Concerning Hinzelmann the Kobold

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As we enter the season of elves and Christmas spirits, we follow up on our fairy theme from last episode with a look at the famous 16th-century German hausgeist, Hinzelmann the Kobold — but don’t call him that to his face!

Today’s Texts:

• Keightley, Thomas. The Fairy Mythology. E.G. Bohn, 1850. Google Books.
• Der vielförmige Hintzelmann oder umbständliche und merckwürdige Erzehlung von einem Geist, so sich auf dem Hause Hudemühlen, und hernach zu Estrup im Lande Lüneburg unter vielfältigen Gestalten. Leipzig, 1704. Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen.
• Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. Deutsche Sagen. Berlin, 1816. Google Books.

References:

• Bullen, Barrie. “Before the Ouija board: William Rossetti’s Diary Gives an Insight into Victorian Séances.” The Conversation, 23 Dec. 2021.
• Dorson, Richard M. “The First Group of British Folklorists.” Journal of American Folklore, vol. 68, no. 267, 1955, pp. 1-8. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/537105
• Hourican, Bridget. “Keightley, Thomas.” Dictionary of Irish Biography, 2009. https://www.dib.ie/biography/keightley-thomas-a4434
• Maliszewski, James. “A (Very) Partial Pictorial History of Kobolds.” Grognardia, 10 June 2024, grognardia.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-very-partial-pictorial-history-of.html

Music credit: Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101, composed in 1816 (same year as the publication of the Grimms’ Deutsche Sagen), performed by Paul Pitman (CC-PD). Musopen.

Image: Illustration of Hinzelmann in the kitchen, from Der vielförmige Hintzelmann, 1704. Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen.