Gnomes are ...

According to the alchemist Paracelsus, gnomes are the most important of the elemental spirits of the classical element of earth. They are also said to have magical powers that make people feel sad or happy.


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

A gnome (Greek: gnome, from gignoskein, to know) is also a type of saying, especially an aphorism or a maxim designed to provide instruction in a compact form.