View source for Gnome

{{Short description|Diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy}}
{{About|the fictional humanoid type of creature|the desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems|GNOME|the garden ornament|Garden gnome|other uses|Gnome (disambiguation)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name           = Gnome
|AKA            =
|image          = Heinrich Schlitt Gnom mit Zeitung und Tabakspfeife.jpg
|image_size     =
|caption        = ''Gnom mit Zeitung und Tabakspfeife'' (English: ''Gnome with newspaper and tobacco pipe'') by [[Heinrich Schlitt]] (1923)
|Folklore      = Renaissance
|Grouping       = Diminutive spirit
|Sub_Grouping   =
|Country        =
|Region         =
|Details        =
|First_Attested = 16th century

}}
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's gnome is recognized to have derived from the German miners' legend about '''{{lang|de|Bergmännlein}}''' or {{lang|la|dæmon metallicus}}, the "metallurgical or mineralogical demon", according to [[Georg Agricola]] (1530), also called  {{lang|la|virunculus montanos}}<!--nominative case appears to be -unculus --> (literal [[Latinisation of names|Latinization]] of ''Bergmännlein'' {{=}} "'''mountain manikin'''") by Agriocola in a later work (1549), and described by other names such as {{lang|la|cobeli}} (sing. {{lang|la|cobelus}}; Latinization of German {{lang|de|Kobel}}). Agricola recorded that according to the legends of that profession, these mining spirits acted as miming and laughing pranksters who sometimes threw pebbles at miners, but could also reward them by depositing a rich vein of silver ore.

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.

The terms ''Bergmännlein''/''Bergmännchen'' or {{interlanguage link|Berggeist|de|lt=''Berggeist''}}<!--Thus a possible [[WP:SPLIT]] spinoff if a [[Berggeist]] article is to be created--> are often used in German publications as the generic, overall term for the mine spirits told in "miners' legends" ({{lang|de|Bergmannssage}}).{{Refn|cf. the compilation {{harvp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967}} and its explanatory, pp. 56–58, 189–190  on past anthologies by Wrubel (1883) using "Berggeist" as category,{{sfnp|Wrubel|1883|p=29}} and Stötzel (1936) essentially following but renaming the category as "Bergmännchen".{{sfnp|Stötzel|1936|p=75}}}}

[[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>

==Etymology==
The word comes from [[Renaissance Latin]] {{lang|la|gnomus, gnomos}},{{sfnp|Paracelsus|1658|loc='''II''': 394}} (pl. {{lang|la|gnomi}}{{Refn|{{sfnp|Paracelsus|1658|loc='''II''': 391}} {{=}} loc. cit. apud OED.<ref name="OED"/>}}) which first appears in ''[[A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits]]'' by [[Paracelsus]], published posthumously in [[Nysa, Poland|Nysa]] in 1566.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|And again in the Johannes Huser edition of 1589–1591 from an autograph by Paracelsus.}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Ex Libro de Nymphis, Sylvanis, Pygmaeis, Salamandris et Gigantibus, etc |author=Paracelsus |publisher=Ioannes Cruciger |location=[[Nysa, Poland|Nissae Silesiorum]] |date=1566 |author-link=Paracelsus }}</ref><ref>[[Manly P. Hall|Hall, Manly P.]] (1997, 1964). ''Paracelsus: His Mystical and Medical Philosophy''. [[Philosophical Research Society]]. pp. 53, 69–72, 74, 77–78. {{ISBN|0-89314-808-3}}.</ref>

The term may be an original invention of Paracelsus, possibly deriving the term from Latin {{lang|la|*gēnomos}}, itself representing a Greek {{lang|grc|*γηνόμος}}, approximated by "{{lang|la|*gē-nomos}}", literally "earth-dweller". This is characterized by the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] (OED) as a case of "blunder",<ref name="OED"/> presumably referring to the omission of the ''ē'' to arrive at ''gnomus''. However, this conjectural derivation is not substantiated by any known prior attestation in literature,{{efn|The asterisk(*) at the beginnings of the presumed Latin or Greek words indicates [[linguistic reconstruction]].}} and one commentator suggests the truth will never be known, short of a discovery of correspondence from the author.{{efn|A rhetorical comparison is made to [[Murray Gell-Mann]] who did write to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' regarding the word origin of "[[quark]]".}}<ref name="liberman2009"/>

==Paracelsus==

Paracelsus uses ''Gnomi'' as a synonym of ''[[Pygmæi]]''<ref name="OED"/> and classifies them as earth [[elemental]]s.<ref>Cf. {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|pp=231–232}}</ref><ref name="veenstra2013"/> He describes them as two [[span (unit)|spans]] tall.{{efn|If 1 span is taken to be 9 inches, 2 spans equal 1.5 feet. Cf. below where Agricola gives 3 ''dodrans'' (equal to 3 spans, i.e., 2.25 feet).}}<ref>{{harvp|Paracelsus|1658|loc='''II''': 392}}: "Gnomi humiles sunt, duas circiter spithamas æquantes"; {{harvp|Paracelsus|1567|p=181}}: "die Gnomi sein klein bis auff zwo spannen unnd dergleichen ungeferlich"; {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=235}}: "The mountain people are small, of about two spans".</ref><ref name="lewis1964"/> They are able to move through solid earth, as easily as humans move through air, and hence described as being like a "spirit".<ref>{{harvp|Paracelsus|1658|loc='''II''': 391}}: "Terra autem gnomis tantum chaos ist. Illi enim transeunt solidas parietes, saxa & scopulos, instar spiritus..."; {{harvp|Paracelsus|1567|p=179}}: "also den Gnomis die erde ihr Lufft, dann ein jedes ding wonet, geht und steht im Chaos. Die Gnomi gehn durch ganze felsen, mauren, unnd was innen ihr Chaos zu gros ist..."; {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=234–235}}: "the mountain manikins have the earth which is their chaos. To them it is only an air";  {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=232}}: "to the gnomi in the mountains: the earth is the air and is their chaos.. Now, the earth is not more than mere chaos to the mountain manikins. For they walk through solid walls, through rocks and stones, like a spirit;"</ref> However the elementals  eat, drink and talk (like humans), distinguishing them from spirits.{{sfnp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=228}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Them being "taciturn" according to C. S. Lewis<ref name="lewis1964"/> appears to be a misattribution, for Paracelsus states: "The mountain manikins [gnomes] are endowed with speech like the nymphs [undines, water], and the vulcans [salamanders, fire] speak nothing, yet they can speak but roughly and rarely".{{sfnp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=240}} Hartmann also seems to misstate the "spirits of the woods" as saying nothing,{{sfnp|Hartmann|1902|p=156}} since this answers to "sylvestres" of the forests, given as an alternate name sylphs, or air spirits.{{sfnp|Hartmann|1902|pp=54, 152–153}}{{sfnp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=231}}}}

According to Paracelsus's views, the so-called [[Dwarf (folklore)|dwarf]] ({{langx|de|Zwerg, Zwerglein}}) is merely ''monstra'' ([[deformity|deformities]]) of the earth spirit gnome.{{Refn|Sigerist's translation: "The giants come from the forest people and the dwarfs from the earth manikins. They are monstra like the sirens from the nymphs. Thus these beings are born".<ref>{{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941}}, translator's preface, p. 221, translated text, p. 248</ref> The Latin term "monstra" is used as is in the 1567 German edition also.<ref>{{harvp|Paracelsus|1567|p=195}}: "Die Riesen kommen von den Waltleuten, die zwerglein von den Erdleuten, unnd sein {{lang|la|monstra}} von ihnen wie die Syrenen von den Nymphen, von solche dingen werden wol selten geborn".</ref> However, this is not "monster" in the common modern sense, and explained as the "misbegotten" ({{lang|de|Mißgeburten}}) in one reference handbook in its entry on "Paracelsus".<ref name="handwoerterbuch1974-paracelsus"/>}}

Note that Paracelsus also frequently resorts to circumlocutions like "mountain people" ('''{{lang|de|Bergleute}}''') or "mountain manikins" ("'''{{lang|de|Bergmänlein}}'''" {{sic}}<ref>e.g. {{harvp|Paracelsus|1567|p=181}} "Bergmänlein"</ref>) to denote the ''gnomi'' in the German edition (1567).<ref>For the English "mountain people" "mountain manikins" cf. {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941}}, passim.</ref>

==Precursors==
There was a belief in early modern Germany about beings that lurked in the mines, known as {{lang|de|Bergmännlein}} (var. {{lang|de|Bergmännlin}},{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|pp=170, 199}} {{lang|de|Bergmänngen}}{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|pp=210, 211}}), equatable to what Paracelsus called "gnomes".<ref name="verardi2023"/> Paracelsus's contemporary, [[Georgius Agricola]], being a supervisor of mines, collected his well-versed knowledge of this mythical being in his [[monograph]], ''De amantibus subterraneis'' (recté ''De animatibus subterraneis'', 1549).<ref name="verardi2023"/> The (corrected) title suggests the subject to be "subterranean animate beings". It was regarded as a treatise on the "Mountain spirit" ('''{{lang|de|Berggeist}}''' by the [[Brothers Grimm]], in ''[[Deutsche Sagen]]''.{{Refn|Grimms, ''DW'';{{sfnp|Grimm|Grimm1816|p=3}} cf. ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' "kobel".<ref name="Grimm-DW-kobel"/>}}<ref name="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen"/>

Agricola is the earliest and probably most reliable source on {{interlanguage link|Berggeist|de}}, then known as ''Bergmännlein'', etc.{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|p=40}} Agricola's  contemporary [[Johannes Mathesius]], a [[Lutheran Reformation|Lutheran]] reformist [[theologian]], in ''Sarepta Oder Bergpostill'' (1562) uses these various mine-lore terminology in his German sermon, so that the noxious ore which Agricola called {{lang|la|cadmia}} is clarified as that which German miners called {{lang|de|cobelt}} (also {{lang|de|kobelt}}, {{lang|de|cobalt}}),{{Refn|This clarification (identification of cadmia's real German form) is possible through Agricola's publications too, but is more complicated. In the text itself he write that the ore in Latin ''cadmia'' was called in  German {{lang|la|cobaltus}}, which is of course Latinized.<ref name="agricola-cobaltum"/> The pure German form {{lang|de|kobelt}} can be looked up in the appended glossary ("{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6tlCB1PdJoC&pg=PA473 |2=Cadmia metallica {{lang|de|Kobelt}}}}"), or by tabulating a comparison with the contemporary German translations which the Hoovers have done.{{sfnp|Agricola|Hoovers trr.|1912|pp=112–113}}}} and a demon the Germans called ''kobel'' was held responsible for the mischief of its existence, according to the preacher. The ''kobel'' demon was also blamed for the "{{Transliteration|el|hipomane}}"{{sic}} or horse's poison (cf. [[hippomanes]]<!--{{linktext|μᾶνις}}-->, {{section link||Rosenkranz mine, Annaberg}}).{{Refn|name="mathesius1562"|[[Johannes Mathesius|Mathesius]] (1652), quoted in English by the Hoovers,{{sfnp|Agricola|Hoovers trr.|1912|loc='''1''': 214, n21}} excerpted by Wothers.<ref name="wothers2019"/>}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Mathesius apparently used {{lang|de|gütlein}} also.<ref name="mathesius-gloss-gutelin"/>}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The Hoovers in their translation of Agricola echo the opinion that ''kobalt'' has this name because the ''kobel'' demon was blamed for it. Cf. also [[Johann Beckmann]] (1752).<ref name="wothers2019"/> See {{section link||Cobalt ore}} for further details on the "cobalt" etymology.}}

==Agricola==
Agricola, in his earlier Latin work ''Bermanus, sive, de re metallica'' (first printed 1530, reprinted 1546, etc.), did delve into a limited discussion on the "metallurgical or mine demon" ({{lang|de|dæmon metallicus}}){{efn|The main text itself discusses "dæmon" in relation to "metallum" but the set phrase "dæmon metallicus" occurs in the end gloss.}} touching on the "Corona rosacea" mine disaster (cf. {{section link||Rosenkranz mine, Annaberg}}) and the framework of [[Michael Psellos|Psellosian]] demonology (cf. {{section link||Demonology}}). A Latin-German gloss in later editions identify the being he called {{lang|la|daemon metallicus}} as cypher for German {{lang|de|Bergmännlein}} ({{lang|de|Das bergmenlin}}{{sic}}, "mountain manikin", general term for earth spirit or mine spirit).<ref name="agricola1546"/>

Much more details were presented in Agricola's later Latin work ''De animatibus subterraneis'' (1549) (cf. {{section link||De animatibus subterraneis}}),<ref name="agricola1614"/>{{Refn|name="Hoovers-tr"}} known as a [[monograph]] on {{lang|de|Berggeist}} ("mountain spirit") in the Grimms' ''Deutsche Sagen''.<ref name="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen"/> The equivalent German appellations of the demons/spirits were made available by the subsequent gloss published 1563<!--As well as the contemporary German translation of Agricola, which the Hoovers consulted.-->.{{Refn|Gloss titled ''Appellationes quadrupedum, insectorum, volucrium, piscium'' (1563), quote: "Daemon subterraneus.. bergmenlein/kobel/guttel".<ref name="LibrarySurgeonGeneral1941"/> See full quote with opposite translation, below.}} Agricola here refers to the "gnome/mine spirit" is referred to by a variety of terms and phrases, such as {{lang|la|virunuculus montanos}} ("montain manikin", i.e., German: ''bergmännlein'') or Greek/Latin {{Transliteration|grc|cobelos}}/{{lang|la|cobelus}} (German: ''kobel'') .

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"/>}}

==={{lang|la|De animatibus subterraneis}}===

According to Agricola in {{lang|la|De animatibus subterraneis}} (1549), these mountain-cave demons were called by the same name, {{lang|la|cobalos}}, in both Greek (i.e. {{Transliteration|grc|kobalos}}) and German (i.e. {{lang|de|kobel}}{{Refn|The German appellations are given in the gloss to {{lang|la|De animantibus}},<ref name="agricola1657-gloss"/> as already explained.}}<ref name="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen"/> var. {{lang|de|kobal}}{{Refn|There is the German form {{lang|de|Kobalen}}, the -en presumably a definite article suffix. This term applies to a mountain-cave demon, answering to Latin {{lang|la|Cobali}}, {{lang|la|virunculi montani}} (used here by Agricola), {{lang|de|Berggeister}}, gnome,{{clarify|reason=This being a German work, we should quote the German words, not the English ones. Presumably this one is "Gnom"?|date=July 2025}} and {{lang|de|Kobold}}, according to German linguist [[Paul Kretschmer]].<ref name="kretschmer1928"/>}}). The Latin form is appended in the margin (pl. {{lang|la|cobali}}, sing. {{lang|la|cobalus}}) They were thus called on account of them aping or mimicking humans. They have the penchant to laugh, while seeming to do things, without accomplishing anything.<ref name="agricola1614"/>{{Refn|name="Hoovers-tr"}}

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 goes on to add there are similar to the beings which the Germans called {{lang|la|Guteli}} (singular: '''{{lang|la|Gutelos}}'''; {{langx|de|Gütel}},<ref name="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen"/><ref name="Handwoerterbuch1931-guetel"/> var. {{lang|de|Güttgen}}), which are amicable demons that are rarely seen, since they have business at their home taking care of livestock.{{efn|{{lang|la|{{linktext|iumentum}}}} can mean cattle, etc., though Lavater tr. Harris gives "horses".}}<ref name="agricola1614"/><ref name="lavater-tr-harrison1596"/> A {{lang|de|Gütel}} or {{lang|de|Güttel}} is elsewhere explained as not necessarily a mountain spirit, but more generic, and may haunt forests and fields.<ref name="mueller-fraureuth1906"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|([[East Central German]]) {{lang|de|Gütel}}, {{lang|de|Güttel}} purportedly diminutives of "God",<ref name="mueller-fraureuth1906"/> as it referred to fetish figurines, and as such ostensibly identifiable with kobold (as figurines).<ref name="Handwoerterbuch1974-kobold"/>}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|name="gitulius"|Grimm cites [[Václav Hanka]]'s "Old" Bohemian glosses, 79<sup>b</sup> as giving {{lang|la|gitulius}} for {{lang|cs|kobolt}}, followed by {{lang|la|alpinus}} glossed as {{lang|cs|tatrman}}. Grimm makes the point that all these have "doll" or "puppet" connotations, since {{lang|la|alphinus}} was the term for a [[chess piece]] (the queen, apparently also called "the fool"), and {{lang|cs|tatrman}} is attested with the usage "guiding him with strings".<!--editorial decision to exclude Grimm venturing that gaetulius may mean "African savages"--><ref>Hanka (1833). [https://books.google.com/books?id=8l9gAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA79 Gitulius kobolt"]. {{lang|cs|Zbjrka neydáwněgšjch Slownjků Latinsko-Českých}} [{{lang|la|Vetustissima Vocabularia Latino-Boemica}}]. p. 79.</ref>{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|p=502}}}} The Hoovers render these as "goblins".{{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"/>

====Rosenkranz mine, Annaberg====
Purportedly a mountain demon incident caused 12 fatalities at a mine named Rosenkrans at Anneberg{{Refn|As also reported by Olaus Magnus,<ref name="olaus-eng"/> discussed below.}} or rather Rosenkranz{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|p=121}}{{sfnp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967|pp=105, 347}} or Rosenkrone{{sfnp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967|p=347}} ({{langx|la|Corona Rosacea}}<ref name="wothers2019"/>) at [[Annaberg-Buchholz]], in the [[Ore Mountains]] ({{langx|de|Erzgebirge}}) in [[Saxony]].{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|p=40}} The demon took on the guise of the horse, and killed the twelve men with its breath, according to Agricola.{{Refn|{{langx|la|"Flatum vero emittebat ex rictu"}}<ref name="agricola1614"/> Apparently omitted by the Hoovers, Wothers provides his own translation that it "only with his breath killed more than twelve labourers" and comments on the demon appearing in horse's guise, and issuing poison breath out of its mouth.<ref name="wothers2019"/> Cf. {{langx|de|Anhauch}}.{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|p=40}}}}{{Refn|Calmet states "spirit in the shape of a spirited, snorting horse", citing a different title, "Geo. Agricola, {{lang|la|de Mineral. Subterran.}}, p. 504".<ref name="calmet1850"/>}}

====Demonology====
Agricola has a passage in ''Bermanus'' which is quoted by a modern scholar as relevant to the study of his contemporary Paracelsus.<ref name="koelsch-2013"/> The passage contains the line{{Refn|Just below mention of the mine {{lang|la|"Corona rosacea"}}, writes: {{lang|la|"Eius generis demonum, quod in metallis esse solet, inter reliqua, sex (6) enim numerat, Psellus mentionem fecit, ... cæteris peius"}} ("Psellus mentions this type of demon, which is usually found in metals, among the rest, for they number six, ... worse than the rest").<ref name="agricola1546"/>}} basically repeated by Olaus, as "there exist in ore-bearing regions six kinds of demon more malicious than the rest".<ref name="olaus"/><ref name="olaus-eng"/>

This is probably misstated or misleading, since ''Bermanus'' cites [[Michael Psellos|Psellus]],<ref name="agricola1546"/> who devised a [[classification of demons#Psellus' classification|classification of six demon classes]], where clearly it is not all six, but just the fifth class of subterranean demons which are relevant to mining.<ref name="hibbert1825"/>

This demon class is also equatable to Agricola's {{lang|la|Cobali}} and {{lang|la|Getuli}} ({{lang|la|recte "Guteli"}}){{Refn|{{lang|la|"Guteli"}} was Agricola's spelling, thus {{lang|la|"Getuli"}} is not faithful to it. However, {{lang|la|gitulius}} (var. {{lang|la|getulius, gaetulius}}) as a synonym of {{lang|cs|kobolt}} is attested,{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|p=502}} so the learned Englishmen were perhaps providing the correct standard Latin.}}{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|name=gitulius}} according to commentators.<ref name="hibbert1825"/><ref name="burton-anatomy1621"/>

It has also been noted that Agricola distinguished the "mountain devil", exemplified by [[Rübezahl]] with the small-statured {{lang|de|Bergmännlein}};<ref name="ernsting1994"/> although the popular notion was that Rübezahl was indeed lord of the gnomes, as told in folktales around the [[Giant Mountains]] ({{langx|de|Riesengibirge}}) region in Silesia, published by 18th century folktale collector [[Johann Karl August Musäus|Musäus]].<ref name="musaeus1845"/>

Agricola explaining that the "mine demon" {{lang|la|dæmon metallicus}} or {{lang|de|Bergmenlin}} somehow deposited "rich mines" was mentioned above.<ref name="agricola1546-gloss-zech"/>

====Cobalt ore====
Agricola knew of certain noxious unwanted ores the German miners called {{lang|de|kobelt}}, though he generally referred to it by the Greek term, {{Transliteration|el|cadmia}}.<ref name="agricola-cobaltum">{{harvp|Agricola|1546}}, {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6tlCB1PdJoC&pg=PA467|2=p. 467}}: {{lang|la|"Hoc genus metallici cobaltum, liceat mihi nunc nostris uti, vocant: Græci cadmiam"}}.</ref><ref name="ball2001"/> This {{lang|la|cadmia}}/{{lang|de|kobelt}} appears to have denoted a cobalt–zinc ore, but Agricola ascribes to it corrosive dangers to the miners' feet, and it is noted that [[smaltite]], a cobalt and [[nickel arsenide]] mixture, presents corrosive properties.<ref name="ball2001"/> This ore, which defied being smelted by the [[metallurgy]] of that time, may also have been [[cobaltite]], composed of cobalt, arsenic, and sulfur.{{sfnp|Wothers|2019}}

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"/>

The {{lang|cs|kobel}} spirit possibly the namesake of the ore is characterized as a "gnome or a goblin" by science writer [[Philip Ball]].<ref name="ball2001"/>{{Refn|The trend of 21st century scholarship seems to be to categorize the {{lang|cs|kobel}}, etc. as "gnome". [[Peter Wothers]] titles his section on discussion on cobalt as "Gnomes and Goblins".{{sfnp|Wothers|2019|p=47}} While Wothers's Fig. 24 ({{=}} the fig. under {{section link||Olaus Magnus}}) labels the creature as "mining demon", ''Britannica Online'' labels it as "gnome".}} However, 20th century dictionaries had suggested derivation from {{lang|de|[[Kobold]]}}, for example, Webster's in 1911 which did not distinguish {{lang|cs|kobel}} from {{lang|de|Kobold}} and lumped them together,<ref name="Webster1911-cobalt">{{OED|cobalt}}; [[William Torrey Harris|Harris, William Torrey]]; Allen, Frederic Sturges  eds. (1911), [https://books.google.com/books?id=1n3FLI97mDkC&pg=PA426 "cobalt"], ''Webster's New International Dictionary''</ref> and the OED which conjectured that the ore {{lang|cs|kobolt}} and the spirit {{lang|cs|kobolt}}/{{lang|de|Kobold}} was the same word.<ref name="OED-cobalt">{{OED|cobalt}}; [[James Murray (lexicographer)|Murray, James A. H.]] ed. (1908). [https://books.google.com/books?id=CUPAIeSbvSIC&pg=PA562 "cobalt"]. ''A New English Dictionary'' '''II'''.</ref> An alternative etymology deriving {{lang|cs|kobolt}} ore from {{lang|de|{{linktext|Kübel}}}}, a type of bucket mentioned by Agricola, has been suggested by Karl Müller-Fraureuth.<ref name="mueller-fraureuth1906"/>{{Refn|Agricola mentions the bucket repeatedly, in Latin as {{lang|la|modulus}}, glossed as {{lang|de|Kobel}}.<ref>{{harvp|Agricola|1546|p=481}}: {{langx|la|Modulus}} {{=}} {{langx|de|Kobel}}</ref> Cf. also Grimm, {{lang|de|italic=no|[https://books.google.com/books?id{{=}}ERSZv4n2zpEC&pg{{=}}PA1539 "Kobel"]}}, {{lang|de|italic=no|[https://books.google.com/books?id{{=}}ERSZv4n2zpEC&pg{{=}}PA1541 "Köbel"]}} and {{lang|de|italic=no|[https://books.google.com/books?id{{=}}ERSZv4n2zpEC&pg{{=}}PA2489 "Kübel"]}}, {{lang|de|[[Deutsches Wörterbuch]]}}, Vol. 5.}} [[Peter Wothers]] suggests that ''cobalt'' could derive (without connection to Agricola) from ''cobathia''<!--no lang tag, unclear what language--> for noxious smoke.{{sfnp|Wothers|2019|p=47}}

===Olaus Magnus===
[[File:Olaus(1555)-Hist septentrionalibus-p210-demons-in-mines.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Demons in the mine. Olaus Magnus, {{lang|la|Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus}}<ref name="olaus"/><ref name="olaus-eng"/>]]
The erudite Swedish [[Olaus Magnus]] in his {{lang|la|[[A Description of the Northern Peoples|Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus]]}} (1555) also provides a chapter on "demons in the mines".<ref name="olaus"/><ref name="olaus-eng"/> Although Olaus uses the term "demon" ({{lang|la|daemon}}) and not the uninvented coinage "gnome", the accompanying woodcut he provided (reproduced here) has been represented as "gnome" in modern reference sources.<ref name="ebo"/><ref name="rand2019"/>{{Refn|Olaus appears to be quoting Munsterus (Münster), identified as author of {{lang|la|Cosmographia}},<ref name="burton-anatomy1621"/> i.e., [[Sebastian Münster]] the cartographer. He names Agricola apparently as an additional authority for confirmation. But much material found in Olaus are actually to be found in Agricola, as explained in several notes above.}}

===Praetorius===
[[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}}.]]

[[Johannes Praetorius (writer)|Johannes Praetorius]] in ''Anthropodemus Plutonicus'' (1666) devotes a chapter of considerable length to the beings he calls {{lang|de|Bergmännrigen}} or {{lang|de|Erdleute}} "earth people", and follows Agricola to a large extent. Thus he considers earth spirits to be of two types, one more evil and sinister looking, the other more benevolent and known as {{lang|de|Bergmännlein}} ({{literal translation|little mountain man}}) or {{lang|de|Kobolde}}. He gives the measurement of what he calls the {{lang|de|Bergmännrigen}} at {{lang|de|"drey viertel einer Ellen lang"}},<ref>{{harvp|Praetorius|1666|p=142}}; {{harvp|Praetorius|1668|p=129}}</ref><ref name="williams2017"/> perhaps shy of one and a half feet.{{efn|Williams calculates to "half a foot" which must be off, perhaps {{frac|3|4}} misread as {{frac|1|4}}.}}

The mention of  ''kobolde'' here as a name for the underground spirit is an unresolved contradiction to Praetorius dedicating a wholly separate chapter on the kobold as house sprite<ref>{{harvp|Praetorius|1666|pp=359–379}}; {{harvp|Praetorius|1668|pp=311–326}} "VIII. Von Hausmännern, Laribus, Penatibus, Geniis, Kobolden, Stepgen, Ungethümen, Larven, Haussgötzen, Gütgen".</ref> with a separate frontispiece art labeled "8. Haußmänner/Kobolde/Gütgen" for the house spirits.<ref>"[[:File:Praetorius(1668)-p0000-08haußmänner-kobolde-gütgen.jpg|8. Haußmänner/Kobolde/Gütgen]]"</ref>{{circular reference|date=July 2025}}

==Folklore examples==
{{expand section|date=August 2024}}
[[File:Lichttaler 1587, CNG.jpg|thumb|Silver Thaler coin. Goslar mint. Dated 1587]]
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}}

German lore regarding gnomes or {{lang|de|Berggeister}} (mine spirits) depicts them as beneficial creatures, at least if they are treated respectfully, and lead miners to rich veins of ore.{{Refn|Scott actually says these are "kobolds" which are types of gnomes.<ref name="Scott1845"/>}}

===Bergmönch of Harz and mine light===
The silver [[thaler]] minted by Duke [[Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg|Henry the Younger]] of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel which features a "[[wild man]]" (see image) was seen to reassert his claim of complete ownership of the local silver and forest resources of the [[Harz|Harz Mountains]], probably depicting the supernatural that miners believed led them to the whereabouts of silver ore. Even though the wild man above surface could be a vague supernatural guide, it is pointed out that it must be the {{lang|de|Berggeist}} burrowing underground which guides miners to exact spots. In the Harz area, it is a {{lang|de|Bergmönch}} or "mountain monk" who uses the so-called "mining light" ({{lang|de|Grubenlicht}} or {{lang|de|Geleucht}}) to guide miners to their quarry or to their exit.<ref>{{lang|de|italic=no|"Der Berggeist spendet Geleucht"}} (ch. 5), {{harvp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967}} pp. 438–442<!--apud Stopp--></ref><ref name="stopp1970"/>

The lantern he holds is apparently an ignited lump of [[tallow]] ({{lang|de|Unschlitt}}).<ref name="ranke1910"/> It is also said that the Bergmönch was originally a mine supervisor who begged God to let him continue oversight of mines after death. If ignored it will angrily appear in its giant true form, with eyes as large as cartwheels, his silver lantern measuring a German bushel or {{lang|de|{{interlanguage link|Scheffel (measurement)|de|Scheffel (Maßeinheit)|lt=Scheffel}}}}.{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|The modern US and imperial bushels are about 8 gallons or 35–36 liters. The German bushel or {{lang|de|Scheffel}} historically was a widely differing unit of dry volume, depending on region; it was around 50 liters in many areas, but given as 310 odd liters in the Duchy of Braunschweig.<!--310.25 accord de.wikipedia--><ref>"Braunschweig Himten 31 1/7 liter" (cf. "Baiern Schäffel 222.4 liter"). Schrader, Theodor Friedrich  (1859). {{lang|de|2=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vavksnBnvrQC&pg=PA65 Das Wichtigste der Wechselcourse, des Münzwesens und der Maasse und Gewichte]}}, p. 65.</ref><ref>{{lang|de|italic=no|"Ein Wispel hält in Braunschweig 4 Scheffel, 40 Himten oder 640 Löcher"}}. [[Otto von Münchhausen]] (1771), {{lang|de|2=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eDs7AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA640 Der Hausvater]}}, p. 640.</ref>}}<ref name="ranke1910"/>

===Communication through noises===
Nineteenth-century miners in Bohemia and Hungary reported hearing knocking in the mines. The mining trade there interpreted such noises as warnings from the kobolds to not go in that direction. Although the Hungarian (or Czech) term was not given by the informant, and called "kobolds" of these mines, they were stated as the equivalents of the ''Berggeist'' of the Germans.{{Refn|Mr. Kalodzy, teacher at the Hungarian Mining School, cited by spiritualist [[Emma Hardinge Britten]].<ref name="britten1884"/>}}

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"/>}}

There is also a experiential report of a German mine sprite communicating residents and visiting their house (cf.{{section link|Kobold#Visitors from mines}}).

===Switzerland===
The gnomes of [[Swiss folklore]] are also associated with riches of the mines. 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 (geology)|vein]] for the benefit of humans, and were corrupted by this newfound prosperity, which greatly offended the gnomes.<ref>[[H. A. Guerber|Guerber, H. A.]] (1899). ''Legends of Switzerland''. [[Dodd, Mead & Co.]] pp. 289–290.</ref>

==Folkloristics==
Grimm discusses the Bergmännlein somewhat under the subsection of Dwarfs (''Zwerge''), arguing that the dwarf's ''[[Cloak of invisibility|Nebelkappe]]'' (known as [[Cloak of invisibility#Tarnkappe|Tarnkappe]] in the ''Nibelungenlied'') slipped from being known as a cape or cloak covering the body in earlier times, into being thought of as caps or head coverings in the post-medieval era. As an example, he cites the Bergmännlein wearing a pointed hat, according to [[Gabriel Rollenhagen|Rollenhagen]]'s poem ''Froschmeuseler''.{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|loc=p. 462, n2}}{{Refn|In the published version of Rollenhagen's work, "''Bergmännlein''" is used in the {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=LVP1IG_Aaq0C&pg=PT19&dq=%22Bergm%C3%A4nnlein%22|2=index}}, but the verses themselves read: "{{lang|de|Funden sich auf dem Berg beysammen Der kleiner Männlein ohne Nahmen,/ In weissen Hemdlein, spitzgen Kappen,/ Als man gewohnt an den Bergknappen}}".<ref name="rollenhagen1730"/>}}

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"/>}}

In the 1960s there developed a general controversy between this "mythological school" and its opponents over how to interpret so-called "miner's legends". What sparked the controversy was not over the ''Bergmännlein'' type tale per se, but over Grimms' "Three Miners of [[Kutná Hora|Kuttenberg]]",{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|"Die drei Bergleute im Kuttenberg", ''[[Deutsche Sagen]]'', No. 1}} who are trapped underground but supernaturally maintain longevity through prayer.<ref name="leslie2006"/> Siegfried Kube (1960) argued the tale was based on ancient mythology, i.e., pagan alpine worship.{{Refn|Yoshida (2008), p. 185<ref name="yoshida2008"/> ''apud'' Baba (2009), pp. 101–102.<ref name="baba2019"/>}} This was countered by {{interlanguage link|Wolfgang Brückner|de|preserve=1}} (1961) who regarded the tale as inspired by medieval Catholic notion of the [[purgatory]].{{Refn|name="yoshida-p179"|Yoshida (2008), pp. 179–181<ref name="yoshida2008"/> ''apud'' Baba (2009), p. 102.<ref name="baba2019"/>}} Whereas [[Ina-Maria Greverus]] (1962), presented yet a different view, that it was not based on organized church doctrine, but a world-view and faith in the miner's unique microcosm.<ref name="greverus1962"/>{{Refn|name="yoshida-p179"}}

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}}

The collection of tales under the classification of "Berggeist" was already anticipated as far back as Friedrich Wrubel (1883).{{sfnp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967|p=61}}{{sfnp|Wrubel|1883|pp=29–90}}{{Refn|[[:ja:小澤俊夫|Ozawa]] (1970), Review of {{interlanguage link|Gerhard Heilfurth|de}}, co-written with Greverus (1967).<ref name="ozawa1970"/>}} Later {{interlanguage link|Franz Kirnbauer|de}} published ''Bergmanns-Sagen'' (1954), a collection of miner's legends which basically adopted Wrubel's four-part classification, except Wrubel's Part 2 was retitled as one about "Bergmännlein".{{sfnp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967|p=61}}<ref name="ozawa1970"/>

In [[Karl Müllenhoff]]'s anthology (1845), legends No. 443 ''Das Glück der Grafen Ranzau'' and No. 444  ''Josias Ranzaus gefeites Schwert'' feature the ''Bergmännlein-männchen'' or its female form ''Bergfräuchen''.<ref name="muellenhoff1845"/>{{sfnp|Baba|2019|pp=125–126}}

Other collected works also bear "''Berggeist-sagen''" in the title, such as the collection of legends in [[Lower Saxony]] by Wolfersdorf (1968).{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968}}

== Cultural references ==

===In Romanticism and modern fairy tales===
[[File:CarlSpitzwegGnomEisenbahnbetrachtend.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Gnome Watching Railway Train]]'', [[Carl Spitzweg]], 1848]]

The English word is attested from the early 18th century. Gnomes are used in [[Alexander Pope]]'s "[[The Rape of the Lock]]".<ref name="veenstra2013"/> The creatures from this mock-epic are small, celestial creatures that 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 tale]]s and becomes mostly synonymous with the older word ''[[goblin]]''.

Pope's stated source, the 1670 French satire ''[[Comte de Gabalis]]'' by [[Henri de Montfaucon de Villars|Nicolas-Pierre-Henri de Montfaucon de Villars]], the [[abbot]] of [[Villars-sur-Ollon|Villars]],  describes gnomes as such:
<blockquote>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 to be commandded. 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; and their habit marvellously curious.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&res_id=xri:eebo&rft_id=xri:eebo:image:199577 |title=The Count of Gabalis: Or, The Extravagant Mysteries of the Cabalists, Exposed in Five Pleasant Discourses on the Secret Sciences |publisher=B. M. Printer |location=London |first=Nicolas-Pierre-Henri |last=Montfaucon de Villars |translator-first=P. A. |translator-last=Gent |pages=29–30 |date=1680 |oclc=992499594}}</ref></blockquote>
De Villars used the term ''gnomide'' to refer to female gnomes (often "gnomid" in English translations).<ref>{{cite book |url=http://sacred-texts.com/eso/cdg/index.htm |title=Comte de Gabalis |publisher=The Brothers, Old Bourne Press |location=London |first=N.-P.-H. |last=de Montfaucon de Villars |date=1913 |orig-year=1670 |oclc=6624965 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513012258/http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/cdg/index.htm |archive-date=13 May 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> {{anchor|gnomess}}Modern fiction instead uses the word "gnomess" to refer to female gnomes.<ref>2007: [https://books.google.com/books?id=FD6zseJQdycC&pg=PA115 Shadow on the Land, page 115]</ref><ref>2013: [https://books.google.com/books?id=vElLBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA120 Gnomes and Haflings, page 120]</ref>

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 [[elf|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 [[Modest Mussorgsky|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 tale]]s, the term gnome became largely synonymous with other terms for "[[little people (mythology)|little people]]" by the 20th century, such as ''[[goblin]]'', ''[[brownie (folklore)|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.<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>
* In [[L. Frank Baum]]'s [[List of Oz books|Oz]] books (published 1900 to 1920), the Nomes (so spelled), especially [[Nome King|their king]], are the chief adversaries of the Oz people. They are ugly, hot-tempered, immortal, round-bodied creatures with spindly limbs, long beards and wild hair, militantly collecting and protecting jewels and precious metals underground. [[Ruth Plumly Thompson]], who continued the series (1921 to 1976) after Baum's death, reverted to the traditional spelling. He also featured gnomes in his book ''[[The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus]]''. They watch over the rocks, their king is part of the Council of Immortals, and they created the sleigh bells for [[Santa Claus's reindeer]].
* [[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.
* The Dutch books ''[[Gnomes (book)|Gnomes]]'' (1976) and ''[[Secrets of the Gnomes]]'' (1982), written by [[Wil Huygen]], deal with gnomes living together in harmony. These same books are the basis for [[Gnomes (1980 film)|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 [[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>
* 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 (law enforcement)|Watchman]] in [[Ankh-Morpork]] as the force became more diversified under the command of [[Sam Vimes]], with [[Buggy Swires]] appearing in [[Jingo (novel)|Jingo]]. Another gnome in the series was [[Wee Mad Arthur]] a pest terminator in [[Feet of Clay (novel)|Feet of Clay]].

===Music===

* One of the first movements in [[Modest Mussorgsky|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.
{{listen
| type         = music
| filename     = Modest Mussorgsky - pictures at an exhibition - i. gnomus - vivo.ogg
| title        = Gnomus by Mussorgsky, 1874
| description  = A classical piece of music  written to sound as if a gnome is moving about.
| format       = [[ogg]]
| help         = no
}}
* "[[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 Grumble.

===Games===
* In the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' [[fantasy]] [[role-playing game]], gnomes are one of the core races available for play as [[player character]]s.<ref>{{cite book | first = Jonathan | last = Tweet |date=July 2003 | title = Player's Handbook Core Rulebook I v.3.5 | publisher = [[Wizards of the Coast]] | location = Renton WA }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/908811746 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/901881503 cite #1 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> They are described as being smaller than [[Dwarf (folklore)|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.
* In the ''[[Warcraft]]'' franchise (1994 to present), particularly as featured in the [[massively multiplayer online role-playing game]] ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', [[Races and factions of Warcraft#Gnomes|gnomes]] are a race of beings separate from but [[Races and factions of Warcraft#The Alliance|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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.engadget.com/2014/04/23/know-your-lore-gnomes-the-inheritors-of-the-future/ |title=Know Your Lore: Gnomes, the inheritors of the future |work=Engadget |last=Rossi |first=Matthew |date=23 April 2014 |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731185111/https://www.engadget.com/2014/04/23/know-your-lore-gnomes-the-inheritors-of-the-future/ |archive-date=31 July 2016 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* in the [[RuneScape]] franchise (2001 to present ), gnomes are featured as [[Non-player character|NPCs]], with the ''Tree Gnome Village'', and ''Gnome Stronghold,'' being featured in a number of quests''.'' <ref>{{Cite book |last1=Calvin |first1=Alex |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3klEEAAAQBAJ&dq=runescape+gnomes&pg=PA88 |title=Runescape: The First 20 Years--An Illustrated History |last2=JagEx |date=2021-12-07 |publisher=Dark Horse Comics |isbn=978-1-5067-2126-2 |language=en}}</ref> A Gnome child NPC has since become a [[meme]], and is featured on a number of merchandise items.<ref>{{Cite news |author1=Ted Litchfield |date=2022-11-08 |title=That wonderful little Gnome Child from RuneScape is coming to a MOBA near you |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/that-wonderful-little-gnome-child-from-runescape-is-coming-to-a-moba-near-you/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bitner |first=Jon |date=2020-11-23 |title=RuneScape Announces 10th Annual Golden Gnome Award Winners |url=https://www.thegamer.com/runescape-10th-annual-golden-gnome-award-winners/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=TheGamer |language=en}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sherlock Gnomes|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2809955841/|access-date=2020-12-05|website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref>

=== TV Shows ===

* The [[Disney+]] Series [[The Santa Clauses]]
* [[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.

==Derivative uses==
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2018}}

===Garden gnomes===
{{Main|Garden gnome}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| total_width = 350
| image1 = Historic Garden Gnomes.jpg
| caption1 = Historic garden gnomes on display at the Gnome Reserve in Devon, UK. The ornament on the left of the image was produced by Eckardt and Mentz in the late nineteenth-century,
| image2 = Gartenzwerg.jpg
| caption2 = By the late twentieth century the garden gnome had come to be stylised as an elderly man with a full white beard and a pointed hat.
}}

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 (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' by [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]]. This "[[Disneyfication|Disneyfied]]" image of the gnome was built upon{{Citation needed|reason=There is no reason to assume the Dutch book built upon the image popularized by Disney, as the former shares more with pre-Disney imagery|date=November 2023}} by the illustrated children's book classic ''[[Gnomes (book)|Gnomes]]'' (1976), in the original Dutch ''Leven en werken van de [[Kabouter]]'', by author [[Wil Huygen]] and artist [[Rien Poortvliet]], followed in 1981 by [[The Secret Book of Gnomes]]. Garden gnomes share a resemblance to the Scandinavian [[nisse (folklore)|tomte and nisse]], and the Swedish term "tomte" can be translated as "gnome" in English.

===Gnome-themed parks===
[[File:Wieliczka-color.jpg|thumb|Gnome garden at the [[Wieliczka Salt Mine]], Poland|alt=]]
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
* Gnometown, USA in [[Dawson, Minnesota|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 [[parade]]s are held annually at [[Atlanta]]'s [[Inman Park]] Festival.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://eastatlanta.patch.com/articles/creating-a-world-record-one-gnome-at-a-time |title=Creating A World Record, One Gnome At A Time |work=East Atlanta Patch |first=Péralte |last=Paul |date=16 April 2012 |access-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924051211/http://eastatlanta.patch.com/articles/creating-a-world-record-one-gnome-at-a-time |archive-date=24 September 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Numerous one-off gnome parades have been held, including in [[Savannah, Georgia]] (April 2012)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southernmamas.com/2012/best-dressed-gnome-contest-adults-kids-savannah/ |title=Best Dressed Gnome Parade & Contest (adults & kids), Savannah |work=Southern Mamas |year=2012 |access-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316133743/http://www.southernmamas.com/2012/best-dressed-gnome-contest-adults-kids-savannah/ |archive-date=16 March 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and [[Cleveland, Ohio]] (May 2011).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cleveland.com/parents/index.ssf/2011/05/5_ways_for_families_to_get_clo.html |title=5 ways for families to get close to birds |work=Cleveland.com |first=Martha Mueller |last=Neff |date=18 May 2011 |access-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017210413/http://www.cleveland.com/parents/index.ssf/2011/05/5_ways_for_families_to_get_clo.html |archive-date=17 October 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Metaphorical uses===
* The expression "[[Gnomes of Zurich]]", 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 (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 [[Wikipedia:WikiGnome|WikiGnome]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/07/31/know-it-all |title=Know It All, Can Wikipedia conquer expertise? |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |first=Stacy |last=Schiff |author-link=Stacy Schiff |date=31 July 2006 |access-date=9 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930011944/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/07/31/know-it-all |archive-date=30 September 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Wikiquote|Gnomes}}
{{Commons category|Gnomes}}
{{EB1911 poster|Gnomes}}
* [[Dwarf (folklore)]]
* [[Erdgeist]]
* [[Garden hermit]]
* [[Gnome (Dungeons & Dragons)]]
* [[Wrocław's dwarfs]]
* [[Travelling gnome]]
* [[Yaksha]]
* [[Pixie]]

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
;Citations
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="agricola1546">{{cite book|last=Agricola |first=Georgius |author-link=:en:Georgius Agricola |chapter=Bermannus, sive de re metallica dialogus |title=Georgii Agricolae De ortu & causis subterraneorum lib. 5. De natura eorum quae effluunt ex terra lib. 4. De natura fossilium lib. 10. De ueteribus & nouis metallis lib. 2. Bermannus, siue De re metallica dialogus lib.1. Interpretatio Germanica uocum rei metallicæ, addito Indice fœcundissimo |location=Basel |publisher=Froben |year=1546 |orig-year=1530 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6tlCB1PdJoC&pg=PA432 |pages=432–433<!--421ff--> |quote=BER: ..genus certè dæmonum,..metallicis inferunt;  AN: Eius generis dæmonum quod in metallis esse solet.. Psellus mentionem fecit...}}. Gloss, p. 477: "Daemon metallicus: {{lang|de|Das bergmenlin}}". The title page describing the contents list the gloss as "Interpretatio Germanica uocum rei metallicæ.." but the gloss itself has the header "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6tlCB1PdJoC&pg=PA473 |2=Sequuntur rerum, de quibus scribimus, nomina, quae ipsis posuerunt Germani, nec tamen nomina prosuerunt omnibus rebus, quibus uel abundant, uel non carent}}".</ref>

{{void|<ref name="agricola1558">{{cite book|last=Agricola |first=Georgius |author-link=Georgius Agricola |chapter=Bermannus, sive de re metallica dialogus |title=Georgii Agricolae De ortu & causis subterraneorum lib. 5. De natura eorum quae effluunt ex terra lib. 4. De natura fossilium lib. 10. De ueteribus & nouis metallis lib. 2. Bermannûs, siue De re metallica dialogus lib.1. Interpretatio Germanica uocum rei metallicae, addito duplici indice, altero ... |location=Basel |publisher=Froben, Hieronymus & Episcopius, Nikolaus, Libreria impressa dei duchi di Urbino |year=1558 |orig-year=1530 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZl9l9zIKt0C&pg=PA425 |page=425<!--413ff-->}}</ref>}}

<ref name="agricola1657-gloss">{{cite book|last=Agricola |first=Georgius |author-link=Georgius Agricola |chapter=Animantium nomina latina, graega, q'ue germanice reddita, quorum author in Libro de subterraneis animantibus meminit |title=Georgii Agricolae Kempnicensis Medici Ac Philosophi Clariss. De Re Metallica Libri XII.: Quibus Officia, Instrumenta, Machinae, Ac Omnia Denique Ad Metallicam Spectantia, Non Modo Luculentissime describuntur; sed & per effigies, suis locis insertas ... ita ob oculos ponuntur, ut clarius tradi non possint |location=Basel |publisher=Sumptibus & Typis Emanuelis König |year=1657 |orig-year=1530 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uCClFLX0CwUC&pg=PA762 |at=p. [762]<!--761ff--> |quote={{smallcaps|Dæmonum}}: ''Dæmon subterraneus trunculentus'': bergterufel; ''mitis'' bergmenlein/kobel/guttel}}</ref>

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<ref name="agricola1614">{{cite book|last=Agricola |first=Georgius |author-link=Georgius Agricola  |editor=Johannes Sigfridus |chapter=37 |title=Georgii Agricolae De Animantibus subterraneis |place=Witebergæ |publisher=Typis Meisnerianis |year=1614 |orig-year=1549 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laGePXl89xwC&pg=PA78 |pages=78–79}}</ref>

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<ref name="mathesius-gloss-gutelin">{{cite book|last=Göpfert |first=Ernst |author-link=<!--Ernst Göpfert--> |title=Die Bergmannssprache in der Sarepta des Johann Mathesius |location=Starßburg |publisher=Trübner |year=1902 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WSxUAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA41 |page=41 }}</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="Handwoerterbuch1974-kobold">''Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens'', Walter de Gruyter (1974),  s.v. "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=89G1DwAAQBAJ&pg=RA3-PA181 |2=Kobld}}", Band '''5'''<!--Knoblauch - Matthias-->: 26–31ff. Reprint (1987), p. {{URL|1=https://archive.org/details/handworterbuch-des-deutschen-aberglaubens-vollstandig-band-01-bis-10-berlin-1987/page/n1827/mode/2up |2='''5''': 29ff}}</ref>
<ref name="handwoerterbuch1974-paracelsus">''Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens'', Walter de Gruyter (1974),  s.v. "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=t_YY7lpApzoC&pg=PA1397 |2=Paracelsus}}",  Band '''6'''<!--Mauer - Pflugbrot--> 1395–1398.</ref>

<ref name="hawhee2020">{{cite book|last=Hawhee |first=Debra |author-link=<!--Debra Hawhee--> |title=Rhetoric in Tooth and Claw: Animals, Language, Sensation |location= |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2020 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AL4lEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 |page=60 |isbn=<!--022670677X, -->9780226706771}}</ref>

<ref name="hibbert1825">{{cite book|last=Hibbert |first=Samuel |author-link=Samuel Hibbert-Ware |title=Sketches of the Philosophy of Apparitions: Or, An Attempt to Trace Such Illusions to Their Physical Causes |edition=2 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Oliver & Boyd |year=1825 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNYRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA188 |page=140}}</ref>

<ref name="koelsch-2013">{{cite book|author=Paracelsus |author-link=Paracelsus |editor-last=Koelsch |editor-first=Franz |editor-link=<!--Franz Koelsch--> |title=Von der Bergsucht und anderen Bergkrankheiten |location= |publisher=Springer-Verlag |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bnTRBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |pages=61–62 |isbn=<!--3642991483, -->9783642991486}}</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="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Lecouteux |first=Claude |author-link=Claude Lecouteux |entry=BERGMÄNNCHEN (''Bergmännlein, Bergmönch, Knappenmanndl, Kobel, Gütel; gruvrå'' in Sweden) |title=Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology, and Magic |publisher=Simon and Schuster |date=2016 |entry-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmAoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58 |pages= |isbn=<!--162055481X, -->9781620554814}}</ref>

<ref name="leslie2006">{{cite book|last=Leslie |first=Esther |author-link=Esther Leslie |title=Synthetic Worlds: Nature, Art and the Chemical Industry |location= |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2006  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-YfxAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT47 |page= |isbn=<!--1861895542, -->9781861895547}}</ref>

<ref name="lewis1964">{{cite book |title=The Discarded Image - An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature |publisher=Cambridge University Press |first=C. S. |last=Lewis |author-link=C. S. Lewis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHrXx6zYTJsC&pg=PA135 |page=[https://archive.org/details/discardedimagein0000lewi/page/135 135] |date=2012 |orig-year=1964 |isbn=<!--orig-0-521-47735-2--><!--1107604702, -->9781107604704}}</ref>

<ref name="liberman2009">{{cite book|last=Liberman |first=Anatoly |author-link=Anatoly Liberman |title=Word Origins...And How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone |location= |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMiRc-JFIfMC&pg=PA128 |page=128 |isbn=<!--0195387074, -->9780195387070}}</ref>

<ref name="Liddel&Scott-kobalos">Liddell and Scott (1940). ''[[A Greek–English Lexicon]]''. s.v. "{{URL|1=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2358260&redirect=true |2=koba_l-os, ho}}". Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|0-19-864226-1}}. Online version retrieved 25 February 2008.</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="mueller-fraureuth1906">{{cite book|last=Müller-Fraureuth |first=Karl |author-link=<!--Karl Müller-Fraureuth-->|chapter=Kap. 14 |title=Sächsische Volkswörter: Beiträge zur mundartlichen Volkskunde |location=Dresden |publisher=Wilhelm Baensch |year=1906 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFdsAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA26 |pages=25–26}}</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="muellenhoff1845">{{cite book|editor-last=Müllenhoff |editor-first=Karl |editor-link=Karl Müllenhoff|chapter=CDXLIII. Das Glück der Grafen Ranzau; DXLV. Josias Ranzaus gefeites Schwert |title=Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg |location=Kiel |publisher=Schwersche Buchhandlung |year=1845  |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=138BAAAAQAAJ&pg=327 |pages=327–331}}</ref>

<ref name="OED">{{Cite OED|gnome}}; See Murray, James A. H. ed. (1901) ''A New Eng. Dict. on Hist. Principles'' '''IV''', s.v. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=S114knfLp7MC&pg=RA1-PA248 gnome2]"</ref>

<ref name="olaus">{{cite book|author=Olaus Magnus |author-link=Olaus Magnus |chapter=Liber VI. Cap. X. De Metallicis Dæmonibus |title=Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus |location=Rome |publisher=Giovanni M. Viotto |year=1555 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9lEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA210 |pages=210–211}}</ref><!--1599 edition: https://books.google.com/books?id=YQ9hAAAAcAAJ}}-->

<ref name="olaus-eng">{{cite book|author=Olaus Magnus |author-link=Olaus Magnus |chapter=Book 6, Ch. 10 On demons in the mines |title=Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus: Romæ 1555 |others=Translated by [[Peter Foote|Foote, Peter]] and [[Humphrey Higgins]] |trans-title=Description of the Northern Peoples : Rome 1555 |volume=II |location= |publisher=Routledge  |date=2017 |orig-date=1998 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmZQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA299　|pages=299–300 |isbn=<!--1351555979,--> 9781351555975 |quote=}}</ref>

<ref name="ozawa1970">{{cite journal|last=Ozawa |first=Toshio |author-link=:ja:小澤俊夫 |title=(Book Review) Gerhard Heilfurth, unter Mitarbeit von Ina-Maria Greverus; Bergbau und Bergmann in der deutschsprachigen Sagenuberlieferung Mitteleuropas, Band I-Quellen, 1967 |journal=Minzokugaku kenkyū |script-journal=ja:民族學研究 |volume=35 |number=1 |date=June 1970 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7i0pAQAAIAAJ&q=%22山のこびと%22 |pages=79–82 |publisher=Sanseido}}</ref>

<ref name="rand2019">{{cite book|last=Rand |first=Harry |author-link=<!--Harry Rand--> |title=Rumpelstiltskin's Secret: What Women Didn't Tell the Grimms |location= |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NorCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |at=p. 133 and Fig. 6.1 (on p. 134) |isbn=<!--1351204149, -->9781351204149}}</ref>

<ref name="ranke1910">{{cite book|last=Ranke |first=Friedrich  |author-link=Friedrich Ranke |chapter=6. Der Kobold |title=Die deutschen Vokssagen |editor1-last=von der Leyen |editor1-first=Friedrich |editor1-link=Friedrich von der Leyen |editor2-last=Ranke |editor2-first=Friedrich |editor2-link=Friedrich Ranke|editor3-last=Müller |editor3-first=Karl Alexander von |editor3-link=Karl Alexander von Müller |series=Deutsches Sagenbuch 4 |location=München |publisher=C.H. Beck |year=1910 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y8JLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA163 |pages=164–166<!--149–166-->}}; [https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/rankef/sagen/chap007.html e-text] @Projeckt Gutenberg</ref>

<ref name="rollenhagen1730">Rollenhagen's poem is a take on the Greek ''[[Froschmäusekrieg]]''. {{cite book|last=Rollenhagen |first=Gabriel  |author-link=Gabriel Rollenhagen |chapter=3tte Theil, Das I. Kapitel: Rathschlag der Berg- und Wasser-Geister über diesen Krieg |title=Sinnreicher Froschmäuseler, vorstellend der Frösche und Mäuse wunderbahre Hoffhaltung: in dreyen Büchern mit Fleiss beschrieben |location=Frankfurt |publisher=Routledge |year=1730|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LVP1IG_Aaq0C&pg=PA608 |page=608}}</ref>

<ref name="Scott1845">[[Walter Scott|Scott, Walter]] (1845). "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=DyISAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA110 |2=Letter IV}}", ''[[Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft]]''. New York: Harber & Brothers, p. 110</ref>

<ref name="stopp1970">{{cite journal|last=Stopp |first=F. J. |author-link=<!--F. J. Stopp--> |title=Henry the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel: wild men and werewolf in religious polemics, 1538-1544 |journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes |volume=33 |date=1970 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rjdnzKa94LQC&q=berggeist |page=214<!--200–234-->|doi=10.2307/750896 |jstor=750896 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

<ref name="LibrarySurgeonGeneral1941">{{cite book|author=Library of the Surgeon General's Office |author-link=Library of the Surgeon General's Office |chapter=Agricola |title=Index-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, United States Army (Army Medical Library) |edition=4 |location=  |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1941 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qZ8UmGlwOYwC&pg=RA2-PA24 |pages=24–28}}</ref>

<ref name="taylor1977">{{cite journal|last=Taylor |first=J. R. |author-link=<!--J. R. Taylor --> |title=The Origin and Use of Cobalt Compounds as Blue |journal=Science and Archaeology |volume=19 |date=1977 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8gnvAAAAMAAJ&q=%22kobalos%22 |page=6<!--3–15-->}}</ref>

<ref name="veenstra2013">{{cite book|last=Veenstra |first=Jan R. |author-link=<!--Jan R. Veenstra -->|chapter=Paracelsian Spirits in Pope's ''Rape of the Lock'' |title=Airy Nothings: Imagining the Otherworld of Faerie from the Middle Ages to the Age of Reason: Essays in Honour of Alasdair A. MacDonald |location= |publisher=BRILL |year=2013 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUNWAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA233 |pages=233<!--213–240-->|isbn=<!--900425823X, -->9789004258235}}</ref>

<ref name="verardi2023">{{cite book|last=Verardi |first=Donato |author-link=<!--Donato Verardi --> |title=Aristotelianism and Magic in Early Modern Europe: Philosophers, Experimenters and Wonderworkers |location= |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2023 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7XS5EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA85 |page=85 |isbn=<!--1350357170, -->9781350357174}}</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>

<ref name="yoshida2008">{{cite journal|last=Yoshida |first=Takao |author-link=<!--吉田孝夫 --> |title=Sanrei to meikai: Gurimu 〈sannin no kōfu〉densetsu wo meguru mondaikei |script-title=ja:山霊と冥界――グリム〈三人の鉱夫〉伝説をめぐる問題系―― |trans-title=<!--user's Eng. translation, not author's German title-->The ''Berggeist'' and the Netherworld: the body of issues concerning Grimm's 〈Die drei Bergleute〉legend |journal=Gaikoku bungaku kenkyū |script-journal=ja:外国文学研究 |number=27 |date=December 2008 |pages=149–194 |publisher=Nara Women's University<!--奈良女子大学文学部外国文学研究会-->}}</ref>
}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Grimm |first=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Grimm |chapter=XVII. Wichte und Elbe |title=Deutsche Mythologie |edition=4 |volume=1 |location=Göttingen |publisher=W. Swan Sonnenschein & Allen |year=1875 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85GLFD-dUEoC&pg=PA413 |pages=363–428}}
** {{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883}}|last=Grimm |first=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Grimm |others=Translated by James Steven Stallybrass |chapter=XVII. Wights and Elves §Elves, Dwarves |title=Teutonic Mythology |volume=2 |publisher=W. Swan Sonnenschein & Allen |year=1883 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ektAAAAIAAJ |pages=439–517}}
** {{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1888}}|last=Grimm |first=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Grimm |author-mask=2 |others=Translated by James Steven Stallybrass |chapter=(Notes to) XVII. Wights and Elves §Elves, Dwarves |title=Teutonic Mythology |volume=4 |publisher=W. Swan Sonnenschein & Allen |year=1888 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uy1LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1426 |pages=1407–1436}}
* {{cite book|last1=Grimm |first1=Jacob |author1-link=Jacob Grimm |last2=Grimm |first2=Wilhelm |author2-link=Wilhelm Grimm |title=Deutsche Sagen |edition=2 |volume=1 |location=Berlin |publisher=Nicolai |year=1816  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jYAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA3 |pages=}}
* {{cite book|last=Hartmann |first=Franz |author-link=Franz Hartmann |chapter=V. Pneumatology |title=The Life and the Doctrines of Paracelsus |location=New York  |publisher=Theosophical Publishing Company |date=1902 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRjGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 |pages=130–160}}
* {{cite book|last1=Heilfurth |first1=Gerhard |author1-link=:de:Gerhard Heilfurth |last2=Greverus |first2=Ina-Maria |author2-link=Ina-Maria Greverus |title=Bergbau und Bergmann in der deutschsprachigen Sagenüberlieferung Mitteleuropas |location=Marburg |publisher=Elwert |date=1967 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IiA7AQAAIAAJ&q=bergmännlein |pages=}}
* {{cite book|author=Paracelsus |author-link=Paracelsus  |editor-last=Flöter |editor-first=Balthasar |editor-link=<!--Balthasar Flöter--> |chapter=De nymphis, syl. pyg.et salamandris |title=Philosophiæ magnæ, des Edlen ... Herrn D. Aureoli Theophrasti von Hohenhaim ... Tractatus aliquot, jetzt erst in Truck geben, etc. |location=Köln |publisher=Truckts G. Vierendunck in verlegung A. Birckmans Erben |date=1567 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zo5mAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA170 |pages=170–}}
* {{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|last=Praetorius |first=Johannes |author-link=Johannes Praetorius (writer) |others=Illustrated by Thomas Cross (fl. 1632-1682)<!--father of [[Thomas Cross (engraver)]]--> |chapter=II. Von Bergmännrigen / Erd-Leuten |title=Anthropodemus Plutonicus. Das ist, Eine Neue Welt-beschreibung Von allerley Wunderbahren Menschen: Als da seyn, Die 1. Alpmännergen, Schröteln, Nachtmähren. 2. Bergmännerlein, Wichtelin, Unter-Irrdische. 3. Chymische Menschen, Wettermännlein. ... 22. Zwerge, Dümeken |volume=1 |location=Magdeburg |publisher=In Verlegung Johann Lüderwalds |year=1666 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OzJmAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA142 |pages=44–156}}
** {{cite book|last=Praetorius |first=Johannes |author-link=Johannes Praetorius (writer) |others=Illustrated by Thomas Cross (fl. 1632-1682)<!--father of [[Thomas Cross (engraver)]]-->|chapter=II. Von Bergmännrigen / Erd-Leuten |title=Anthropodemvs Plvtonicus, Das ist Eine Neue Weltbeschreibung Von Allerley Wunderbahren Menschen, Als da seyn... |volume=1 |location=Magdeburg  |publisher=In Verlegung Johann Lüderwalds |year=1668 |orig-year=1666 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qC9O0VIg_pwC&pg=PA41|pages=41–140}} Alternate url: [https://books.google.com/books?id=6PtgAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP7]
* {{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}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Wrubel |editor-first=Friedrich |editor-link=<!--Friedrich Wrubel--> |chapter=II. Sagen vom Berggeist |title=Sammlung bergmännischer Sagen |location=Freiberg in Sachsen |publisher=Craz & Gerlach Ed. Stettner |date=1883 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zahcCNWDTUIC&pg=PA41|pages=29–90}}
{{refend}}

{{Fantasy fiction}}
{{Fairies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gnomes| ]]
[[Category:16th-century introductions]]
[[Category:Earth spirits]]
[[Category:Elementals]]
[[Category:Mining spirits]]
[[Category:Household deities]]
[[Category:Fairy tale stock characters]]