Cofgod

A Cofgod (plural Cofgodas ("cove gods")) was a household god^[1] in Anglo-Saxon paganism.

The Classicist Ken Dowden opined that the cofgodas were the equivalent of the Penates found in Ancient Rome.^[2] Dowden also compared them to the Kobolds of later German folklore, arguing that they had both originated from the kofewalt, a spirit that had power over a room.^[2] It is generally accepted that the English hob and Anglo-Celtic brownie are the modern survival of the cofgod.^[3]

References

1. Joseph Bosworth (1838). A Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon Language. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman. p. 80.
2. Dowden, Ken (2000). European Paganism: The Realities of Cult from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. London and New York: Routledge. p. 229. ISBN 0-415-12034-9.
3. "Cove-Gods", An Other Dictionary.

• Dowden, Ken (2000). European Paganism: The Realities of Cult from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12034-9.