Gnomes

There's a book called Gnomes, it's quite cute. Has some good lore in there as well.

Apparently Paracelcus made the name up; it's supposedly derived from the latin genomos which means "earth-dweller".

I'd go read some of the original Grimms, as gnomes feature heavily in Germanic folklore. I think they're related to the Nisse, who are a class of household fairy from Norway. Depending on the source, gnomes are either rather cheerful (Norway) or rather taciturn (Germany).

The general characteristics of the gnomes are funny pointed hats, underground living, and intelligence/crafty/handy with tools -- whether that's an actual characteristic of gnomes or something that's entered common usage because that's how D&D envisions them, I don't have any idea.

There are twelve threads in this forum that discus gnomes in one form or another. Some that might be useful to you are:

Gnome link #1, Gnome link #2, and Gnome link #3.

Have fun.

There's a brilliant book by Katherine Briggs which covers most of the mythological creatures of the British Isles, called A Dictionary of Fairies. I've had my copy for something like 25 years....(that's scary). I think it may be out of print, though. The only copy I saw on Amazon was about $125! Still, if you're planning on using this sort of mythology a lot, it's one of the best sources I know. Worth getting a book search done maybe?

Broadswordbabe said:

There's a brilliant book by Katherine Briggs which covers most of the mythological creatures of the British Isles, called A Dictionary of Fairies. I've had my copy for something like 25 years....(that's scary). I think it may be out of print, though. The only copy I saw on Amazon was about $125! Still, if you're planning on using this sort of mythology a lot, it's one of the best sources I know. Worth getting a book search done maybe?

Click to expand...

Available on Amazon marketplace from £8.00

You can't go wrong with Katherine Briggs; she really is the premier folklorist for fairylore of all kinds.

I love gnomes.

Paichka said:

There's a book called Gnomes, it's quite cute. Has some good lore in there as well.

Click to expand...

I'm sure my mum had the original version of that (or at least an earlier one) - and that the cover was actually cloth and had the pattern for cut-out dolls on it.

Most of those books are in storage...I think I may just shell out the money on Amazon next time I make an order - thanks for the link!

dempsey said:

I love gnomes.

Click to expand...

Squee! She's so cute!

I have a rogue I used to play, RP-wise she was a lot of fun, she would kill anyone who murdered a bunny.

I didn't know much about gnomes, (in mythology, not the garden statues), before I played RuneScape, so I'll give an insight to how 'stereotypical' gnomes are in RPGs today. They're often short, slanted eyed, and bearded, and good with inventions and technology. They're often quite eccentric too.