Goblins

In the book, “The Hobbit”, Thorin and Company encountered a group of orcs that Tolkien referred to as goblins. These goblins were living under the Misty Mountains since the First Age when they went into hiding after the War of Wrath. The goblins and other evil creatures fled Angband when Melkor was captured and brought to Valinor. They made their kingdoms all over the mountains of Middle-earth. These kingdoms included the Goblin capital found in Mount Gundabad, the Goblin-town above Rivendell, near the High Pass, and Moria, which was taken from the Dwarves. Most of the orcs remained in Mordor and Isengard.

Difference from Orcs

A lot of people are confused between the two. This is because "goblins" were only used during The Hobbit, and Tolkien used the word "orcs". Therefore, a lot of adaptations have portrayed them differently, where goblins are smaller & less involved creatures. At the same time, the orcs are bigger and more fearsome. The truth is Tolkien sees them as one race. He often used "orc" & "goblin" interchangeably not only in the Hobbit but also throughout The Lord of the Rings. According to John Rateliff, author of The History of The Hobbit, Tolkien has used both terms interchangeably back to his stories in The Silmarillion and The Book of Lost Tales. At the start of The Hobbit, Tolkien had written a note that he was using English for the characters' language.

The goblin & hobgoblin was the English translation that he used for Orc. He used the term "goblins" extensively in The Hobbit, and he also did the same occasionally when he wrote The Lord of the Rings. There has been a debate on whether the goblins and the orcs are the same. An example from J.R.R.'s writings, particularly in The Hobbit. In The Hobbit, Gandalf asks Thorin if he remembers the creature who killed his grandfather, Thror.

He named the beast Azog the goblin. In the other tales of Tolkien, Azog was always described to be one of the great orcs. Another example was when Thorin and Company came across the trolls' hoard of treasures, he claimed the Orcrist, a magnificent sword. Elrond later translated the name to "goblin cleaver."

Appearance

Tolkien describes the goblins as big and ugly creatures who were wicked and cruel. In Tolkien's book, The Hobbit, he describes the orcs as a large variety of goblins, which caused people to think that goblins were smaller than orcs. However, the Great Goblin and Azog the Goblin were supposed to be massive in size. In the movies by Peter Jackson, the goblins appeared to be having the same height as the hobbits and dwarves. Their lifestyle was much more tribal, with most groups having their chief. They were less organized compared to the orcs, and they often use scavenged items for their armor, weapons, and clothing. They also barely step out of their caves during daylight. It is said that there are two types of goblins in Tolkien's world: the goblins from the Misty Mountains and the ones from Moria. The goblins from Misty Mountain are the flesh-colored ones with various skin diseases and deformations. The goblins from Moria have skin in green shades and have pointier and larger ears with huge eyes.

Etymology

It is said that the word "Goblin" came from the Old French word "Gobelin," referring to an evil gnome. It is also said that the word could come from the word "Gobelinus," which has German, Latin, and Greek roots. Gobelinus is the name of a demon or devil that was said to haunt Normandy during the twelfth century.

Technology

Goblins may seem to be a tribal and barbaric race. Still, they have more advanced technology compared to the other races in Middle-earth. In “The Hobbit”, you can read about it in the Over Hill and Under Hill chapter. Here, Tolkien states that the goblins make use of dark technology. The goblins were able to create devices that can kill in groups, they were able to come up with wheels and engines, and they have always loved to deal with explosives. The goblins were often equipped with scimitars, spears, axes, and bows.

Famous Goblins

The Great Goblin

Tolkien introduced the Great Goblin when Thorin and Company arrived in the Misty Mountains. There was a thunderstorm, and they decided to rest in a cave, which turns out to be the front porch of the Misty Mountains goblins. A crack opens in the wall of the cave, and Bilbo peeks in it only to see a group of goblins capturing their ponies. The goblins were able to capture Bilbo and the dwarves later on. As they led their prisoners to the fortress, Tolkien took this time to explain that the goblins can mine as good as the dwarves. However, they have a less organized and messy process.

It turns out that the goblins were constructing a throne room for the Great Goblin during that time. The Great Goblin questioned the intentions of the group at first. When one of the goblins showed that Thorin had the Orcrist sword, this angered the great leader who ordered the group to be tortured and executed. It is during this scene that you can see how the goblins had a lot of devices meant for torture. The Great Goblin was very huge, and Tolkien described him to have a flat head. He often sits on the biggest stone in the cave where he rules over the goblins of Misty Mountain. The Great Goblin was killed by Gandalf, using his sword, Glamdring. The death of the Great Goblin delighted Beorn, who gave Thorin and company hospitality.

He also provided them with aid and mounts to ride so that they can reach Mirkwood safely. The death of the Great Goblin also rekindled the goblins' war with the dwarves. It was at this point that they started to prepare for a battle to avenge their leader and secure the North from the dwarves. However, the death of Smaug altered their plans, which led them to participate in the Battle of the Five Armies.

Azog the Goblin

Azog the goblin was known to be a fearless and great orc leader who ruled over the orcs of Moria. You can meet him in Tolkien's The Hobbit and is considered to be one of the two main villains (along with Smaug) in Peter Jackson's movies. He is a loyal follower of Sauron. Azog is known to be the archenemy of the Oakenshield family. He was the one who beheaded Thror, Thorin's grandfather. In the book, Azog took over the mines of Moria and captured Thror, the dwarf lord who visited Moria intending to rebuild it. He declared Thror as a thief and tortured him for days. He eventually killed him and beheaded him, marking his name on Thror's head. He then told the dwarves waiting for Thror outside the gates, that those who tried to steal from the goblins would meet the same fate. Azog refused to give Thror's head to the dwarves and ordered the goblins to hack up Thror's body and feed it to the ravens.

This drove Thror's son, Thrain, mad with grief. This started the war between the goblins and the dwarves. In the movies, a battle scene was shown when Thror led his people to Moira. Azog kills Thror in the battle, which drove Thrain mad and forced the dwarves to retreat. During the battle, Thorin Oakenshield faced Azog, and Thorin managed to hack off Azog's left arm. The severely wounded orc leader was then dragged back to the caves by his men. Thorin thought the leader was dead, but Azog lived on, devised a prosthetic arm, and swore to track Thorin Oakenshield and kill the last of his bloodline. It took 60 years to pass before Azog gets to face Thorin again when he receives the news that Thorin and the Company are captured by the Great Goblin.

Adaptations

The Hobbit (1977)

In this animated adaptation of The Hobbit, the goblins were portrayed as significant, green beasts. They were bulkier than the goblins that we know of now - most of the goblin characters were fat or muscular. They had toad-like heads that had lupine ears, canine noses, horns, and tusks. [1]

The Return of the King (1980)

This is another animated adaptation, but this time, the goblins were portrayed to be the same as the orcs. In the movie, Sam says he sees orcs in the tower and that Bilbo called them goblins. The orcs and goblins in this film were similar to the creatures in the animated movie The Hobbit (1977). But there were more variations in sizes and shapes, and some of them had a more bluish color. [2]

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

In “The Fellowship of the Ring” movie by Peter Jackson, there is a scene where the Fellowship of the Ring encounters a group of goblins as they pass by Dwarrowdelf, an abandoned Dwarf city. Pippin accidentally revealed their presence to the goblins in the area, which caused a fight in Balin's Tomb. In this scene, the goblins used a Cave Troll as its main weapon. The Fellowship of the Ring fled to the Bridge of Khazad-dûm because a larger group of goblins were closing in on them. The Fellowship of the Ring found themselves trapped in one of Dwarrowdelf's great halls as they were surrounded by a lot of goblins. However, a loud menacing roar was heard, and the hall lit up with an orange glow. This caused the goblins to flee in all directions. The creature that happened to scare them off was Durin's Bane. [3] In Tolkien's book, the goblins (referred to as Orc) were more effective fighters than what was portrayed in the movies. In fact, in the book, it was the leader of the orcs who stabbed Frodo (the film showed that it was the cave troll who stabbed Frodo). In the book, Haldir warns the Fellowship of the Ring that the orcs can pursue enemies even in long distances. The orcs will risk going out during the day just to seek revenge for the death of their chieftain.

The Hobbit Trilogy

In Peter Jackson's first installment of The Hobbit trilogy movies, you can see the goblins of the High Pass. Their skin comes in various shades of flesh and looks like they have different skin diseases. Most of the goblins have deformations like harelips, crooked fingernails, and skewed or mismatched eyes. They were as tall as a Hobbit or Dwarf and are more grotesque than the goblins seen in The Lord of the Rings movie. You see the same goblins in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, where they are now goblin mercenaries with armor and often used Great Guldur War Trolls as a means of transportation. [4]

European Folklore

The goblins of European folklore are portrayed differently from Tolkien's and are the goblins that most of us know. Goblins are often described as small, mischievous, greedy, and vengeful troublemakers. In European folklore, goblins have unique or magical powers. Some goblins can have skills the same as that of a warlock or witch, while others have demonic forces or dark magic. Just like Tolkien's goblins, these goblins prefer to live in the mountains and only are active at night.​