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What is the basis for the D&D Gnome?

Onimech

Onimech

Something that came to my mind when replying to another thread about how D&D fantasy tends to get some mythological concepts of various fantasy species a little wrong, the gnome really stuck out to me. Mostly because the last few editions that came out the gnome seems to be a little extra removed from the historical/folklore roots than most of the other species.

Dwarves despite the changes are still underground bearded guys that love to forge things. Elves are still nature affinity magic people that are considered better looking than humans on most occasions. But Gnomes in folklore generally have a lot of description, lots of books dedicated to them and tons of imagery and recreations in the western world.



Instead in games and modern fantasy they are usually clean shaven, about 3.5-4 foot tall mechanics and machine builders with weird and often fluorescent colored hair.



How did they go from relatively small slightly more magical bearded dwarf types to these? Or was it because of some need to create a larger difference from dwarves in the first place?
 
Onimech said:
Something that came to my mind when replying to another thread about how D&D fantasy tends to get some mythological concepts of various fantasy species a little wrong, the gnome really stuck out to me. Mostly because the last few editions that came out the gnome seems to be a little extra removed from the historical/folklore roots than most of the other species.

Dwarves despite the changes are still underground bearded guys that love to forge things. Elves are still nature affinity magic people that are considered better looking than humans on most occasions. But Gnomes in folklore generally have a lot of description, lots of books dedicated to them and tons of imagery and recreations in the western world.



Instead in games and modern fantasy they are usually clean shaven, about 3.5-4 foot tall mechanics and machine builders with weird and often fluorescent colored hair.



How did they go from relatively small slightly more magical bearded dwarf types to these? Or was it because of some need to create a larger difference from dwarves in the first place?
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You've got your reason right there.

And of course there's the problem of the trend to make Dwarves more steampunk as well, meaning the Gnome's technological/magitek thing is also under threat from the Dwarves.
 
I'd always assumed that in standard D&D-style generic fantasy settings that gnomes were actually the same species as dwarves, just a different culture. Would explain the similar appearance.

....

WMG time, hobbits/halflings are also another culture of the same species. Traditionalist dwarven leaders would banish "lazy" dwarves who preferred to just lie around and eat nine meals a day rather than more standardly dwarven activities like mining, getting drunk and hating elves, from the underground cities, said outcast dwarves formed a counterculture on the surface, bred with each other and in a couple generations had created their own nation.
 
Bassoe said:
I'd always assumed that in standard D&D-style generic fantasy settings that gnomes were actually the same species as dwarves, just a different culture. Would explain the similar appearance.

....

WMG time, hobbits/halflings are also another culture of the same species. Traditionalist dwarven leaders would banish "lazy" dwarves who preferred to just lie around and eat nine meals a day rather than more standardly dwarven activities like mining, getting drunk and hating elves, from the underground cities, said outcast dwarves formed a counterculture on the surface, bred with each other and in a couple generations had created their own nation.
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Trying to apply our biological definitions to D&D's world of everything produces fertile offspring with everything would be a massive headache.

Like, I'm not going to even figure out how Trolls can reproduce with Treants.
 
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Mental Omega said:
Trying to apply our biological definitions to D&D's world of everything produces fertile offspring with everything would be a massive headache.

Like, I'm not going to even figure out how Trolls can reproduce with Treants.
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I thought half elves and orcs were infertile, it was the magical creature hybrids like half dragons and demons that made fertile offspring. Even then there is a massive list of other weird things going on with those guys one could bring up long before we get to the whole fertile children part. Like breathing basalt instead of oxygen, or being warm blooded lizards etc.
 
Onimech said:
I thought half elves and orcs were infertile, it was the magical creature hybrids like half dragons and demons that made fertile offspring. Even then there is a massive list of other weird things going on with those guys one could bring up long before we get to the whole fertile children part. Like breathing basalt instead of oxygen, or being warm blooded lizards etc.
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I'm pretty sure they can breed in Greyhawk.

Endothermic reptiles isn't really that much of a stretch. Dinosaurs are believed to be Endothermic after all.
 
Maybe they call themselves/each other "Gnomes" while "Dwarf" is the other species's word for them? I mean, we don't call our species Pigmy Giants.
 
Personally, I always had difficulty distinguishing between Dwarves, Gnomes, and Hobbits/Halflings. What are the differences in culture, especially between Gnomes and Dwarves? Which one is the shortest shorter than the others? How do the females look like, and how do you differentiate?
 
all fictions said:
Personally, I always had difficulty distinguishing between Dwarves, Gnomes, and Hobbits/Halflings. What are the differences in culture, especially between Gnomes and Dwarves? Which one is the shortest shorter than the others? How do the females look like, and how do you differentiate?
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In my setting I went for:

Dwarves: Short, rotund, generally stocky and thick, tallest of the "little" people though, and actually continue to grow (albeit very slowly) after adulthood. Dwarf is more of an insult by the Giants that they adopted themselves. Strong, muscly. Generally tends towards a more bellicose and warlike culture and prefer factory industry versus the Gnomes' more cottage industry thing.

Gnomes: More fae-like of appearance, more closely related to the Elves (who in the setting linked in my signature are the common ancestor of the typical set of very near human species, versus the likes of orcoids and goblinoids who are descended from a porcine ancestor), pointed eared, shorter than dwarves but more humanly proportioned. Or rather, elvenly proportioned. Extinct following the 1500 years war.

Hobbits: Literally smaller versions of regular people, descended from Humans who are a more distant branch of the Elf family tree than modern elves and gnomes are. Also extinct due to the war.

Halflings: Refers to a group of people cursed by the gods to be unable to mature beyond childhood. Forever 13 basically.
 
In my D&D:

Races are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and Goblins.

All of the others are cross-breeds. Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Halfings (Humans + Dwarves), Gnomes (Elves + Dwarves), Hobgoblins (Humans + Goblins), Bugbears (Orcs + goblins).
 
Considering that dwarves, gnomes, kobolds, goblins and (depending on which regional folklore) elves are all different names for the same creature, I wouldn't ask too many questions.
 
I would say D&D blurred the lines between halfling and gnome in their need to separate dwarves and gnomes. I'm not really seeing much of a difference in them tbh.

If I were to keep to folklore then I would have made gnomes the wilderness loving druidish wood elf to the dwarf civilized high elf type.
 
I always liked Gnomes as being the Elf/Dwarf hybrids, because they're basically dwarves with fey ancestry and minor attunement to magic.
 
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