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A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characteristics have been reinterpreted to suit the needs of various story tellers, but it is typically said to be a small humanoid that lives underground.

Diminutive statues of gnomes introduced as lawn ornaments during the 19th century grew in popularity during the 20th century and came to be known as garden gnomes.

History

Origins

The word comes from Renaissance Latin ''gnomus'', which first appears in ''A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits'' by Paracelsus, published posthumously in Nysa in 1566 (and again in the Johannes Huser edition of 1589–1591 from an autograph by Paracelsus).

The term may be an original invention of Paracelsus, possibly deriving the term from Latin ''gēnomos'' (itself representing a Greek , approximately "gē-nomos", literally "earth-dweller"). In this case, the omission of the ''ē'' is referred to as a blunder by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Paracelsus uses ''Gnomi'' as a synonym of ''Pygmæi'' and classifies them as earth elementals. He describes them as two spans high, very reluctant to interact with humans, and able to move through solid earth as easily as humans move through air.

The chthonic or earth-dwelling spirit has precedents in numerous ancient and medieval mythologies, often guarding mines and precious underground treasures, notably in the Germanic dwarfs and the Greek Chalybes, Telchines or Dactyls. The gnomes of Swiss folklore follow this template, as they are said to have caused the landslide that destroyed the Swiss village of Plurs in 1618 - the villagers had become wealthy from a local gold mine created by the gnomes, who poured liquid gold down into a vein for the benefit of humans, and were corrupted by this newfound prosperity, which greatly offended the gnomes.

Cultural references

In Romanticism and modern fairy tales

The English word is attested from the early 18th century. Gnomes are used in Alexander Pope's " The Rape of the Lock". The creatures from this mock-epic are small, celestial creatures which were prudish women in their past lives, and now spend all of eternity looking out for prudish women (in parallel to the guardian angels in Catholic belief). Other uses of the term ''gnome'' remain obscure until the early 19th century, when it is taken up by authors of Romanticist collections of fairy tales and becomes mostly synonymous with the older word ''goblin''.

Pope's stated source, the 1670 French satire ''Comte de Gabalis'' by Nicolas-Pierre-Henri de Montfaucon de Villars, the abbot of Villars, describes gnomes as such:

"The Earth is filled almost to the center with ''Gnomes'' or ''Pharyes'', a people of small stature, the guardians of treasures, of mines, and of precious stones. They are ingenious, friends of men, and easie (sic) to be commandded (sic). They furnish the children of the ''Sages'' with as much money, as they have need of; and never ask any other reward of their services, than the glory of being commanded. The ''Gnomides'' or wives of these ''Gnomes'' or ''Pharyes'', are little, but very handsom (sic); and their habit marvellously (sic) curious."

De Villars used the term ''gnomide'' to refer to female gnomes (often "gnomid" in English translations). Modern fiction instead uses the word "gnomess" to refer to female gnomes.

In 19th-century fiction, the chthonic gnome became a sort of antithesis to the more airy or luminous fairy. Nathaniel Hawthorne in ''Twice-Told Tales'' (1837) contrasts the two in "Small enough to be king of the fairies, and ugly enough to be king of the gnomes" (cited after OED). Similarly, gnomes are contrasted to elves, as in William Cullen Bryant's ''Little People of the Snow'' (1877), which has "let us have a tale of elves that ride by night, with jingling reins, or gnomes of the mine" (cited after OED).

The Russian composer Mussorgsky produced a movement in his work ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', (1874) named "Gnomus" (Latin for "The Gnome"). It is written to sound as if a gnome is moving about.

Franz Hartmann in 1895 satirized materialism in an allegorical tale entitled ''Unter den Gnomen im Untersberg''. The English translation appeared in 1896 as ''Among the Gnomes: An Occult Tale of Adventure in the Untersberg''. In this story, the ''Gnomes'' are still clearly subterranean creatures, guarding treasures of gold within the Untersberg mountain.

As a figure of 19th-century fairy tales, the term gnome became largely synonymous with other terms for " little people" by the 20th century, such as ''goblin'', '' brownie'', ''leprechaun'' and other instances of the household spirit type, losing its strict association with earth or the underground world.

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.
* In L. Frank Baum's Oz books (published 1900 to 1920), the Nomes (so spelled), especially their king, are the chief adversaries of the Oz people. They are ugly, hot-tempered, immortal, round-bodied with spindly legs and arms, have long beards and wild hair, live underground, and are the militant protectors/hoarders of jewels and precious metals. Baum does not depict any female gnomes. Ruth Plumly Thompson, who continued the series (1921 to 1976) after Baum's death, reverted to the traditional spelling.
** L. Frank Baum also featured the classical gnomes in his book ''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus''. They are in charge of watching over the rocks and their king is part of the Council of Immortals. In addition, they also created the sleigh bells for Santa Claus' reindeer.
* J. R. R. Tolkien, in the legendarium (created 1914 to 1973) surrounding his 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 '' 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 typically wise but suffer from pride, tend towards violence, and have an overweening love of the works of their own hands, particularly gemstones. Many of them 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.
* 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, a series of caverns. Unlike the traditional, more human-like gnomes, they can have a wide variety of physical features and skin colours. 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.
* The Dutch books ''Gnomes'' (1976) and ''The Secret Book of Gnomes'' (1984), written by Wil Huygen, deal with gnomes living together in harmony. These same books are the basis for a made-for-TV animated film and the Spanish-animated series ''The World of David the Gnome'' (as well as the spin-off ''Wisdom of the Gnomes''). The word "gnome", in this case, is used in place of the Dutch kabouter.
* In the ''Warcraft'' franchise (1994 to present), particularly as featured in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game ''World of Warcraft'', gnomes are a race of beings separate from but allied to dwarves and humans, with whom they share the lands of the Eastern Kingdoms. Crafty, intelligent, and smaller than their dwarven brethren, gnomes are one of two races in Azeroth regarded as technologically savvy. It is suggested in lore that the gnomes originally were mechanical creations that at some point became organic lifeforms. In ''World of Warcraft'', gnomes are an exile race, having irradiated their home city of Gnomeregan in an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to drive out marauding foes.
* 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 '' 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 prosecuted minority banned from learning wizardry and attending magical schools.
* In Terry Brooks' ''Shannara'' series (created 1977 to 2017), gnomes are an offshoot race created after the Great Wars. There are several distinctive classes of gnomes. Gnomes are the smallest race. In ''The Sword of Shannara'' they are considered to be tribal and warlike, the one race that can be the most easily subverted to an evil cause. This is evidenced by their allegiance to the Warlock Lord in ''The Sword of Shannara'' and to the Mord Wraiths in ''The Wishsong of Shannara''.
* Terry Pratchett included gnomes in his ''Discworld'' series. Gnomes were six inches in height but quite strong, often inflicting pain upon anyone underestimating them. One prominent gnome became a Watchman in Ankh-Morpork as the force became more diversified under the command of Sam Vimes, with Buggy Swires appearing in Jingo. Another gnome in the series was Wee Mad Arthur a pest terminator in Feet of Clay.

Music

* One of the first movements in Mussorgsky's 1874 work ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is named "Gnomus" (Latin for "The Gnome"). It is written to sound as if a gnome is moving about, his movements constantly changing in speed.

* "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.
* "The Gnome" is a song by Pink Floyd on their 1967 album ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn''. It is about a gnome named Grimble Gromble.

Games

* In the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, gnomes are one of the core races available for play as player characters. They are described as being smaller than dwarves and large-nosed. They have an affinity with small animals and a particular interest in gemstones. Depending on setting and subrace, they may also have a natural skill with illusion magic or engineering.

Movies

The 1967 Walt Disney movie ''The Gnome-Mobile''

The 2011 animated movie ''Gnomeo & Juliet''

The 2018 animated movie ''Sherlock Gnomes'' featured gnomish versions of several classic Sherlock Holmes characters.

Derivative uses

Garden gnomes

After World War II (with early references, in ironic use, from the late 1930s) the diminutive figurines introduced as lawn ornaments during the 19th century came to be known as garden gnomes. The image of the gnome changed further during the 1960s to 1970s, when the first plastic garden gnomes were manufactured. These gnomes followed the style of the 1937 depiction of the seven dwarves in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' by Disney. This "Disneyfied" image of the gnome was built upon by the illustrated children's book classic ''The Secret Book of Gnomes'' (1976), in the original Dutch ''Leven en werken van de Kabouter''. Garden gnomes share a resemblance to the Scandinavian tomte and nisse, and the Swedish term "tomte" can be translated as "gnome" in English.

Gnome-themed parks

Several gnome themed entertainment parks exist. Notable ones are:
* The Gnome Reserve, at West Putford near Bradworthy in North Devon, United Kingdom
* Gnomeland, at Watermouth Castle in Berrynarbor, North Devon, United Kingdom
* Gnome Magic Garden, at Colchester, United Kingdom
*Gnome Park, in Dawson, Minnesota, United States
* The Gnome Village, at Efteling theme park in Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands
* Zwergen-Park Trusetal, in Trusetal, Germany
*Gnom's Park in Nowa Sól, Poland.

Gnome parades

Gnome parades are held annually at Atlanta's Inman Park Festival. Numerous one-off gnome parades have been held, including in Savannah, Georgia (April 2012) and Cleveland, Ohio (May 2011).

Metaphorical uses

* The expression " Gnomes of Zürich", Swiss bankers pictured as diminutive creatures hoarding gold in subterranean vaults, was derived from a speech in 1956 by Harold Wilson, and gained currency in the 1960s (OED notes the ''New Statesman'' issue of 27 November 1964 as earliest attestation).
* Architect Earl Young built a number of stone houses in Charlevoix, Michigan, that have been referred to as gnome homes.
* A user of Wikipedia or any wiki who makes useful incremental edits without clamouring for attention is called a WikiGnome.

See also

* Erdgeist
* Garden hermit
* Gnome (Dungeons & Dragons)
* Wrocław's dwarfs
* Travelling gnome

References

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16th-century introductions
Earth spirits
Elementals
Mining folklore
Household deities