The most common relic in Hallownest. It has no use except selling to Relic Seeker Lemm for Geo.
The Wanderer's Journal is the cheapest of the four relics in Hollow Knight, and the one you will trip over most often. Per the wiki, it is "a journal left behind by a long-dead traveller," written in a forgotten dialect the Knight cannot read. It exists for one reason: to be sold for Geo.
According to the wiki, every Wanderer's Journal can be traded to the relic dealer 
Relic Seeker Lemm, who runs his shop in a tower in the 
City of Tears. He pays 200 Geo per journal, the lowest of any relic because they are so common.
You will find these tablets all over Hallownest, usually next to the body of a fallen traveller, from 
Greenpath to the 
Forgotten Crossroads. Per the wiki, there are 14 Wanderer's Journals in the base game, more than any other relic.
This guide covers what the Wanderer's Journal is, how it fits next to the other three relics, where the journals turn up, how to sell them to Lemm, and whether holding them is ever worth it. As a pure trade item, the only real decision is when to cash in.
A relic with no use except trading for Geo. Relic Seeker Lemm in the City of Tears.
200 Geo each, the cheapest of the four relics.
14 total scattered across Hallownest.The Wanderer's Journal is a trade item, not a tool or a key. Per the wiki, it is a tablet "found all throughout the world, mostly next to the body of a traveller." The Knight cannot read it, and it never gets used in a puzzle or a lock. Its in-game description calls it a "relic from Hallownest's past" that "now holds little value except for those dedicated to the kingdom's history."
According to the wiki, that line is a hint at its real purpose. Relic Seeker Lemm claims he can understand the forgotten dialect, so the journals are worth real Geo to him even though they do nothing in the Knight's hands. Picking one up adds it to the relic tab of the inventory, where it waits until you carry it to his shop.
In practice, the Wanderer's Journal is the relic players see first and most often. It is the entry point to the whole relic economy, and selling a stack of them is usually a new player's first big Geo windfall.
Relics do not count toward game completion percentage, so there is no penalty for selling every Wanderer's Journal the moment you reach Lemm. In actual play, hoarding them just ties up Geo you could be spending.
The Wanderer's Journal sits at the bottom of a four-tier relic ladder. Per the wiki, each relic sells to Lemm for a fixed amount, and the rarer the relic, the higher the price.
| Relic | Sells for | Count | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wanderer's Journal | 200 Geo | 14 | Common |
 Hallownest Seal | 450 Geo | 17 | Uncommon |
 King's Idol | 800 Geo | 8 | Rare |
 Arcane Egg | 1,200 Geo | 4 | Very rare |
According to the wiki, selling every relic in the game nets roughly 21,650 Geo in total, with the 14 Wanderer's Journals contributing 2,800 of that. They are the smallest payout per item but the largest by sheer number, so they add up.
In practice, players tend to clear the Wanderer's Journals early for steady income and save the rarer relics as bonus lumps once they already know where Lemm is.
Per the wiki, Wanderer's Journals are spread across nearly every region of Hallownest, often tucked beside a dead traveller or behind a breakable wall. You do not need to hunt them deliberately; most appear naturally as you explore.
| Region | Notes |
|---|---|
| Forgotten Crossroads | Early journals near the first traveller bodies |
| Greenpath | Along the green corridors and hidden alcoves |
| Crystal Peak | Behind crystal walls and on high ledges |
| Fungal Wastes | Among the mushroom paths and Mantis routes |
| City of Tears | Several in the rain-soaked streets near Lemm |
According to the wiki, the Hunter's notes and the in-game map do not flag relics, so a Wanderer's Journal in an unexplored room is easy to walk past. Buying the regional maps from Cornifer first makes spotting the side rooms that hide them far easier.
In practice, by the time the Crystal Peak and Greenpath are fully explored, most runs already hold a handful of journals without having gone out of their way.
The only way to get value from a Wanderer's Journal is to sell it. Per the wiki, Relic Seeker Lemm runs his shop from a tall tower in the City of Tears, near the big fountain. He buys all four relic types and pays 200 Geo for each Wanderer's Journal.
According to the wiki, the Knight has to speak with Lemm before he opens his shop, and he is only interested in relics, never charms or other items. Once the shop is open, selling is instant: hand over the journals and the Geo is added on the spot.
One quirk worth knowing. Per the wiki, after the Knight defeats one of the Dreamers, Lemm leaves his shop and stands at the fountain of the Hollow Knight. Speaking to him there sends him back to the tower so trading can resume. He cannot be killed, so 
the Knight can never lose access to the relic economy by accident.
Lemm reacts to the Defender's Crest charm with disgust over the smell. In actual play it changes nothing about his prices, but it is one of the small character touches the wiki points out.
For almost every run, the answer is no: sell them as soon as you can reach Lemm. The Wanderer's Journal has no crafting use, no lore reward for keeping it, and does not count toward completion, so Geo in hand always beats a journal in the inventory.
Dirtmouth painless.In practice, the only players who hold relics are completion collectors who want the inventory full before a final sell-off, which is a personal preference rather than a mechanical benefit.
The Wanderer's Journal feeds the Geo economy alongside the other relics, charms, and bosses. These spokes pick up the connected threads.
Game data and screenshots adapted from hollowknight.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Team Cherry.