What is a gnome?

Question

Are they good, bad, what's the story of them?

Answer 1

They are a type of Earth Fae or fairy. Usually they are considered good unless you do something they don't like and then they will usually find a way to make you regret what you did. According to legends they are usually from 2"- 6" tall, appear human in shape except for a large nose and usually a pot belly. Usually people will put statues of them in a garden to watch over their plants.

Answer 2

A gnome is a mythical creature characterized by small stature and living underground. According to Paracelsus, gnomes are the most important of the elemental spirits of the element of earth. He wrote that they move as easily through the earth as humans walk upon the ground. The sun's rays turn them into stone. In other traditions, they are simply small, mischievous sprites or goblins. Some sources say they spend the day as a toad instead of as inanimate stone.
from wikipedia

Answer 3

In Harry Potter, they're pretty naughty, but I guess they're just poorly socialized. They hang out underground, tending to the earth and mineral things. They're not necessarily ugly, but they're apparently kind of earthy-looking, like brown and gray and not very ethereal-looking like some air spirits. Some say they're dwarfs, some say they're just short-statured but proportional.

Literary "gnomes" would be like the dwarfs in the Lord of the Rings books (gnome-like) or the dwarfs in Wicked, by Gregory Maguire (a retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.) And, of course, the naughty garden gnomes in Harry Potter. But they don't do much in the story except make trouble.

Answer 4

Gnomes are okay, they're related to trolls. Sometimes trolls and gnomes get together and have a cook-out. They like goat meat. Why do you ask?

Answer 5

A gnome is a legendary creature, (also known as a "Cassie" in a fictitious book written by E.G. Khrenson in 1925), that is characterized by its very small stature and subterranean lifestyle. According to the alchemist Paracelsus, gnomes are the most important of the elemental spirits of the classical element of earth; they move as easily through the earth as humans walk upon it,have conical hats, and the sun's rays turn them into stone. In other traditions, they are simply small, misshapen, mischievous sprites or goblins (with pointy caps). Some sources claim they spend the daytime as toads instead of in stone and they are also said to have magical powers that make people feel sad or happy.

The word gnome is said to derive from the New Latin gnomus and ultimately from the Greek gnosis, meaning knowledge. According to myth, gnomes hoarded secret knowledge just as they hoarded treasure.

Often featured in Germanic fairy tales, including those by the Brothers Grimm, the gnome often resembles a gnarled old man living deep underground who guards buried treasure. Because of this, Swiss bankers are sometimes disparagingly referred to as the Gnomes of Zürich. Gnomes feature in the legends of many of central, northern and eastern European lands by other names: a kaukis is a Prussian gnome, and barbegazi are gnome-like creatures with big feet in the traditions of France and Switzerland. In Iceland, gnomes (vættir) are so respected that roads are re-routed around areas said to be inhabited by them. Further east, tengu are sometimes referred to as winged gnomes. Some confusion arises as the gnome is one of many similar but subtly different creatures in European folklore; mythical creatures such as goblins and dwarves are often respresented as gnomes, and vice versa.


A gnome in a conical cap.Individual gnomes are not very often detailed or featured as characters in stories, but in Germanic folklore, Rübezahl, the lord over the underworld, was sometimes referred to as a mountain gnome. According to some traditions, the gnome king is called Gob.

Rudolf Steiner, and other theosophists before him, lectured at length on gnomes, and especially their supportive role in the development of plant life (and biodynamic agriculture).

Modern sources often depict gnomes as diminutive, stout humanoids who wear tall, pointed conical caps and dress in solid colors such as blue, red or green; in this depiction, the male gnome always has a long white beard.

Answer 6

a gnome is smaller than a dwarf and lives in a forest. most are good

Answer 7

They either work for Travelocity or hang out in people's gardens.

Answer 8

This really ugly short guy that tried hitting on me the other day...

Answer 9

some are good, some are evil.