coblyn
nature_spirit earth Welsh single tradition · 2
A coblyn (plural coblynau) is a mythical gnome-like creature that is said to haunt the mines and quarries of Wales and areas of Welsh settlements in America. Wirt Sikes describes coblynau as friendly fairies, half a yard tall, very ugly, and often dressed in miner's clothing, carrying tools with which they enthusiastically but ineffectually imitate the work of the miners.
↻ synthesized from 2 sources
When
- First attested
- 1800 CE
- Attested period
- 1800 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Documented in 19th-century folklore collections.
Relationships
Sources
wikipedia (2)
Source passages
“A coblyn (plural coblynau) is a mythical gnome-like creature that is said to haunt the mines and quarries of Wales and areas of Welsh settlements in America.”
#8115 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“The Welsh counterpart is the coblyn.”
#8192 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5