# Knomes and Faries??



## Melilot (Jan 12, 2002)

i understand it that Tolkien is the "grandfather of fantasy". I've been told that his writing inspired all the fantasy to come and made it a cool subject to write about or something, also that he pretty much set up the races and their heirarchy(spelling?) like elves, dwarves, hobbits, men, bad elves etc. which everyone followed. 
Now my question is where do things like faries and knomes come in? Did tolkien ever mention them or were those invented later on? 


p.s. what exactly is a nymph?


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## WARDNINE (Jan 12, 2002)

To my knowledge, he did not.
Gnomes and fairies have been around for ages, however. Tolkien is the "father of the successful fantasy book", how's that for ya? He is not the inventor of fantasy. Those things have been around for eons.(See: Giants Causeway in Ireland). Tolkien merely (IMHO) perfected the fantasy story.
Nymphs, as far as I know, are woodland creatures, small, sort of like the "kid's book" elf or fairy.
My mother is a McLeod descendant from Scotland, and the story goes that at Dunvegan Castle, way back when, circa 1500, a fairie gave a flag to a McLeod promising that any time it was flown, the McLeods would have victory over foes. It has been flown twice since, quite successfully. It still exists in the McLeod collection at Dunvegan.
So fairies, elves, gnomes, giants, etc. are quite commonly accepted lore among many cultures, chiefly, that of Ireland, Scotland, and (believe this) people from the US South. I was raised in a household in the US South where my Grandmother swore she had seen fairies and gnomes in the woods as a child on our farmland. I mean, she swore til her dying day she had seen gnomes. And yes, I still look for them on my walks through those woods. 
Any corrections or additions are welcomed by those most intimately familiar, as I am no scholar.


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## thoughtful20 (Jan 12, 2002)

First, what Tolkien wrote was mostly based on Celtic myth, the only creatures he actually "created," or "set up" were the hobbits.
All the other creatures he seemed to have created (orcs, ents, ect.) were already made up, but he recreated them, changed them. What he did do tho was create a personality or perspective on the different creatures. Tolkien chose not to write about fairies and knomes so they were left for other writers to develope.


P.S. Nymphs are nature spirits


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## WARDNINE (Jan 12, 2002)

Great post, Thoughtful!


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## thoughtful20 (Jan 12, 2002)

Thanks, u 2 WARDNINE


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## Melilot (Jan 12, 2002)

thank you thoughtful and Wardnine that clears things up quite nicely! 
Wardnine i believe your grandmother! i wish that there were wooded areas near me, i would definatly watch out for knomes and other creatures. let us know if you ever do see one  

p.s. i am also of Scotish decent, but the most direct reletives ive never met or have died and i want to learn all i can about our family, like if we were part of an important clan or something, but i have no idea how to find that stuff out. do you know how i might be able to?

(hmm what a tangent)


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## WARDNINE (Jan 13, 2002)

Number One, my Dear. You ARE a part of an important Clan. The one that begat you. 
The first rule of genealogy is that your family is the most brilliant, exciting, fascinating group of people that ever existed.
Tell other genealogists this at every opportunity, because they will do the same to you.
Ask your living relatives for every detail they can remember. If you're like me, go to the cemetery at every opportunity to visit the dead ones and ask them for help. Just kidding. Sort of.
Then, hit the Family History Center closest to you and prepare for eyestrain.
That's pretty basic, but since this isn't a genealogy forum.... 
Go to a search engine and type in "genealogy". A ton of sites will come up for ya...
Happy hunting!
Oh, and for the record, I believe her, also..


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## pippin le qer (Jan 13, 2002)

was *Gnomes* not the name Tolkien originally intented for the Noldor, but later dropped that name.
He iused the name once in the Hobbit, when Elrond inspects the swords the compagny had found in the trolls treasure.
"these were made by High Elves who now are gnomes"
(I really have to dig up all those books of Tolkien I've read eons ago)


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## Cian (Jan 13, 2002)

Tolkien used _Gnome_ in reference to Greek _gnome_ "thought, intelligence" ~ not the popular association as used by Paracelsus, used as a synonym for ('earth dwelling') _pygmaeus_


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## WARDNINE (Jan 14, 2002)

Yes, in "The Peoples of Middle Earth" it becomes known that he specifically did not want his "gnome" word to be confused with the little fat folks we think of now.


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