For the uninitiated, The Moomins is a series of books and a comic strip by the wonderful Tove Jansson. These Moomins live in the fictional and idyllic Moominvalley set somewhere in the forests of Finland. It is a complex landscape rich in imagery, symbolism, archetypes, and their world has been reimagined many times since Jansson first wrote about it. One such of these was Moomin, a show from the 90s that fused the best of this Finnish folklore with zaney Japanese animation. And it is my favorite from childhood.

So enamored was I with this show that I continue to watch it unironically to this day, and not just for the feeling of nostalgia. Though it is full of action and occasionally disturbing (the groke!), I nonetheless find it really calming to lose myself in the otherwise zen-like serenity of Moominvalley for 20 minutes or so.

Adventure is of course central to every episode, and sure enough the Moomins meet lots of interesting and occasionally magical creatures, and one of these is The Hobgoblin.

I didn’t remember much about the Hobgoblin from childhood, but I was struck watching it more recently with the following:

• He is a powerful magician.
• He collects Rubies.
• He is in search of the King’s Ruby.
• He rides a puma through the sky.

I am so surprised the Ruby community has not picked up on this yet!