"The lower castes had charms against being psyched by the Critters and the Cobblies and other unseen mountain dwellers." (p. 38)
What are Cobblies? I cannot find this word in a dictionary and have encountered it in only one other work of fiction, City by Clifford Simak. Googling reveals that "cobblies" are also referenced in Existence by David Brin. In City, cobblies are undescribed but frightening intruders from other dimensions, like unsettling sounds heard in an old house. I found a link here to the on-line text of City although past experience indicates that such links do not work for all blog readers.
I now google or otherwise investigate every unfamiliar word or phrase in Poul Anderson's texts. The effort is usually worthwhile.
5 comments:
Probably a hypothetical linguistic development from "collywobbles".
Paul:
It MIGHT be derived from a slurring of "goblins."
I've run across the term in another book or story than the ones you cited. I can't recall WHERE, however; I just have an impression of someone trying to spook his/her potential adversaries by mentioning that actions against him/her could get them in trouble with "the Cobbly King."
David,
This is deffo an obscure reference.
Paul.
The "Cobblies" were also referenced in the poem-cycle THE HOLY GRAIL by Jack Spicer, in the concluding section called THE BOOK OF THE DEATH OF ARTHUR:
“Why somebody wants to reach it [the Grail] like a window you throw / open. Thrown open / What would it mean? What knight would fight the gorms and / cobblies to touch it?”
Sincerely,
Charles Upton
Charles,
Thank you.
Paul.
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