| Cobweb | |
| Characters Adapted from Other Works | |
| First Appearance: | "A Midsummer Night's Dream" |
| Creator: | William Shakespeare |
| Nationality: | Faerie |
| Occupation: | Royal retainer |
| Appearing in: | |
| "A Late Symmer Night's Battle" by Laura Frankos Fantasy pastiche | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
Cobweb the fairy is a character from William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Along with Mustardseed, Peaseblossom, and Moth, Mustardseed is one of the royal retainers who accompany Queen Titania in most of the Queen's scenes. The retainers are stock characters with very little character development or individual personality, and are not considered especially desirable roles for actors, nor the subject of extensive analysis by Shakespeare scholars.
Cobweb in "A Late Symmer Night's Battle"[]
Cobweb ("Webby" to her friends) was one of the royal retainers of Queen Titania of Faerie. She was at the Queen's side throughout the much-publicized humorous dispute with King Oberon over the apprentice Ghosh.
Not long after the conflict between Titania and Oberon, Cobweb was accepted into the Queen's Archers. When she came home on leave, her friend and fellow retainer Peaseblossom decided to celebrate by throwing a party. She made a point of inviting the other retainers, Moth and Mustardseed. Moth, who'd been appointed Ghosh's primary guardian, agreed to come with the understanding that Ghosh may also have to come. Mustardseed was initially hesitant, give her recent break-up with Robin Goodfellow, but decided to go to see Webby again.
Mustardseed, an indifferent dancer, spent most of the party talking to Webby and watching Moth tend to Ghosh. Webby let it slip that Peaseblossom was dating Robin Goodfellow, unaware that Mustardseed had just ended her relationship with him. The party was interrupted when Lady Quill, the acting leader of the fairies, announced that a tribe of German kobolds invaded Faerie while its monarchs were on their Second Honeymoon Tour.
Cobweb joined her rather paltry unit of archers at the field of battle. General Pard explained that the kobolds were evicted from their silver mines in Greece, and made their way to Faerie. They were led by a general named Hinzelmann, who rode a snake. The battle itself proved to be a skirmish. While there were more kobolds, they were plainly physically weak and desperate. After a time, Hinzelmann ordered a retreat to regroup.
The arrival of reremice changed the course of the battle. Lady Quill's owls thwarted their attack on the fairies long enough for them to take shelter in a series of caves unearthed by Ghosh. The kobolds had no defenses. Mustardseed convinced Pard and Lady Quill to allow her to ride to the kobold line under a flag of truce and lead them to shelter.
With this act, the war was over. Hinzelmann died of his injuries. With him gone, Titania and Oberon successfully negotiated an agreement with the kobold leaders. The cave Ghosh had found contained enough silver to support the kobolds for some time. Peaseblossom threw a party celebrating Cobweb's return to archery training.
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