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The term Gnomes or Noldoli was used in early versions of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium to describe the group of Elves that would become the Ñoldor.
The Noldoli spoke the Gnomish (or Goldorin) language and wrote using the Gnomic letters.
History[]
According to the The Book of Lost Tales, the name was briefly used in early works, for which Tolkien borrowed several folkloric names to describe his original creations, like Dwarves, Elves, Fae, Goblins and Ogres. He later discarded the term due to it being 'too misleading'.
Outside of the legendarium, a group of Red Gnomes, or Red Elves, is present in Letters From Father Christmas.
Etymology[]
Tolkien conceived the word Gnomes with the meaning of "the Wise", from the Greek gnōmē meaning "thought" or "intelligence".[1] At this stage of development, the Gnomes were called by Men Widris, that means "wisdom" or "wise".[2]
Inspiration[]
A Gnome is a dwarf-like creature of European folklore, often associated with Dwarves and Goblins. Traditional Gnomes however were unlike his depiction of his High Elves, they were imagined as deformed, underground and by the 19th century were depicted dwarf-like.
For that reason Tolkien dropped the term since that would confuse the readers. However, other folkloric names like "Elves", "Dwarves" and "Goblins" would persist in Tolkien's writing ever since, although he would be unsure about them (he did replace "Goblin" with "Orcs" after the publication of The Hobbit).
References[]
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter X: "The Cottage of Lost Play"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Two: "Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings", chapter VI: "Quenta Silmarillion"