Gobbledegook

A Goblin, a speaker of Gobbledegook.

"Over the murmur of the river he could make out more voices, but they were not speaking English or any human language he had ever heard. It was a rough and unmelodious tongue, a string of rattling, guttural noises..."

— Harry Potter overhears Griphook and Gornuk converse in Gobbledegook.

Gobbledegook is the native language of the goblins. Barty Crouch Sr., Dirk Cresswell, and Albus Dumbledore are known non-Goblin speakers. It has been described as a harsh, rasping language, which makes it sound distinctly inhuman.

Known uses

• Gobbledegook is one of the seventy-two languages in which Miranda Goshawk's Book of Spells was published in.
• In the Three Broomsticks Inn, it is spoken by two goblins defrauded by Ludovic Bagman in 1995.
• In 1997 when Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley overhear fellow fugitives Dirk Cresswell and the Goblins Gornuk and Griphook converse in Gobbledegook, while they were on the run from the Snatchers.

Known words

• Bladvak means "pickaxe" in Gobbledegook, according to Ludovic Bagman.

Etymology

Gobbledygook, or Gibberish, are synonyms of the word "nonsense". It's likely that wizards started calling the language Gobbledegook, because it sounded unlike any language they knew and seemed just gibberish in their ears. It's possible or even likely, that Gobbledegook language is referred to with an completely different word in Gobbledegook.

See also

• Mermish
• Parseltongue

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells (Mentioned only)