Short Fiction · Chapter
IV: The Goblin Blacksmith explained
Colin follows a dim light to a goblin smithy, where a humpbacked smith works furiously with two forehammers.
What happens
Colin follows a dim light to a goblin smithy, where a humpbacked smith works furiously with two forehammers. The smith calls out his goblin children, who torment Colin until he delivers a message from the old woman with the spindle: they must lift Cumberbone Crag a yard higher and send a flue under Stonestarvit Moss. Colin is forced to work alongside the smith, hammering in time to avoid injury. After three days and nights of labor, the smith reveals the old woman's plan to improve the Moss and instructs Colin to go there, dig a trench, and tend a vine that will produce grapes for a bottle of Carasoyn.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Divine Chastening
Colin endures grueling labor and the threat of injury, but the work strengthens him, suggesting a refining ordeal.
Reality vs. Illusion
The smith dismisses the old woman's plan as 'all moonshine,' yet the goblins must obey, blurring the line between fantasy and purpose.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Come in; come in, my youngsters will be glad of you.”
The goblin smith invites Colin into the smithy, warning that his children will be eager to meet him.
The smith's welcome is ominous, foreshadowing the goblins' harassment.
“The old woman with the spindle says you're to lift Cumberbone Crag a yard higher, and to send a flue under Stonestarvit Moss.”
Colin delivers the fairy's command for the goblins to raise the crag and create a hot passage beneath the moss.
This message sets the goblins to work and advances Colin's quest.
“As soon as you leave the smithy, go straight to Stonestarvit Moss. Get on the highest part of it; make a circle three yards across, and dig a trench round it.”
The smith instructs Colin to go to the moss, mark a three-yard circle, and dig a surrounding trench.
This begins the process of growing the vine that will yield Carasoyn.