In Spanish, it’s known as ‘duende’ – the goblin which leads children astray in forests, and tries to clip their toenails if they’re too long.
Now, footage has emerged of a group of teenage girls running off in panic after spotting what they believed to be one of the goblins during a countryside stroll.
They were out walking near the village of Taco Palta y Marta, Burruyacu, in the north-western Argentine province of Tucuman, when they spotted the strange-looking creature.
One of the group filmed the ‘goblin’ emerging from trees as the friends walked through fields.
In the background, a girl can be heard asking: ‘Is that a goblin?’, and another replies: ‘It is a goblin’ – before they run off in fright.
As the small figure walks towards them, the teenagers can be heard crying and shouting: ‘Run! run!’
The clip caused something of a sensation after being posted on video-sharing platforms where online commentators were divided on whether it was genuine or not.
A group of teenage girls were out walking near the village of Taco Palta y Marta, Burruyacu, in the north-western Argentine province of Tucuman, when they apparently spotted a goblin (black figure towards the top left of the picture)
Netizen ‘Roberto Cardozo’ commented: ‘Magical creature, it rapes you five times before touching ground.’
In February this year, in the neighbouring province of Santiago del Estero, a group of children said they were too scared to play football after spotting what they believed was a goblin near the pitch.
Goblins are monstrous mythical creatures first mentioned in European folklore in the Middle Ages.
They are usually described as small and grotesque, mischievous or evil, and greedy, especially for gold and jewellery. They often have magical abilities.
Tucuman is the smallest and most densely populated of the provinces of Argentina.
In Spanish, the mythical creature is known as ‘duende’ – the goblin which leads children astray in forests, and tries to clip their toenails if they’re too long