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{{about|the sprite from Germanic folklore}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
 | name          = Kobold
 | image         = Kobold and flowers.jpeg
 | caption       = The kobold Heinzelmann
 | Grouping      = [[Mythological creature]]<br/>[[Fairy]]<br/>[[Sprite (entity)|Sprite]]
 | Possibilities =
 | AKA           =
 | Country       = [[Germany]]
 | Region        =
 | Habitat       =
}}
{{from wikipedia}}
The '''kobold''' (occasionally '''cobold''') is a [[sprite (entity)|sprite]] stemming from [[Germanic mythology]] and surviving into modern times in [[German folklore]].

Although usually invisible, a kobold can materialize in the form of an animal, fire, a human being, and a candle. The most common depictions of kobolds show them as humanlike figures the size of small children. Kobolds who live in human homes wear the clothing of peasants; those who live in mines are hunched and ugly; kobolds who live on ships smoke pipes and wear sailor clothing.

Legends tell of three major types of kobolds. Most commonly, the creatures are [[house spirit]]s of ambivalent nature; while they sometimes perform domestic chores, they play malicious tricks if insulted or neglected. Famous kobolds of this type include [[King Goldemar]], [[Hinzelmann|Heinzelmann]], and [[Hödekin]]. In some regions, kobolds are known by local names, such as the '''''Galgenmännlein''''' of southern Germany and the ''[[Heinzelmännchen]]'' of [[Cologne]]. Another type of kobold haunts underground places, such as mines. A third kind of kobold, the ''[[Klabautermann]]'', lives aboard ships and helps sailors.

Kobold beliefs are evidence of the survival of [[paganism|pagan]] customs after the Christianisation of Germany.{{Dubious|date=July 2019}} Belief in kobolds dates to at least the 13th century, when German peasants carved kobold effigies for their homes. Such pagan practices may have derived from beliefs in the mischievous ''[[kobalos]]'' of ancient Greece, the household ''[[lares]]'' and ''[[penates]]'' of ancient Rome, or native German beliefs in a similar room spirit called ''kofewalt'' (whose name is a possible rootword of the modern ''kobold'' or a German dialectal variant).<ref>{{cite book| last = Dowden| first = Ken| title = European Paganism| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7xJvuUOlpYIC| year = 2002| publisher = Taylor & Francis| isbn = 978-0-203-01177-5 }}</ref> Kobold beliefs mirror legends of similar creatures in other regions of Europe, and scholars have argued that the names of creatures such as [[goblin]]s and ''[[kabouter]]s'' derive from the same roots as ''kobold''. This may indicate a common origin for these creatures, or it may represent cultural borrowings and influences of European peoples upon one another. Similarly, subterranean kobolds may share their origins with creatures such as [[gnome]]s and [[dwarf (mythology)|dwarves]] and the aquatic [[Klabautermann]] with similar water spirits.

The name of the element [[cobalt]] comes from the creature's name, because medieval miners blamed the sprite for the poisonous and troublesome nature of the typical [[arsenic]]al ores of this metal ([[cobaltite]] and [[smaltite]]) which polluted other mined elements.

==Origins and etymology==
The kobold's origins are obscure. Sources equate the domestic kobold with creatures such as the English [[boggart]], [[hobgoblin]] and [[pixy]], the Scottish [[Brownie (mythology)|brownie]], and the Scandinavian [[tomte|nisse or tomte]];<ref>Baring-Gould x.</ref><ref name="Bunce 58">Bunce 58.</ref><ref name="Keightley 239">Keightley 239.</ref><ref name="Maclaren 223">Maclaren 223.</ref><ref>Snowe 99.</ref> while they align the subterranean variety with the Norse [[norse dwarves|dwarf]] and the Cornish [[knocker (folklore)|knocker]].<ref name="Grimm 501">Grimm 501.</ref><ref>Rose 182–3.</ref> Irish historian [[Thomas Keightley (historian)|Thomas Keightley]] argued that the German kobold and the Scandinavian [[tomte|nis]] predate the Irish [[fairy]] and the Scottish [[Brownie (mythology)|brownie]] and influenced the beliefs in those entities, but American folklorist [[Richard Mercer Dorson]] discounted this argument as reflecting Keightley's bias toward Gotho-Germanic ideas over Celtic ones.<ref>Dorson 54.</ref>

Kobold beliefs represent the survival of [[paganism|pagan]] customs into the Christian and modern eras and offer hints of how pagan Europeans worshipped in the privacy of their homes.<ref>Dowden 229–30.</ref>{{Dubious|date=July 2019}} Religion historian Otto Schrader has suggested that kobold beliefs derive from the pagan tradition of worshipping household deities thought to reside in the hearth fire.<ref name="Schrader 24">Schrader 24.</ref> Alternatively, Nancy Arrowsmith and George Moorse have said that the earliest kobolds were thought to be tree spirits.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 135">Arrowsmith and Moorse 135.</ref> According to 13th-century German poet [[Conrad of Würzburg]], medieval Germans carved kobolds from [[Buxus sempervirens|boxwood]] and wax and put them "up in the room for fun".<ref name="Grimm 502">Grimm 502.</ref> [[Mandrake (mythology)|Mandrake]] root was another material used.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 136">Arrowsmith and Moorse 136.</ref> People believed that the wild kobold remained in the material used to carve the figure.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 135"/> These kobold effigies were {{convert|30|to|60|cm|abbr=on}} high and had colourful clothing and large mouths. One example, known as the ''monoloke'', was made from white wax and wore a blue shirt and black velvet vest.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 136"/> The 17th century expression ''to laugh like a kobold'' may refer to these dolls with their mouths wide open, and it may mean "to laugh loud and heartily".<ref name="Grimm 502"/> These kobold effigies were stored in glass and wooden containers.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 136"/> German mythologist [[Jacob Grimm]] has traced the custom to Roman times and has argued that religious authorities tolerated it even after the Germans had been Christianised.<ref name="Grimm 501"/>

Several competing [[etymology|etymologies]] for ''kobold'' have been suggested. In 1908, Otto Schrader traced the word to ''kuba-walda'', meaning "the one who rules the house".<ref name="Schrader 24"/> According to this theory, the root of the word is ''chubisi'', the [[Old High German]] word for house, building, or hut, and the word akin to the root of the English 'cove'. The suffix ''-old'' means "to rule".<ref name="Lurker 103">Lurker 103.</ref><ref>"Cove", Merriam-Webster.</ref> Classicist Ken Dowden has identified the ''[[kofewalt]]'', a spirit with powers over a single room, as the antecedent to the term ''kobold'' and to the creature itself.<ref name="Dowden 229"/> He has drawn parallels between the kobold and the Roman ''[[lare]]s'' and ''penates'' and the Anglo-Saxon ''[[cofgodas]]'', "room-gods".<ref name="Dowden 229">Dowden 229.</ref> Linguist Paul Wexler has proposed yet another etymology, tracing ''kobold'' to the roots ''koben'' ("pigsty") and ''hold'' ("stall spirit").<ref>Wexler 289.</ref>

Grimm has provided one of the earlier and more commonly accepted{{Dubious|date=April 2014}}{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} etymologies for ''kobold'',<ref name="Keightley 239"/> tracing the word's origin through the Latin ''cobalus'' to the Greek ''koba'los'', meaning "[[rogue (vagrant)|rogue]]". The change to the word-final ''-olt'' is a feature of the [[German language]] used for monsters and supernatural beings. Variants of ''kobold'' appear as early as the 13th century.<ref>Grimm 500.</ref> The words ''goblin'' and ''gobelin'', rendered in Medieval Latin as ''gobelinus'',<ref>"[http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/goblins.html Goblins]," ''Encyclopedia of Arda''</ref><ref>Barnhart, Robert K.; [[Sol Steinmetz|Steinmetz, Sol]]. 'The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology'. H.W. Wilson Co., 1988. Original from the University of Michigan {{ISBN|0-8242-0745-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8242-0745-8}} Length 1284 pages. Page 440</ref> may in fact derive from the word ''kobold'' or from ''kofewalt''.<ref name="Dowden 229"/><ref>Knapp 62.</ref> Related terms occur in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], such as ''kabout'', ''kabot'', and ''kaboutermanneken''.<ref name="Grimm 502"/> Citing this evidence, British antiquarian Charles Hardwick has argued that the house kobold and similar creatures, such as the Scottish [[boggart|bogie]], French [[goblin]], and English [[Puck (mythology)|Puck]], all descend from the Greek ''[[kobaloi]]'', creatures "whose sole delite consists in perplexing the human race, and evoking those harmless terrors that constantly hover round the minds of the timid."<ref>[[John Roby|Roby, John]] (1829). ''Traditions of Lancashire''. Quoted in Hardwick 139. The sources spell the word ''khobalus''.</ref> In keeping with Grimm's definition, the ''kobaloi'' were spirits invoked by rogues.<ref>Liddell and Scott "koba_l-os , ho".</ref> Similarly, British writer Archibald Maclaren has suggested that kobold beliefs descend from the ancient Roman custom of worshipping ''[[lares]]'', [[household god]]s, and ''[[penates]]'', gods of the house and its supplies.<ref>Maclaren xiii.</ref>

Another class of kobold lives in underground places. Folklorists have proposed that the mine kobold derives from the beliefs of the ancient Germanic people. Scottish historical novelist [[Walter Scott]] has suggested that the [[Proto-Norse]] based the kobolds on the short-statured Finns, Lapps, and Latvians who fled their invasions and sought shelter in northern European caves and mountains. There they put their skills at smithing to work and, in the beliefs of the proto-Norse, came to be seen as supernatural beings. These beliefs spread, becoming the kobold, the Germanic [[gnome]],{{Dubious|date=March 2010}} the French goblin and the Scottish [[bogle]].<ref>Scott 110–1.</ref> In contrast, Humorists [[William Edmonstoune Aytoun]] and [[Theodore Martin]] (writing as "[[Bon Gaultier]]") have proposed that the Norse themselves were the models for the mine kobold and similar creatures, such as dwarfs, goblins, and [[troll]]s; Norse miners and smiths "were small in their physical proportions, and usually had their stithies near the mouths of the mines among the hills." This gave rise to myths about small, subterranean creatures, and the stories spread across Europe "as extensively as the military migrations from the same places did".<ref>Gaultier 367.</ref>

German writer [[Heinrich Smidt]] believed that the sea kobolds, or ''Klabautermann'', entered German folklore via German sailors who had learned about them in England. However, historians David Kirby and Merja-Liisa Hinkkanen dispute this, claiming no evidence of such a belief in Britain. An alternate view connects the Klabautermann myths with the story of [[Saint Phocas]] of Sinope. As that story spread from the [[Black Sea]] to the [[Baltic Sea]]. Scholar Reinhard Buss instead sees the Klabautermann as an amalgamation of early and pre-Christian beliefs mixed with new creatures.<ref>Kirby and Hiinkkanen 48–9.</ref>

==Characteristics==
[[Image:Kobold artlibre jnl.jpg|thumb|Drawing of a Kobold]]
[[Image:Woman with kobold baby.png|thumb|A kobold in the form of an infant helps with domestic chores.]]
Kobolds are spirits and, as such, part of a spiritual realm. However, as with other European spirits, they often dwell among the living.<ref name="Luthi 4">Lüthi 4.</ref><ref>Saintine 289.</ref> Although ''kobold'' is the general term, tales often give names to individuals and classes of kobolds. The name Chim is particularly common,<ref>Quoted in Heine 140.</ref> and other names found in stories include Chimmeken, King Goldemar, Heinzchen, Heinze, Himschen, Heinzelmann, [[Hödekin]], Kurd Chimgen, Walther, and Wolterken.<ref name="Rose 183">Rose 183.</ref><ref>Sainteine 288–9.</ref> Local names for kobolds include Allerünken, Alraune, Galgenmännlein (in southern Germany), Glucksmännchen, [[Heinzelmännchen]] (in Cologne), Hütchen, and Oaraunle.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 136"/><ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 248">Arrowsmith and Moorse 248.</ref><ref name="Keightley 257"/> The [[Heinzelmännchen]] are a class of kobolds from Cologne,<ref name="Keightley 257">Keightley 257.</ref> and the [[Klabautermann]] is a kobold from the beliefs of fishermen and sailors of the [[Baltic Sea]]. Many of these names are modifications of common German given names, such as Heinrich (abbreviated to Heinze), Joachim, and Walther.<ref name="Keightley 240">Keightley 240.</ref>

Kobolds may manifest as animals, fire, human beings, and objects.<ref name="Luthi 4"/> Fiery kobolds are also called ''drakes'', ''draches'', or ''puks''. A tale from the [[Altmark]], recorded by Anglo-Saxon scholar [[Benjamin Thorpe]] in 1852, describes the kobold as "a fiery stripe with a broad head, which he usually shakes from one side to the other..."<ref name="Thorpe 155-6">Thorpe 155–6.</ref> A legend from the same period taken from [[Pechüle]], near [[Luckenwald]], says that the kobold flies through the air as a blue stripe and carries grain. "If a knife or a fire-steel be cast at him, he will burst, and must let fall what which he is carrying."<ref name="Thorpe 156">Thorpe 156.</ref> Some legends say the fiery kobold enters and exits a house through the chimney.<ref name="Ashliman 53">Ashliman 53.</ref> Legends dating to 1852 from western [[Uckermark]] ascribe both human and fiery features to the kobold; he wears a red jacket and cap and moves about the air as a fiery stripe.<ref name="Thorpe 156"/> Such fire associations, along with the name ''drake'', may point to a connection between kobold and dragon myths.<ref name="Ashliman 53"/>

Kobolds who live in human homes are generally depicted as humanlike, dressed as peasants, and standing about as tall as a four-year-old child.<ref name="Keightley 253">Keightley 253.</ref> A legend recorded by folklorist Joseph Snowe from a place called Alte Burg in 1839 tells of a creature "in the shape of a short, thick-set being, neither boy nor man, but akin to the condition of both, garbed in a party-coloured loose surcoat, and wearing a high-crowned hat with a broad brim on his diminutive head."<ref>Snowe 105.</ref> The kobold [[Hödekin]] (also known as Hüdekin and Hütchen) of [[Hildesheim]] wore a little hat down over his face (''Hödekin'' means "little hat").<ref>Heine 141.</ref><ref>Keightley 255.</ref> Another type of kobold known as the Hütchen is said to be {{convert|0.3|–|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall, with red hair and beard, and clad in red or green clothing and a red hat and may even be blind.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 250">Arrowsmith and Moorse 250.</ref>  Yet other tales describe kobolds appearing as herdsmen looking for work<ref name="Ashliman 46">Ashliman 46.</ref> and little, wrinkled old men in pointed hoods.<ref name="Rose 183"/>  Some kobolds resemble small children. According to dramatist and novelist [[X. B. Saintine]], kobolds are the spirits of dead children and often appear with a knife that represents the means by which they were put to death.<ref>Saintine 289–90.</ref> [[Hinzelmann|Heinzelmann]], a kobold from the folklore of [[Hodenhagen|Hudermühlen Castle]] in the region of [[Lüneburg]], appeared as a beautiful boy with blond, curly hair to his shoulders and dressed in a red silk coat.<ref name="Keightley 253"/> His voice was "soft and tender like that of a boy or maiden."<ref name="Keightley 240"/>

Legends variously describe mine kobolds as 0.6&nbsp;metre-tall (2-ft) old men dressed like miners to short, bent creatures with ugly features,<ref name="London Encyclopedia">"Fairy of the Mine"</ref><ref name="Angus and Griffin 11">Angus and Griffin 11.</ref> including, in some tales, black skin.<ref name="Britten 32">Britten 32.</ref> In 1820, Spiritualist [[Emma Hardinge Britten]] recorded a description of mine kobolds from a Madame Kalodzy, who stayed with peasants named Dorothea and Michael Engelbrecht:

<blockquote>We were about to sit down to tea when Mdlle. Gronin called our attention to the steady light, round, and about the size of a cheese plate, which appeared suddenly on the wall of the little garden directly opposite the door of the hut in which we sat.
<br>
Before any of us could rise to examine it, four more lights appeared almost simultaneously, about the same shape, and varying only in size. Surrounding each one was the dim outline of a small human figure, black and grotesque, more like a little image carved out of black shining wood, than anything else I can liken them to. Dorothea kissed her hands to these dreadful little shapes, and Michael bowed with great reverence. As for me and my companions, we were so awe-struck yet amused at these comical shapes, that we could not move or speak until they themselves seemed to flit about in a sort of wavering dance, and then vanish, one by one.<ref name="Britten 32 quote">Quoted in Britten 32.</ref></blockquote>

The same informant claimed to later have seen the kobolds first-hand. She described them as "diminutive black dwarfs about two or three feet in height, and at that part which in the human being is occupied by the heart, they carry the round luminous circle first described, an appearance which is much more frequently seen than the little black men themselves."<ref name="Britten 32 quote"/> The [[Heinzelmännchen]] of Cologne resemble short, naked men,<ref name="Keightley 257"/> and the [[Klabautermann]], a kobold from the beliefs of fishermen and sailors of the [[Baltic Sea]], typically appears as a small, pipe-smoking humanlike figure wearing a yellow nightcap-style sailor's hat and a red or grey jacket.<ref>Kirby and Hinkkanen 48.</ref><ref name="Rose 181">Rose 181.</ref>

Other kobolds appear as animals.<ref name="Luthi 4"/> Folklorist [[D. L. Ashliman]] has reported kobolds appearing as wet cats and hens,<ref name="Ashliman 46"/> and Arrowsmith and Moorse mention kobolds in the shape of bats, cats, roosters, snakes, and worms.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 136"/><ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 250"/> Thorpe has recorded that the people of Altmark believed that kobolds appeared as black cats while walking the earth.<ref name="Thorpe 155-6"/> The kobold Heinzelmann could appear as a black [[marten]] and a large snake.<ref>Keightley 244–5.</ref>

[[Image:Heinzelmännchenbrunnen.JPG|thumb|The Heinzelmännchen of Cologne left the city after a woman tried to see them by tripping them with peas strewn on the stairs.]]
Most often, kobolds remain completely invisible.<ref name="Luthi 4"/> Although [[King Goldemar]] (or Goldmar), a famous kobold from [[Castle Hardenstein]], had hands "thin like those of a frog, cold and soft to the feel", he never showed himself.<ref name="Keightley 256">Keightley 256.</ref> The master of Hundermühlen Castle, where Heinzelmann lived, convinced the kobold to let him touch him one night. The kobold's fingers were childlike, and his face was like a skull, without body heat.<ref>Keightley 251–2.</ref> One legend tells of a female servant taking a fancy to her house's kobold and asking to see him. The kobold refuses, claiming that to look upon him would be terrifying. Undeterred, the maid insists, and the kobold tells her to meet him later—and to bring along a pail of cold water. The kobold waits for the maid, nude and with a butcher knife in his back. The maid faints at the sight, and the kobold wakes her with the cold water.<ref>Quoted in Heine 139.</ref><ref>Keightley 252.</ref> In one variant, the maid sees a dead baby floating in a cask full of blood; years before, the woman had born a bastard child, killed it, and hidden it in such a cask.<ref>Heine 140–1.</ref> Legends tell of those who try to trick a kobold into showing itself being punished for the misdeed. For example, Heinzelmann tricked a nobleman into thinking that the kobold was hiding in a jug. When the nobleman covered the jug's mouth to trap the creature, the kobold chided him:

<blockquote>If I had not heard long ago from other people that you were a fool, I might now have known it of myself, since you thought I was sitting in an empty jug, and went to cover it up with your hand, as if you had me caught. I don't think you worth the trouble, or I would have given you, long since, such a lesson, that you should remember me long enough. But before long you will get a slight ducking.<ref name="Keightley 245">Keightley 245.</ref></blockquote>

When a man threw ashes and tares about to try to see King Goldemar's footprints, the kobold cut him to pieces, put him on a spit, roasted him, boiled his legs and head, and ate him.<ref>Keightley 256–7</ref> The Heinzelmänchen of Cologne marched from the city and sailed away when a tailor's wife strewed peas on the stairs to trip them so she could see them. In 1850, Keightley noted that the Heinzelmänchen "[had] totally disappeared, as has been everywhere the case, owing to the curiosity of people, which has at all times been the destruction of so much of what was beautiful in the world."<ref>Keightley 258.</ref>

==House spirits==
{{main|House spirit}}
[[Image:The Little white feather.jpeg|thumb|right|Heinzelmann was a kobold who haunted [[Hodenhagen|Hudemühlen Castle]].]]
Domestic kobolds are linked to a specific household.<ref name="Heine 140">Heine 140.</ref> Some legends claim that every house has a resident kobold, regardless of its owners' desires or needs.<ref name="Maclaren 223"/> The means by which a kobold enters a new home vary from tale to tale. One tradition claims that the kobold enters the household by announcing itself at night by strewing wood chips about the house and putting dirt or cow manure in the milk cans. If the master of the house leaves the wood chips and drinks the soiled milk, the kobold takes up residence.<ref name="Keightley 239"/><ref>Heine 143.</ref> The kobold Heinzelmann of Hundermühlen Castle arrived in 1584 and announced himself by knocking and making other sounds.<ref name="Keightley 240"/> Should someone take pity on a kobold in the form of a cold, wet creature and take it inside to warm it, the spirit takes up residence there.<ref name="Ashliman 46"/> A tradition from [[Perleberg]] in northern Germany says that a homeowner must follow specific instructions to lure a kobold to his house. He must go on [[Nativity of St. John the Baptist|St John's Day]] between noon and one o'clock, into the forest. When he finds an anthill with a bird on it, he must say a certain phrase, which causes the bird to transform into a small person. The figure then leaps into a bag carried by the homeowner, and he can then transfer the kobold to his home.<ref>Thorpe 141.</ref> Even if servants come and go, the kobold stays.<ref name="Heine 140"/>

House kobolds usually live in the hearth area of a house,<ref name="Rose 183"/> although some tales place them in less frequented parts of the home, in the woodhouse,<ref>Thorpe 84.</ref> in barns and stables, or in the beer cellar of an inn. At night, such kobolds do chores that the human occupants neglected to finish before bedtime:<ref name="Rose 40, 183">Rose 40, 183.</ref> They chase away pests, clean the stables, feed and groom the cattle and horses, scrub the dishes and pots, and sweep the kitchen.<ref name="Praetorius">Praetorius, quoted in Heine 140.</ref><ref>Saintine 287.</ref> Other kobolds help tradespeople and shopkeepers. A Cologne legend recorded by Keightley claims that bakers in the city in the early 19th century never needed hired help because, each night, the kobolds known as Heinzelmänchen made as much bread as a baker could need.<ref name="Keightley 257"/> Similarly, [[biersal]], kobolds who live in breweries and the beer cellars of inns or pubs, bring beer into the house, clean the tables, and wash the bottles, glasses and casks.<ref>Thorpe 157.</ref> One such legend, first appearing late in the 19th century, concerns a house spirit named [[Fremlin's Brewery#Hodfellow and the origin of Gremlins|Hödfellow]] that resided at the [[Fremlin's Brewery]] in [[Maidstone]], [[Kent]], England who was wont to either assist the company's workers or hinder their efforts depending on whether he was being paid his share of the beer.<ref>Homer, Johnny. Brewing in Kent. Gloucestershire, Amberlley Publishing, 2016  {{ISBN|9781445657431}}.</ref> This association between kobolds and work gave rise to a saying current in 19th-century Germany that a woman who worked quickly "had the kobold".<ref>Moore 60.</ref>

A kobold can bring wealth to his household in the form of grain and gold.<ref name="Ashliman 46"/> A legend from [[Saterland]] and [[East Friesland]], recorded by Thorpe in 1852, tells of a kobold called the Alrûn. Despite standing only about a foot tall, the creature could carry a load of rye in his mouth for the people with whom he lived and did so daily as long as he received a meal of biscuits and milk. The saying ''to have an Alrûn in one's pocket'' means "to have luck at play".<ref>Thorpe 156–7.</ref> However, kobold gifts may be stolen from the neighbours; accordingly, some legends say that gifts from a kobold are demonic or evil.<ref name="Ashliman 46"/> Nevertheless, peasants often welcome this trickery and feed their kobold in the hopes that it continue bringing its gifts.<ref name="Dowden 229"/> A family coming into unexplained wealth was often attributed to a new kobold moving into the house.<ref name="Ashliman 46"/>

Kobolds bring good luck and help their hosts as long as the hosts take care of them. The kobold Heinzelmann found things that had been lost.<ref>Keightley 242.</ref> He had a rhyme he liked to sing: "If thou here wilt let me stay, / Good luck shalt thou have alway; / But if hence thou wilt me chase, / Luck will ne'er come near the place."<ref>Keightley 243.</ref> Three famous kobolds, King Goldemar, Heinzelmann, and Hödekin, all gave warnings about danger to the owners of the home in which they lived.<ref name="Heine 141-2">Heine 141–2.</ref><ref>Keightley 249, 256.</ref> Heinzelmann once warned a colonel to be careful on his daily hunt. The man ignored the advice, only to have his gun backfire and shoot off his thumb. Heinzelman appeared to him and said, "See, now, you have got what I warned you of! If you had refrained from shooting this time, this mischance would not have befallen you."<ref>Keightley 249.</ref> The kobold Hödekin, who lived with the bishop of Hildesheim in the 12th century, once warned the bishop of a murder. When the bishop acted on the information, he was able to take over the murderer's lands and add them to his bishopric.<ref name="Heine 141-2"/>

In return, the family must leave a portion of their supper (or beer, for the ''biersal'' - see [[Fremlin's Brewery#Hodfellow and the origin of Gremlins|Hödfellow]]) to the spirit and must treat the kobold with respect, never mocking or laughing at the creature. A kobold expects to be fed in the same place at the same time each day,<ref name="Praetorius"/> or in the case of the Hütchen, once a week and on holidays.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 248"/> One tradition says that their favourite food is grits or water-gruel.<ref>''Saturday Magazine'' 76.</ref> Tales tell of kobolds with their own rooms; the kobold Heinzelmann had his own chamber at the castle, complete with furnishings.<ref name="Bunce 58"/><ref name="Rose 151–2">Rose 151–2.</ref> and King Goldemar was said to sleep in the same bed with Neveling von Hardenberg. He demanded a place at the table and a stall for his horses.<ref name="Keightley 256"/> Keightley relates that maids who leave the employ of a certain household must warn their successor to treat the house kobold well.<ref name="Keightley 239"/>

Legends tell of slighted kobolds becoming quite malevolent and vengeful,<ref name="Rose 40, 183"/><ref name="Praetorius"/> afflicting errant hosts with supernatural diseases, disfigurements, and injuries.<ref name="Luthi 5">Lüthi 5.</ref> Their pranks range from beating the servants to murdering those who insult them.<ref name="Bunce 58"/><ref name="Rose 151–2"/> One holyman visited the home of Heinzelmann and refused to accept the kobold's protests that he was a Christian. Heinzelmann threatened him, and the nobleman fled.<ref>Keightley 246–7.</ref> Another nobleman refused to drink to the kobold's honour, which prompted Heinzelmann to drag the man to the ground and choke him near to death.<ref>Keightley 247.</ref> When a kitchen servant got dirt on the kobold Hödekin and sprayed him with water each time he appeared,<ref>Bunce 58 says the servant got him dirty; Heine reports that the servant sprayed him with water whenever he appeared; Keightley 255 says the servant did both.</ref> Hödekin asked that the boy be punished, but the steward dismissed the behaviour as a childish prank. Hodeken waited for the servant to go to sleep and then strangled him, tore him limb from limb, and threw him in a pot over the fire.<ref name="Heine 141-2"/><ref>Bunce 58 does not mention the destruction of the corpse and mentions only a single pot.</ref> The head cook rebuked the kobold for the murder, so Hodeken squeezed toad blood onto the meat being prepared for the bishop. The cook chastised the spirit for this behaviour, so Hodeken threw him over the drawbridge into the moat.<ref name="Heine 141-2"/> According to Lüthi, these abilities reflect the fear of the people who believe in them.<ref name="Luthi 5"/> Thomas Keightley has attributed the feats of kobolds to "ventriloquism and the contrivances of servants and others."<ref>Keightley 254.</ref>

[[Image:A little white feather danced above their heads.jpeg|thumb|left|The kobold Heinzelmann appears to the fleeing master of his house as a white feather.]]
Archibald Maclaren has attributed kobold behaviour to the virtue of the homeowners; a virtuous house has a productive and helpful kobold; a vice-filled one has a malicious and mischievous pest. If the hosts give up those things to which the kobold objects, the spirit ceases its annoying behaviour.<ref>Maclaren 224.</ref> Heinzelmann punished vices; for example, when the secretary of Hudenmühlen was sleeping with the chamber maid, the kobold interrupted a sexual encounter and hit the secretary with a broom handle.<ref>Keightley 250.</ref> King Goldemar revealed the secret transgressions of clergymen, much to their chagrin.<ref name="Keightley 256"/> Joseph Snowe has related the tale of a kobold at Alte Burg: When two students slept in the mill in which the creature lived, one of them ate the offering of food the miller had left the kobold. The student who had left the meal alone felt the kobold's touch as "gentle and soothing", but the one who had eaten its food felt that "the fingers of the hand were pointed with poisoned arrowheads, or fanged with fire."<ref>Snowe 106.</ref> Even friendly kobolds are rarely completely good,<ref name="Luthi 4"/> and house kobolds may do mischief for no particular reason. They hide things, push people over when they bend to pick something up, and make noise at night to keep people awake.<ref name="Chantilly 98">The Writers of Chantilly 98.</ref><ref>Saintine 290.</ref> The kobold Hödekin of Hildesheim roamed the walls of the castle at night, forcing the watch to be constantly vigilant.<ref name="Heine 141-2"/> A kobold in a fishermen's house in Köpenick on the [[Wendish Spree]] reportedly moved sleeping fishermen so that their heads and toes lined up.<ref>Thorpe 83–4.</ref> King Goldemar enjoyed strumming the harp and playing dice.<ref name="Keightley 256"/> One of Heinzelmann's pranks was to pinch drunken men to make them start fights with their companions.<ref>Keightley 244.</ref> Heinzelmann liked his lord's two daughters and scared away their suitors so that the women never married.<ref name="Rose 151–2"/>

Folktales tell of people trying to rid themselves of mischievous kobolds. In one tale, a man with a kobold-haunted barn puts all the straw onto a cart, burns the barn down, and sets off to start anew. As he rides away, he looks back and sees the kobold sitting behind him. "It was high time that we got out!" it says.<ref>Ashliman 47.</ref> A similar tale from Köpenick tells of a man trying to move out of a kobold-infested house. He sees the kobold preparing to move too and realises that he cannot rid himself of the creature.<ref>Ashliman 91–2.</ref> The lord of the Hundermühlen Castle disliked Heinzelmann and tried to escape him by taking up residence with his family and retinue elsewhere. Nevertheless, the invisible kobold travelled along with them as a white feather, which they discovered when they stayed at an inn.

<blockquote>Why do you retire from me? I can easily follow you anywhere, and be where you are. It is much better for you to return to your own estate, and not be quitting it on my account. You see well that if I wished it I could take away all you have, but I am not inclined to do so.<ref>Keightley 241–2.</ref></blockquote>

[[Exorcism]] by a Christian priest works in some tales; the bishop of Hildesheim managed to exorcise Hödekin from the castle.<ref name="Bunce 58"/><ref name="Heine 141-2"/> Even this method is not fool-proof, however; when an exorcist tried to drive away Heinzelmann, the kobold tore up the priest's holy book, strewed it about the room, attacked the exorcist, and chased ''him'' away.<ref name="Keightley 245"/><ref name="Rose 151–2"/> Insulting a kobold may drive it away, but not without a curse; when someone tried to see his true form, Goldemar left the home and vowed that the house would now be as unlucky as it had been fortunate under his care.<ref name="Keightley 257"/> Actions a Hütchen considers insulting include giving him clothing, rushing him in his work, burning the house down, and leaving a wagon wheel in front of it.<ref name="Arrowsmith and Moorse 250"/>

==Mine spirits==
Medieval European miners believed in underground spirits. The kobold filled this role in German folklore and is similar to other creatures of the type, such as the English [[bluecap]], Cornish [[knocker (folklore)|knocker]] and the Welsh [[coblynau]]. Stories of subterranean kobolds were common in Germany by the 16th century. Superstitious miners believed the creatures to be expert miners and metalworkers who could be heard constantly drilling, hammering, and shoveling. Some stories claim that the kobolds live ''in'' the rock, just as human beings live in the air.<ref name="Angus and Griffin 11"/>

Legends often paint underground kobolds as evil creatures. In medieval mining towns, people prayed for protection from them.<ref>Weeks 22.</ref> They were blamed for the accidents, cave-ins, and rock slides that plagued human miners.<ref name="Chantilly 98"/> One favoured kobold prank was to fool miners into taking worthless ore. For example, 16th-century miners sometimes encountered what looked to be rich veins of copper or silver, but which, when smelted, proved to be little more than a pollutant and could even be poisonous.<ref>Jameson 279.</ref><ref>Eagleson 241.</ref><ref name="CRB 36">Commodity Research Bureau 36.</ref><ref>Morris 78.</ref> These ores caused a burning sensation to those who handled them.<ref name="Angus and Griffin 11"/> Miners tried to appease the kobolds with offerings of gold and silver and by insisting that fellow miners treat them respectfully.<ref name="Lurker 103"/><ref name="Rose 70">Rose 70.</ref><ref name="Scott 110">Scott 110.</ref> Nevertheless, some stories claim that kobolds only returned such kindness with more poisonous ores.<ref name="Lurker 103"/> Miners called these ores ''cobalt'' after the creatures from whom they were thought to come.<ref name="Rose 70"/> In 1735, Swedish chemist [[Georg Brandt]] isolated a substance from such ores and named it ''cobalt rex''.<ref>Daintith 115.</ref> In 1780, scientists showed that this was in fact a new element, which they named ''[[cobalt]]''.<ref name="CRB 36"/>

Tales from other parts of Germany make mine kobolds beneficial creatures, at least if they are treated respectfully.<ref name="Scott 110"/> Nineteenth-century miners in Bohemia and Hungary reported hearing knocking in the mines. They interpreted such noises as warnings from the kobolds to not go in that direction.<ref name="Britten 32"/> Other miners claimed that the knocks indicated where veins of metal could be found: the more knocks, the richer the vein.<ref>Britten 33.</ref> In 1884, spiritualist Emma Hardinge Britten reported a story from a Madame Kalodzy, who claimed to have heard mine kobolds while visiting a peasant named Michael Engelbrecht: "On the three first days after our arrival, we only heard a few dull knocks, sounding in and about the mouth of the mine, as if produced by some vibrations or very distant blows..."<ref name="Britten 32 quote"/> Kobolds are sometimes portrayed as being indifferent to human miners, so long as they are left alone. In these depictions, they are content to simply mine ore themselves, collect it, and haul it away by [[windlass]].<ref name="London Encyclopedia"/>

==Water spirits==
[[Image:Klabautermann on ship.jpg|thumb|A Klabautermann on a ship, from ''Buch Zur See'', 1885.]]
The ''[[Klabautermann]]'' (also spelt ''Klaboterman'' and ''Klabotermann'') is a creature from the beliefs of fishermen and sailors of Germany's north coast, the Netherlands, and the [[Baltic Sea]], and may represent a third type of kobold<ref name="Rose 181"/><ref name="Ellett 107">Ellett 107.</ref> or possibly a different spirit that has merged with kobold traditions. Belief in the Klabautermann dates to at least the 1770s.<ref name="K&H 48">Kirby & Hinkannen 48.</ref> According to these traditions, Klabautermanns live on ships and are generally beneficial to the crew.<ref name="Ellett 107"/> For example, a Klabautermann will pump water from the hold, arrange cargo, and hammer at holes until they can be repaired.<ref name="Ellett 108">Ellett 108.</ref> The creatures are thought to be especially useful in times of danger, preventing the ship from sinking.<ref name="Ellett 107"/> The Klabautermann is associated with the wood of the ship on which it lives. It enters the ship via the wood used to build it, and it may appear as a ship's carpenter.<ref name="K&H 48"/>

The Klabautermann's benevolent behaviour lasts as long as the crew and captain treat the creature respectfully. A Klabautermann will not leave its ship until it is on the verge of sinking. To this end, superstitious sailors in the 19th century demanded that others pay the Klabautermann respect. Ellett has recorded one rumour that a crew even threw its captain overboard for denying the existence of the ship's Klabautermann.<ref name="Ellett 107"/> Heinrich Heine has reported that one captain created a place for his ship's Klabautermann in his cabin and that the captain offered the spirit the best food and drink he had to offer.<ref name="K&H 48"/> Klabautermanns are easily angered.<ref name="Ellett 107"/> Their ire manifests in pranks such as tangling ropes and laughing at sailors who shirk their chores.<ref name="Ellett 108"/>

The sight of a Klabautermann is an ill omen, and in the 19th century, it was the most feared sight among sailors.<ref name="Ellett 108"/> According to one tradition, they only appear to those about to die.<ref name="Rose 181"/> Another story recorded by Ellett claims that the Klabautermann only shows itself if the ship is doomed to sink.<ref name="Ellett 108"/>

==In media==
German writers have long borrowed from German folklore and fairy lore for both poetry and prose. Narrative versions of folktales and fairy tales are common, and kobolds are the subject of several such tales.<ref>Gostwick 221.</ref> Kobolds appear in a number of other works. For example, in his [[Luther Bible|Bible]], [[Martin Luther]] translates the Hebrew ''[[lilith]]'' in [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 34:14 as ''kobold''.<ref>Bible. cc.</ref><ref>Jeffrey 452.</ref> In [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]'s ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'', the kobold represents the [[Greek element]] of earth:

{{quote|<poem>Salamander shall kindle,
Writhe nymph of the wave,
In air sylph shall dwindle,
And Kobold shall slave.

Who doth ignore
The primal Four,
Nor knows aright
Their use and might,
O'er spirits will he
Ne'er master be.</poem>|Goethe|quoted in Weeks 22}}

Similarly, a kobold is musically depicted in [[Edvard Grieg]]'s lyric piece, opus 71, number 3. Likewise, kobold characters such as [[Pittiplatsch]] and [[Pumuckl]] appear in German popular culture. ''Der Kobold'', Op. 3, is also Opera in Three Acts with text and music by [[Siegfried Wagner]]; his third opera and it was completed in 1903. Kobolds also appear as a non playable race in the [[World of Warcraft]] video game series.

==See also==
* [[Household spirit]]
* [[Hobgoblin]]
* [[Goblin]]
* [[Brownie]]
* [[Hob]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|33em}}

==References==
{{Commons category|Kobolds}}
{{refbegin|33em}}
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{{refend}}

[[Category:Fairies]]
[[Category:Kobolds| ]]
[[Category:Tutelary deities]]
[[Category:Goblins]]
[[Category:Pixies]]
[[Category:Gnomes]]
[[Category:Elves]]
[[Category:Mining folklore]]
[[Category:Cryptids]]