cool that St Nicholas has one chained Krampus to mete out punishments and Perchta has an army of them.
When facing down the looming festive season I have to admit that I’ve never been that keen on Santa’s list being all or nothing “naughty or nice” and I think the Elf on the Shelf is a creepy little nark. I’m definitely not about to start handing out coal or judging anyone for their commitment to spinning flax and doing domestic chores. In fact, after another weird year, I am 100% behind the notion of seizing the opportunity over the holidays to go into goblin mode.
Just remember, if you feel the same, that you don’t need anyone’s approval. You goblin mode best when you’re unapologetic about rejecting social norms.
No regrets, fellow goblins, no regrets.