Hammerhead goblins
Hammerhead goblins were a variety of Furrow-Browed Goblin with long arms and legs, high dexterity, and small heads with long ridges on the face, giving them a distinctive "hammerhead" shape. Though excellent fighters, hammerhead goblins tended to be more cowardly than flat-head goblins. The last known hammerheads in the wild were the clans of the Western Woods.
Wild hammerhead goblins
Wild hammerhead goblins lived in Hive towers that could be erected or dismantled in a very short time. Hammerhead goblins tribes migrated with the tilder. Every hammerhead goblin had a 'birthing bundle' containing everything they owned and a single panel of the hive tower.
Tattoos
Tattoos played an important role for hammerhead goblins. The tattoos show the clan loyalty, the battles fought in, and tell the personal history of every member of a clan. Teeg was saved by Cade and Celestia, so he got a tattoo of a bloodoak to remember this important event of his life. The tattooist was highly respected and a mixture of historian and shaman.
War
Hammerhead goblins loved fighting and were highly respected as brave warriors. Nevertheless, wild hammerheads' methods didn't always work against the Phrax Weapons of the Third Age of Flight. But a method called 'the old Deepwoods way' worked against the mire-pearlers and Merton Hoist. The hammerhead goblins covered themselves with mud to hide their smell and used blood to lure masses of logworms in the direction of the enemy. A so-called 'cascade' of logworms would then attack the enemy, leaving nothing behind.
Clans
Hammerhead goblins lived in different nations to which clans belonged. The Hammerhead Nations in the Western Woods was made up by three nations:
- The Low Valley Nation
- The High Valley Nation
- The Western Peaks Nation
These nations consisted of the following clans:
- Shadow Clan - These secretive and silent Hammerheads roamed unseen through the High Valleys of the Farrow Ridges, acting as the eyes and ears of the Hammerhead Nations. Ingenious trappers, the Shadow Clan provided pelts and hides to other clans. They belonged to the High Valley Nation.
- Stone Clan - Accomplished archers, the Stone Clan hunted the migrating tilder and hammerhorn herds that gather in the glade pastures off the Low Ridges. Stone Clan arrowheads were prized by the other clans. Together with the River Clan, they formed the Low Valley Nation.
- Bone Clan - Physically imposing and with impressive strength, they prided themselves on their skills as hunters and warriors. Their Clan Chief was the leader of the of the Hammerhead nations of the Western Woods. They belonged to the High Valley Nation.
- River Clan - Smaller than the other clans in stature but skillful and agile fighters, they roamed the tributaries of the Ridge Rivers and could sometimes be found on the western shores of the Farrow Lake. This clan belonged to the Low Valley Nation.
Notable hammerhead goblins
Insights in the Edge Chronicles Notebook by Chris Riddell
These images were published on Chris Riddell's blog and are pages from the notebooks on the Edgeworld. They provide further insight on the life of the wild Hammerhead Goblins, some of which was not (yet) mentioned in the novels.
