What does it mean to dream about goblin?
A goblin or troll often pictures a small but persistent nuisance, mischief, or a nagging fear, something more troublesome than truly grand.
Four ways to read it
Each reading below comes from a named tradition and a cited source, so you can see where it came from and decide what fits your dream.
Freud
Freud would read the goblin as a petty impulse given a face, mischief or spite the daytime self disowns. Its small ugliness can mark a wish you find shameful. Ask what minor but stubborn urge it might stand for.
After Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams (Brill trans., 1913), public domain.Jung
Jung might see the goblin as a lesser shadow figure, a trickster that disrupts and annoys rather than overwhelms. It often guards a threshold or hoards what should be shared. The dream may point to a meaner streak worth acknowledging.
Jungian concept (our summary).Modern
Threat-simulation theory suggests the brain rehearses small as well as large dangers, and a goblin fits a nagging, low-grade threat. It can mirror a persistent irritation awake. Notice whether it menaced you or merely got in your way.
Threat-simulation theory (our summary).Mythological
Goblins, trolls, and imps crowd folklore as creatures of mischief that lurk under bridges and in dark corners. They test and torment rather than destroy. The dream may carry that old sense of small malevolent things at the edges of the safe world.
Rosmerta Publishing editorial synthesis (after Brewer; Frazer).