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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 1295828" data-attributes="member: 177">Damned typo demons!&nbsp; Sorry about that.&nbsp; The sentence as I intended it should read: &quot;...that doesn't at all refute the point that there isn't a single image of gnomes that is mythologically common.&quot;&nbsp; I don't dispute that Tolkien is close to Norse myths in many respects.&nbsp; Perhaps we are simply talking past each other?&nbsp; Yeah, but they are buried in what, to the general public (and probably most fantasy authors), are apocrypha.&nbsp; And if what you ran into is the Noldor Elves = gnomes, then the D&amp;D gnome is nothing at all like the Tolkien gnome.&quot;Someone more acquainted&quot; would probably be Mr. Gygax himself.&nbsp; Perhaps this question ought to be shunted over to one of the &quot;ask Gary&quot; threads in the hopes that he can simply tell us what inspired the D&amp;D gnome.However, now you are the one operating in ignorance <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />&nbsp; It isn't so strange - because that one original thing was not, IIRC, in Original D&amp;D.&nbsp; If memory serves the Basic game that came out first had various human classes (cleric, fighter, magician, theif), and Tolkienesque dwarves and elves and halflings as classes, but no gnomes.&nbsp; Gnomes only came on the scene later, in Advanced D&amp;D.&nbsp; If the race wasn't designed at the same time as the others, it is plausible that it came from a different source, no?Perhaps I missed someone else saying it, but I know I didn't say that.&nbsp; Tolkien's work is partly drawn from Norse myth, partly drawn from other folklore, and partly drawn from his own mind.&nbsp; I'm not aware of anyone saying that many possible sources implies that his work was entirely original.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 1295828, member: 177"] Damned typo demons! Sorry about that. The sentence as I intended it should read: "...that doesn't at all refute the point that there isn't a single image of gnomes that is mythologically common." I don't dispute that Tolkien is close to Norse myths in many respects. Perhaps we are simply talking past each other? Yeah, but they are buried in what, to the general public (and probably most fantasy authors), are apocrypha. And if what you ran into is the Noldor Elves = gnomes, then the D&D gnome is nothing at all like the Tolkien gnome. "Someone more acquainted" would probably be Mr. Gygax himself. Perhaps this question ought to be shunted over to one of the "ask Gary" threads in the hopes that he can simply tell us what inspired the D&D gnome. However, now you are the one operating in ignorance :) It isn't so strange - because that one original thing was not, IIRC, in Original D&D. If memory serves the Basic game that came out first had various human classes (cleric, fighter, magician, theif), and Tolkienesque dwarves and elves and halflings as classes, but no gnomes. Gnomes only came on the scene later, in Advanced D&D. If the race wasn't designed at the same time as the others, it is plausible that it came from a different source, no? Perhaps I missed someone else saying it, but I know I didn't say that. Tolkien's work is partly drawn from Norse myth, partly drawn from other folklore, and partly drawn from his own mind. I'm not aware of anyone saying that many possible sources implies that his work was entirely original. [/QUOTE]

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