Gnome: Difference between revisions

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A '''gnome''' ({{IPAc-en|n|oʊ|m}}<ref name="OED"/>) is a [[mythological creature]] and diminutive spirit in [[Renaissance magic]] and [[alchemy]], introduced by [[Paracelsus]] in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depicted as small [[humanoid]]s who live underground. Gnome characteristics are reinterpreted to suit various storytellers and artists.<ref name="ebo">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037122/gnome |title=Gnome |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=12 March 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417103944/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037122/gnome |archive-date=17 April 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Paracelsus also called his gnomes occasionally by these names (''Bergmännlein'', etc.) in the German publications of his work (1567). Paracelsus claimed gnomes measured 2 [[Span (unit)|spans]] (18 inches) in height, whereas Agricola had them to be 3 ''{{linktext|dodrans}}'' (3 spans, 27 inches) tall.

The name of the element [[cobalt]] descends from {{lang|de|kobelt}}, a 16th century German miners' term for unwanted ore ([[cobalt]]-zinc ore, or possibly the noxious [[cobaltite]] and [[smaltite]]), related as mischief perpetrated by the gnome '''''Kobel'''''{{efn|Or Latin:cobelus, Greek form {{Transliteration|el|cobelos}}.}} (cf. {{section link||cobalt ore}}). This ''Kobel'' is a synonym of ''Bergmännlein'',<ref name="agricola1657-gloss" /> technically not the same as [[kobold]], but there is confusion or conflation between them.

[[Lawn ornament]]s crafted as gnomes were introduced during the 19th century, growing in popularity during the 20th century as [[garden gnome]]s.<ref>Way, Twigs (2009). ''Garden Gnomes: A History''. Shire Library. Vol. 487. United Kingdom: Shire Publications. {{ISBN|9780747807100}}.</ref>

==Precursors==

==Agricola==

The pertinent gloss, also quoted by Jacob Grimm,{{Refn|Grimm's annotation to his ''Deutsche Mythologie''.{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1888|loc='''4''': 1414}} He states the source as the 1657 edition ''de re metall. libri XII'' which is misleading since it (as quoted from below) is an omnibus edition including selections from ''De animantibus'', and Grimm is actually quoting the appended gloss to ''De animantibus'', not ''De re metallica''.}} states that the more ferocious of the "underground demons" ({{lang|la|daemon subterraneus}}) were called in German {{lang|de|Berg-Teufel}} or "mountain-devil", while the milder ones were called {{lang|de|Bergmännlein, Kobel, Güttel}}.{{efn| ({{lang|de|bergmenlein, kobel, guttel}} {{sic}}.}}<ref name="agricola1657-gloss"/> And the {{lang|la|daemon metallicus}} "mine demon" aka Bergmännlein ({{lang|de|bergmenlein}} {{sic}}) is somehow responsible for depositing rich veins of ore ("{{lang|de|[[wikt:fündig|fundige]] [[wikt:Zeche|zech]]}})" (specifically rich silver<ref>{{harvp|Agricola|1546|p=78}}: "{{lang|la|{{linktext|argento |fœcundam}}}}"</ref> ore).<ref name="agricola1546-gloss-zech"/>{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1888|loc='''4''': 1414}}

A different entry in the gloss reveals that the "metallurgical demon" (''daemon metallicus'') or ''Bergmännlein'' is somehow responsible for leaving a rich vein of ore ({{lang|de|[[:en:wikt:fündig|fundige]] [[:en:wikt:Zeche|zech]]}}),{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1888|loc='''4''': 1414}} specifically a rich vein of silver.{{Refn|"{{langx|la|{{linktext|quantumvis |argento |fœcundam}}}}"（abundant and rich silver<ref name="agricola1546-gloss-zech">{{harvp|Agricola|1546|p=478}}, gloss: "{{lang|la|Fodinam, quantumuis argento fœcundam propter dæmonem metallicum deferere}}": "{{lang|de|Ein fundige zech des bergmenleins halben liegen lassen}}"</ref>}}{{Refn|Cf. also paraphrase by [[Ludovico Maria Sinistrari]] (1876) ''[[De Daemonialitate et Incubis et Succubis|De la démonalite et des animaux incubes et succubes]]'' translated into French.<ref name="black1893"/>}}

In classical Greek literature, {{lang|grc-Latn|kobalos}} ({{lang|grc|κόβαλος}}) refers to an "impudent rogue",<ref name="Liddel&Scott-kobalos"/>{{Refn|{{harvp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|p=500}}: "rogue"; {{harvp|Grimm|1875|pp=415–416}}: {{lang|de|"{{linktext|Schalk}}"}}.}}<!--not a [[rogue (vagrant)]]--> or in more modern parlance, "joker"<ref name="lockwood1987"/> or "trickster".<ref name="hawhee2020"/> The chemist [[Joseph William Mellor|J. W. Mellor]] (1935) had suggested "[[mime artist|mime]]".{{Refn|Mellor (1935) "{{lang|grc|κόβαλος}}, a mine{{sic}}",<ref name="mellor1935"/> misprint corrected as "{{lang|grc-Latn|kobalos}}, mime" by Taylor.<ref name="taylor1977"/>}}

These were otherwise called the {{lang|la|virunculos montanos}}, literally translatable into German as {{lang|de|Bergmännlein}}, or English as "mountain manikin"{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|Or "mountain dwarf"<ref name="drake 1817"/>}}{{Refn|Latin {{lang|la|virunculos}} is {{lang|la|{{linktext|vir}}}} "man" suffixed with diminutive {{lang|la|{{linktext|-unculos}}}}, {{lang|la|{{linktext|-unculus}}}}, hence equal to German diminutive of {{lang|de|Mann}}, i.e., {{lang|de|Männlein}}, {{lang|de|Männchen}}.}}{{Refn|1=[[Athanasius Kircher]] also gives '''{{lang|de|Bergmänlin}}''' {{=}}{{lang|de|Bergmanlein}} as German equivalent. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ei9gAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA123 ''Mundus Subterraneus''], Lib. VIII, sect. 4, cap. 4, p. 123.}} due to their small stature (about 2 feet).{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Agricola specifies {{lang|la|"nempe nani tres dodrantes longi"}} where {{lang|la|{{linktext|dodrans}}}} glosses as "three-quarters of a foot", i.e., "dwarf 2.25 feet tall". The Hoovers' translation converts to "about 2 feet".}} They had the appearance of old age, and dressed like miners,{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|Here {{lang|la|{{linktext|metallicorum}}}} is glossed as "miner", even though the old translation renders as "metal [re]finers".<ref name="lavater-tr-harrison1596"/>}} in laced/filleted shirt{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|The dated rendition gives "laced petticoat" while the Hoovers gave "filleted garment" for Latin {{lang|la|{{linktext|vittatus}}}} ({{lang|la|{{linktext|vitta}}}} "band, ribbon").}}{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|{{lang|la|{{linktext|indusium}}}} or "laced petticoat" in the old translation<ref name="lavater-tr-harrison1596"/> could refers to either an upper or lower garment, thus the Hoovers give "garment", but here probably in the sense of shirt, not skirt, cf. Bergmännlein wearing "white shirt" in [[Gabriel Rollenhagen|Rollenhagen]]'s poem {{lang|de|Froschmäuseler}}, noted by Grimm.{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|loc=p. 462, n2}}}} and leather apron around the loins.<ref name="agricola1614"/><ref name="lavater-tr-harrison1596"/>{{Refn|name="Hoovers-tr"|Excerpted translation footnoted in President and Mrs. Hoover (1912)'s translation of {{lang|la|De re metallica}},<ref name="agricola-tr-hoover1912"/> requoted by Wothers,<ref name="wothers2019"/>}} Although they may pelt miners with gravel/pebbles{{efn|{{lang|la|glareis jacessant}}.}} they did no real harm, unless they were first provoked.<ref name="agricola1614"/>{{Refn|name="Hoovers-tr"}}

Agricola finally adds these resemble the {{lang|la|Trullis}} (trolls?) as they are called especially by the Swedes,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|A ''troll'' is obviously rather generic. Lecouteux gives Swedish: {{lang|sv|gruvrå}}.<ref name="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen"/>}} said to shapeshift into the guise of human males and females, and sometimes made to serve men.<ref name="agricola1614"/><ref name="lavater-tr-harrison1596"/>

====Cobalt ore====

The presence of this nuisance ore {{lang|cs|kobelt}} was blamed on the similar-sounding {{lang|cs|kobel}} mine spirits, as Mathesius noted in his preaching.{{Refn|name="mathesius1562"}} The inferred etymology of {{lang|cs|kobelt}} deriving from {{lang|cs|kobel}}, which Mathesius does not quite elocute, was explicitly articulated by [[Johannes Beckmann]] in {{lang|de|Beiträge zur Geschichte der Erfindungen}} (translated into English as ''The History of Inventions, discoveries and origins'', 1797).<ref name="wothers2019"/>

===Olaus Magnus===

[[File:Praetorius(1668)-p0000-02Bergmännerlein Wichtelin Unter-Irrdische.jpg|thumb|{{lang|de|Bergmännerlein}}, Wights, and Subterraneans ({{lang|de|Unter-Irrdische}}). Engraving by Thomas Cross, Sr. (fl. 1632–1682), frontispiece to Praetorius (1668) [1666] {{lang|la|Anthropodemus Plutonicus}}.]]

==Folklore examples==

The anecdote of the "Rosenkranz" mine localized in Saxony was already given above in {{section link||Rosenkranz mine, Annaberg}}. This and other near modern attestations are given in Wolfersdorf's anthology (1968) above.{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968}}

===Bergmönch of Harz and mine light===

===Communication through noises===

Nineteenth-century German miners also talked of the {{lang|de|Berggeist}}, who appeared as small black men, scouting ahead of miners with a hammer, and with their banging sound indicating whether veins of ore, or breaks in the veins called 'faults', and the more knocks, the richer the vein lay ahead.{{Refn|William Howitt, ''London Spiritual Magazine'', cited by Britten.<ref name="britten1884"/>}}

===Switzerland===

==Folkloristics==

As can be glimpsed by this example, the approach of Grimm's "{{lang|de|Mythologische Schule}}" is to regard the lore of the various ''männlein'' or specifically ''Bergmännlein'' as essentially derivatives of the ''Zwerge''/''dvergr'' of pagan Germanic mythologies.<ref>Cf. {{harvp|Baba|2019}}. Generally speaking, "the mythological school inherits their mentor Grimm's genre-classification theories<!--神話学派は確かに師グリムのジャンル理論を継承し-->", p. 71, and  the mythological school, as the name implies is the approach of seeking "vestiges of mythology".</ref>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|{{harvp|Baba|2019}}'s specific mention of "Bergmännlein" is limited to saying they appear as characters in two tales from the collection of [[Karl Müllenhoff]], at p. 26. She discusses near synonyms in Grimm's ''Deutsche Mytholgie'', namely, ''männlein'' being used as circumlocution for dwarf (''Zwerg''), p. 26, and ''Zwerg'' being a ''Berggeist'' pp. 101, 103; or equivalent to a mine spirit, p. 125, and deriving from the Germanic dvergr p. 134. As a reminder, Agricola's monograph on "mountain elves" was considered a book on ''Berggeist'' in the Grimms' ''DS''.<ref name="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen"/>}}

Greverus at least in her 1962 piece, centered her argument on the ''Berggeist'' (instead of ''Bergmännlein'').<ref name="greverus1962"/>{{sfnp|Baba|2019|pp=102–103}}  Grimm also uses the ''Berggeist'' apparently as a type of ''Zwerg'',{{Refn|e.g., the dancing ''berggeister'' of DS No. 298.{{sfnp|Grimm|1875|p=389}}{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|p=470}}}} but there has been issued a caveat that the meaning of the term ''Berggeist'' according to Grimm may not necessarily coincide with the meaning used by the proletarian Greverus.{{sfnp|Baba|2019|pp=102–103}} {{interlanguage link|Gerhard Heilfurth|de}} and Greverus's ''Bergbau und Bergmann'' (1967) amply discuss the ''Bergmännlein''.{{sfnp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967}}

===Modern fantasy literature===

* Creatures called ''gnomes'' have been used in the [[fantasy]] genre of fiction and later gaming since the mid-nineteenth century, typically in a cunning role, e.g. as an inventor.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Fantasy |chapter=Elemental |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |location=New York |first1=John |last1=Clute |first2=John |last2=Grant |pages=313–314 |date=1999 |isbn=0-312-19869-8|title-link=The Encyclopedia of Fantasy }}</ref>

* [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], in the [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]] (created 1914 to 1973) surrounding his [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]], uses "Gnomes" as the initial- but later dropped- name of the [[Noldor]], the most gifted and technologically minded of his elvish races, in conscious exploitation of the similarity with the word ''[[:wikt:gnomic|gnomic]]''. ''Gnome'' is thus Tolkien's English loan-translation of the [[Quenya]] word ''Noldo'' (plural ''Noldor''), "those with knowledge". Tolkien's "Gnomes" are generally tall, beautiful, dark-haired, light-skinned, immortal, and wise. They are also proud, violent, and unduly admire their own creations, particularly their gemstones. Many live in cities below ground ([[Nargothrond]]) or in secluded mountain fortresses ([[Gondolin]]). He uses "Gnomes" to refer to both males and females. In ''[[The Father Christmas Letters]]'' (between 1920 and 1942), which Tolkien wrote for his children, Red Gnomes are presented as helpful creatures who come from Norway to the North Pole to assist Father Christmas and his Elves in fighting the wicked Goblins.

* [[Denys Watkins-Pitchford|BB's]] ''[[The Little Grey Men]]'' (1942) is a story of the last gnomes in England, little wild men who live by hunting and fishing.

* In [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' (created 1950 to 1956), the gnomes are sometimes called "Earthmen". They live in the [[Underland (Narnia)|Underland]], a series of caverns. Unlike the traditional, more human-like gnomes, they can have a wide variety of physical features and skin colours where some of them are either standing at 1&nbsp;ft or being taller than humans. They are used as slaves by the [[Lady of the Green Kirtle]] until her defeat, at which point they return to their true home, the much deeper (and hotter) underground realm of Bism.

* In [[J. K. Rowling]]'s ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series (created 1997 to 2007), gnomes are pests that inhabit the gardens of witches and wizards. They are small creatures with heads that look like potatoes on small stubby bodies. Gnomes are generally considered harmless but mischievous and may bite with sharp teeth. In the books, it is stated that the [[Weasleys]] are lenient to gnomes, and tolerate their presence, preferring to throw them out of the garden rather than more extreme measures.

* In ''[[Sorcerous Stabber Orphen|A. Yoshinobu's Sorcerous Stabber Orphen]]'', the European concept of a gnome is used in order to introduce the Far Eastern notion of the ''Koropokkuru'',  a mythical indigenous race of small people: gnomes are a persecuted minority banned from learning wizardry and attending magical schools.<ref name="Mizuno2019">{{cite book|last=Mizuno|first=Ryou|title=Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Anthology. Commentary|year=2019| language=ja |publisher=TO Books|isbn= 9784864728799|pages=238}}</ref>

* "[[The Laughing Gnome]]" is a song by English musician [[David Bowie]], released as a single in 1967. It became a hit when reissued in 1973, in the wake of Bowie's commercial success.

* The 1970 album ''[[All Things Must Pass]]'' by English musician [[George Harrison]] has a cover image of the musician sitting among a group of garden gnomes.

===Games===

* [[The Little Troll Prince]] features the [[troll]] [[prince]] Bu, turning into a gnome and gnomes by the end of the special

* [[David the Gnome]], [[The Wisdom of Gnomes]] and [[The New World Of the Gnomes]]

* [[Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl]]  ,  a 2024 British stop motion animated comedy film produced by Aardman Animations and the BBC released for  Christmas features a large number of robotic garden gnomes.

}}

===Gnome-themed parks===

{{EB1911 poster|Gnomes}}

* [[Dwarf (folklore)]]

* [[Garden hermit]]

* [[Gnome (Dungeons & Dragons)]]

* [[Wrocław's dwarfs]]

<ref name="Grimm-DW-kobel">Grimm, ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'', Band 5, s.v. "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERSZv4n2zpEC&pg=PA1539 |2=Kobel}}"</ref>

<ref name="Handwoerterbuch1931-guetel">''Handwörterbücher zur deutschen Volkskunde: Abteilung I. Aberglaube'', Walter de Gruyter (1931),  s.v. "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=89G1DwAAQBAJ&pg=RA3-PA181 |2=Gütel, Gütchen, Jüdel, Jütel, usw. (Dämonenname}}",  pp. 1233–234ff</ref>

<ref name="kretschmer1928">{{cite journal|last=Kretschmer |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Kretschmer |title=Weiteres zur Urgeschichte der Inder |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen |volume=55  |date=1928 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYpVkrS47n8C&pg=PA87 |at=p. 89 and p. 87, n2<!--pp. 75ff-->}}</ref>

<ref name="lavater-tr-harrison1596">{{cite book|last=Lavater |first=Ludwig |author-link=Ludwig Lavater |others=Translated by [[Robert Harrison (Brownist)|Robert Harrison]] |title=Of ghostes and spirites walking by nyght, and of strange noyses, crackes, and sundry forewarnynges, which commonly happen before the death of menne, great slaughters, and alterations of kyngdomes |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=Thomas Creede |year=1596 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=smNjAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA75 |page=75}}</ref>

<ref name="lockwood1987">{{cite book|last=Lockwood |first=William Burley |author-link=William Burley Lockwood |title=German Today: The Advanced Learner's Guide |location= |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gN8rAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Schalk%22+joker|pages=29, 32 |isbn=<!--0198158041, --> 9780198158042}}</ref>

<ref name="mellor1935">[[Joseph William Mellor|Mellor, J. W.]] (1935) "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwdGAQAAMAAJ&q=kowalti |2=Cobalt}}". ''A comprehensive treatise on inorganic and theoretical chemistry'' vol. XIV, p. 420.</ref>

<ref name="musaeus1845">{{cite book|last=Musäus |first=Johann Karl August |author-link=Johann Karl August Musäus |others=Translated by [[James Burns (publisher)|James Burns]] |chapter=Legends of Rübezahl: §Legend the First |title=Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus. With ... Wood Engravings, Etc |location=London |publisher=Iames Burns |year=1845  |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_OknjsQnRQC&pg=PA146 |pages=146–150 et sqq}}</ref>

<ref name="williams2017">{{cite book|last=Williams |first=Gerhild Scholz |author-link=<!--Gerhild Scholz Williams--> |chapter=Chapter 1, § Paracelsian Wonders |title=Ways of Knowing in Early Modern Germany: Johannes Praetorius as a Witness to his Time |location= |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcw3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT83 |at= |isbn=<!--1351873520, -->9781351873529}}</ref>

<ref name="wothers2019">{{cite book|last=Wothers |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Wothers |title=Antimony, Gold, and Jupiter's Wolf: How the elements were named|location= |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFS_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |pages=48–49 |isbn=<!--0192569902, -->9780192569905}}</ref>

* {{cite book|author=Paracelsus |author-link=Paracelsus |chapter=Liber [philos.] de nymphis sylphis pygmæis et salamandris |title=Opera omnia medico-chemico-chirurgica |location=Geneva |publisher=Antonius et Tournes |date=1658 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nbhUAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA394 |pages=388–}}

* {{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941}}|author=Paracelsus |author-link=Paracelsus |translator-last=Sigerist |translator-first=Henry |translator-link=Henry E. Sigerist |chapter=IV. A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits  |title=Four Treatises of Theophrastus Von Hohenheim Called Paracelsus |location= |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |date=1996 |orig-date=1941 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIKLKqwsEc0C&pg=PA242 |pages=213–255 |isbn=<!--0801855233, -->9780801855238}}

* {{cite book|editor-last=Stötzel|editor-first=Heinrich |editor-link=<!--Heinrich Stötzel--> |chapter=2. Das Bergmannchen |title=Die Bergmannssage|location=Düsseldorf |publisher=G.H. Nolt |date=1936|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=THThAAAAMAAJ&q=Bergm%C3%A4nnchen|pages=75–}}

* {{cite book|last=Wolfersdorf |first=Peter |author-link=<!--Peter Wolfersdorf--> |title=Die niedersächsischen Berggeistsagen |location= |publisher=Schwartz |date=1968 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vj3hAAAAMAAJ |pages=213–255 |isbn=<!--3509002857, -->9783509002850  |series=Schriften zur niederdeutschen Volkskunde 2}}