Goblin-town was a dwelling of the Northern Orcs in the Misty Mountains south of the Mountains of Angmar - a network of branching caves and tunnels which stretches out from the High Pass in the Northern part of the mountain range. Most of the tunnels were carved by the Orcs, though they also incorporated pre-existing caverns and passages.
History[]
The caves where Goblin-town would be founded were original created by nameless things. The Stoorish Hobbit known as Sméagol moved beneath these caves around the year 2470 of the Third Age, living in an underground lake to feast on blind bats and raw fish. The magic ring Smeagol possessed twisted his body, corrupted his mind, and prolonged his lifespan beyond natural levels. Sméagol turned into a creature known as Gollum, naming the magic ring as his "Precious".
In the year 2480, Orcs secretly built many strongholds in the Misty Mountains to block the passages into Eriador. The Orcs expanded on the existing caves, connected them with new tunnels, and unknowingly drove out the nameless things into deeper, darker corners. Goblin-town was founded as a large and notable stronghold which barred traffic through the High Pass.
For the next four hundred years, Goblin-town would be ruled by a chieftain, including the Great Goblin. The Great Goblin used his hordes to prey on travelers that came to close to the main entrance, until people avoided the High Pass altogether. When the Great Goblin ordered the lesser orcs to fetch fish from the subterranean waters, Gollum was known to occasionally kill and eat them.
During their journey to the Lonely Mountain, Thorin and Company were captured by the orcs while they slept in the western entrance to these caves, thinking them to be empty. A crack opened at the back of the cave while they slept, and through that they were taken by the orcs down to the goblin-hall. Here they were eventually saved by Gandalf, and the Great Goblin was killed. This enraged the orcs, who silently pursued Gandalf, Bilbo, and the Dwarves, who ran down a long tunnel. The Company was accosted, and managed to fight free, but Bilbo was knocked unconscious while the Dwarves ran on unaware of his plight.
When he came to his senses, Bilbo found Gollum's small ring on the ground (it was the One Ring, although he did not know it then), and followed a tunnel down to the dark lake, where he met the creature, and played a riddle game with him. Toward the end of that game Gollum realized he did not have the ring and, suspecting Bilbo, chased after him. Bilbo, not realizing the ring's power, slipped it on, and Gollum could not find him. To keep Bilbo from escaping, Gollum ran toward the exit of the caves. Following the creature through the tunnels, Bilbo was thus inadvertently led by Gollum to the Goblin-gate, which was the eastern entrance to the caves. Bilbo then leapt over him in the dark, evaded the Gate-guards, and successfully squeezed through the final door (losing many of his shirt-buttons in the process).[1]
In adaptations[]
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey[]
In Peter Jackson's film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the caves Goblin-town is in are referred to as the Goblin Warrens. The Great Goblin's cavern within Goblin-town is depicted as a huge underground chasm with ramshackle slums and bridges stretching out along the chasm. As the goblins were scavengers, many thing were brought into the caves. Skeletons and skulls of humans and Dwarves were everywhere, dwarf entrails were littered on the floors and other scavenged items were in the caves.
Rather than the brief skirmish that appears in the book when Gandalf slays the Great Goblin, in the film the company is seen fighting their way through hundreds of goblins as they escape. Near the exit, they were confronted by the Great Goblin, who is swiftly killed by Gandalf, and the company then plummets down a deep chasm before reaching the back door and escaping.
In the first film, the company falls down a trap-chute when they are sleeping in a cave in the Misty Mountains. After landing, scores of goblins capture them, rendering the Dwarves helpless. As the Dwarves are captured, Bilbo escapes, only to be attacked by one of the goblins. After a brief fight, Bilbo and the goblin fall off a bridge, and land in Gollum's cave. Meanwhile, the company is interrogated by the Great Goblin, who informs Thorin of Azog's return. Grinnah finds Thorin's sword, Orcrist, and all the goblin colony goes into a hectic fright, due to the fact that Orcrist had slain over 1000 goblins before. The Great Goblin orders the company's execution, but Gandalf saves them in time. The Dwarves fend off the goblins, and Thorin injures the Great Goblin. Gandalf leads the company out, while they are pursued by goblins, killing several along the way. The Great Goblin ambushes them on a bridge, but Gandalf slays him, causing the bridge to break under the Great Goblin's weight. The Dwarves escape Goblin-town, pursued by even more goblins, and exit the Misty Mountains.
Appearances[]
Books[]
Films[]
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (mentioned only)
- The Hobbit (1977 animated film)
- The Hobbit (2003 video game)
See also[]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Kabouter-dorp |
| Albanian | Shpirt i keq-qytet |
| Amharic | ጞብሊን፡ቶውን |
| Arabic | عفريت—تاون |
| Armenian | Գոբլին-քաղաք |
| Azerbaijani | Goblin-şəhər |
| Basque | Goblin-herri |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Гоблін-горад |
| Bengali | অপদেবতা-শহর |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Гоблин-град |
| Cambodian | ក្មេងរប៉ិលរប៉ូច-ទីក្រុង |
| Catalan | Ciutat dels Tauró |
| Cebuano | Goblin-lungsod |
| Chichewa | Goblin-mzinda |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 妖精鎮 |
| Croatian | Goblin-Grad |
| Czech | Skřetí město |
| Danish | Goblinbyen |
| Dutch | Goblin-stad |
| Esperanto | Koboldo-urbeto |
| Estonian | Goblin-linn |
| Finnish | Goblin-kaupunki |
| French | Ville de Gobelins |
| Galician | Cidade do Trasno |
| Georgian | გობლინების ქალაქი |
| German | Goblinstadt |
| Gujarati | ઙોબ્લિન્-નગર |
| Hebrew | עיירה-גובלין |
| Hindi | भूत-नगर |
| Hmong | Goblin-lub zos |
| Hungarian | Koboldvár |
| Icelandic | Goblin-bæ |
| Indonesian | Goblin-kota |
| Italian | Città dei Goblin |
| Irish Gaelic | baile Goblin |
| Japanese | ゴブリン-町 |
| Kannada | ಗಾಬ್ಲಿನ್ ಪಟ್ಟಣ |
| Kazakh | Гоблін-қала (Cyrillic) Goblin-qala (Latin) |
| Korean | 고블린-도시 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Гоблин-шаар |
| Latin | Cobalorum-oppidum |
| Latvian | Goblin-pilsēta |
| Lithuanian | Goblin-miestas |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Гоблин-град |
| Malagasy | Goblin-tanàna |
| Malaysian | Goblin-bandar |
| Maltese | Goblin-belt |
| Marathi | भूत शहर |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Гоблин-хотхон |
| Nepalese | ङोब्लिन्-शहर |
| Norwegian | Goblinby |
| Pashto | عوبلین-توون |
| Persian | جن-شهر |
| Polish | Miasto Goblinów |
| Portuguese | Cidade dos Orcs (Brazilian Portuguese)
Cidade dos Goblins (Portugal) |
| Punjabi | ਭੂਤ-ਸ਼ਹਿਰ |
| Romanian | Goblin-oraș |
| Russian | Город Гоблинов |
| Sanskrit | ङोब्लिन्-तोव्न् |
| Serbian | Гоблин-град (Cyrillic) Goblin-grad (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ගොබ්ලින්-නගරය |
| Slovak | Škratie mesto |
| Slovenian | Goblin-mesto |
| Somalian | Goblin-magaalada |
| Spanish | Ciudad de los Trasgos |
| Sundanese | Goblin-kota |
| Swahili | Goblin-mji |
| Swedish | Goblinstad |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Гоблин-шаҳр |
| Tamil | பூதம் நகரம் |
| Telugu | గోబ్లిన్ పట్టణం |
| Thai | ก็อบลิน-เมือง |
| Turkish | Goblin-kasaba |
| Turkmen | Goblin-şäher |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Гоблін-місто |
| Urdu | عوبلینءتوون |
| Uzbek | Жин-шаҳар (Cyrillic) Jin-shahar (Latin) |
| Welsh | Goblin-dref |
| Yiddish | גאָבלינ-טאָצנ |
| Yoruba | Goblin-ilu |
References[]
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter V, "Riddles in the Dark".