Is [name redacted] a Goblin or a Ghoul?

It depends. Are they a) a malevolent, demonic, small ugly creature who causes harm and mischief, or are they b) an undead being who frequents graveyards and eats human flesh? (a = goblin, b=ghoul). We have the Greeks to thank for goblins (“kobalus” meant “knave” or “rogue”) and the Arabs to thank for ghouls. Goblins have populated the European imagination for at least a millenium; ghouls are a more recent addition that came with the translation of 1,001 Nights into French in the 19th Century. For more spooky etymologies, see the Oxford English Dictionary (BC only): bit.ly/BC-oxford-english.

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.