Blog Issue #5
This is my image of Wilber, the kid gnome in my middle grade fantasy/adventure/mystery series called The Wythic Wood Mysteries. He is standing in front of his mushroom house situated on Opa’s property called Clayton Forest.
Image: Catharina Steel, combined images using AI and Photoshop, April 2024 and June 2024
In creating Wilber’s character, I incorporated some conventional traits of gnomes, though not all. Gnomes are usually depicted as small mythical beings known for safeguarding treasures and protecting the Earth. They are often found in subterranean habitats. This is where I’ve gone a different route, following more the Smurfs lodgings within mushroom-like abodes, with real mushroom caps for the roofs, but the houses build underneath them. The idea came from the Smurf’s natural environment and their love of all things mushroom. The Smurfs also have a gnome-like appearance suggesting they were based on this mythological creature.
The choice for them to live in mushroom’s is also fitting due to my Dutch heritage as the mythical Kabouter creature is a gnome-like creature that lives in harmony with nature and resides in mushrooms.
A General Overview
Due to their earthy connections, gnomes are frequently placed in gardens as symbols of good luck and/or to bring a whimsical touch to the scene.
Their roots are in European folklore, appearing in Renaissance magic and alchemy, and (of course) later in fantasy literature. They symbolize good luck, protection, fertility, and prosperity.
In Irish folklore, leprechauns are frequently linked to gnomes. Comparable beings exist in Sweden, known as Tomte, in Norway, referred to as Nisser, and in Finland, called Tonttu.
They are often portrayed as small male figures with pointed hates with earthy magic such as the ability to mold the earth, something often used in fantasy stories as is their ability to cast illusions.
Image: Catharina Steel, NightCafé AI and edited in Photoshop, May 2025
Their Height
Paracelsus was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance and his description of gnomes appears to have been derived from the German miners’ legend about a mythological creature who lived in the mines. He described them as measuring 2 spans (18 inches or 45.7 cm) in height which is notably different to Agricola’s (A German physician and botanist—a humanist scholar with a particular interest in mining and refining metals) who stated they stood 3 dodrans, a bronze coin of the Roman Republic, (3 spans, 27 inches, or 68.6cm) tall.
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn ornaments were first crafted in the 19th century and grew in popularity during the 20th century as garden gnomes.
Image: Catharina Steel, NightCafé AI and edited in Photoshop, May 2025
Characteristics
In addition to their tiny statue, they are typically depicted as benevolent underground “mine” creatures provided they are treated respectfully and will lead to a miners luck when digging for rich veins of ores such as iron and copper, silver and gold.
In the German and Hungarian folklore, miners are often guided to the ores and away from danger. Some stories talk about knocking sounds which told the miner to head away from that location. I believe these sounds could have been water flowing through crevices in the rock or ground vibrations. Since both these things would make the ground unstable, it was good that the miners headed away from this sound.
The similarities between goblins, dwarfs, gnomes and leprechauns is no coincidence as these have evolved in folklore stories over time. The capes or cloak covering the Dwarfs body in earlier times, evolved to be caps or head coverings in the post-medieval era. This is shown as the pointed hat Gnomes are often depicted wearing. What I love is that this has given us so many wonderful mythological creatures we can mold to our own stories as we desire.
In an early 1700s poem by Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock,” gnomes are featured as tiny, heavenly entities that were once prudish women. Now, they spend their eternal existence watching over other prudish women, akin to the role of guardian angels in Catholicism. The word “gnome” remained relatively obscure until the 1800s, when Romantic-era writers of fairy tales adopted it, making it nearly interchangeable with the older term “goblin.”
Image by Catharina Steel with two NightCafé AI images combined and edited in Photoshop, May 2025
A Dutch book written by Wil Huygen in 1976 titled Secrets of the Gnomes told a tale of gnomes who lived together in harmony is one of the stories adapted for animated TV and film. The Kabouter is the Dutch folklore gnome-like creature.Coming Up Next
Coming Up Next
Next month I will be researching Goblins.
To read my previous post about dwarfs/dwarves, click here.
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