Cornifer

"I'm a cartographer by trade, and I'm working on mapping this area right now. Would you like to buy a copy of my work so far?"

- Cornifer

Cornifer is a wanderer in Hollow Knight. He is a cartographer and is working on mapping the entirety of Hallownest.

Lore
When Cornifer was first hatched, he wandered off right away, leaving his siblings and his mother behind. He later moved to Dirtmouth with Iselda as soon as he could.

Hollow Knight
Cornifer is first encountered in the bottom of The Forgotten Crossroads where he sells maps and advises the Knight to visit his wife Iselda's shop up in Dirtmouth, whose shop is unlocked when a map has been bought or False Knight has been defeated.

Cornifer can be found in every zone he sells a map for. Scattered papers on the ground lead to his location and his hum can be heard from a few rooms across. The only location where he does not hum is in the Deepnest, where he is visibly afraid for his life and does not want to give his location away to the beasts. Upon listening to him within Ancient Basin after buying a map for that area, he states that he doesn't want to worry his wife, Iselda, and should head back up to the shop soon after a short rest.

Once all maps are bought or once all his maps are available in the Dirtmouth shop, he will be found in the map shop, sleeping in a loft bed.

Maps

 * Map for Forgotten Crossroads:
 * Map for Greenpath:
 * Map for Fungal Wastes:
 * Map for Crystal Peak:
 * Map for City of Tears:
 * Map for Deepnest:
 * Map for Royal Waterways:
 * Map for Fog Canyon:
 * Map for Queen's Gardens:
 * Map for Ancient Basin:
 * Map for Kingdom's Edge:
 * Map for Howling Cliffs:

He will leave after the player has progressed enough in the area (usually by defeating a boss) or has defeated all three Dreamers, and will leave a letter for the player stating that his map can be purchased from Iselda in Dirtmouth:

He cannot be met in the Resting Grounds and will always leave this letter in the Stagway Station of the Resting Grounds instead.

Locations
Cornifer can be found in nearly every area, selling his maps. He permanently moves to Dirtmouth after every map is bought or once all maps are available in Iselda's shop.

Trivia

 * Cornifer can be found in two different locations within Deepnest, depending on which entrance the player has entered from.
 * He has a unique greeting dialogue if he is listened to in Deepnest for the first time.
 * Cornifer's namecard will not appear, not even in subsequent encounters, unless he is listened to again after his initial dialogue. Doing so, he gives his dialogue on introducing himself and whereas his namecard will appear.
 * Iselda refers to Cornifer with the personal nickname of "Corny".