I saw a Brownie once, not sure if it was a Brownie or a Gnome. I say Brownie because it was behind my couch (that’s why I think it was a Brownie). I only saw it once but I’ll never forget it. It was about 2 foot tall, dressed in something brown coloured. It had a big bulbous nose and wasn’t exactly pretty lol, but it wasn’t scary, it seemed more curious if anything.
That’s fascinating. I’ve only ever seen such things with mycological or magical aid. I guess brownies and gnomes look quite similar, certainly in the folk illustrations of the last couple of centuries. Thanks for sharing. I hope he’s doing nice things for you around the house and isn’t being a nuisance.
@@TheStoryCrow haha yes, I believe he’s still around. I wish I could see him again, I think children (I was around 10 yrs old at the time) just see them easier as they are more open to the thought of magical beings. Thanks for the video
Full respects for getting ''cthonic'' in there! And happy to have you back safe from the threat of the toilet-hole djinn. It's a reall mish-mash of tales but for a tenner you can pick up Wirt Sykes' book British Goblins, which is mainly about Welsh lore, and more faeries, ghosts, and anything else but goblins. But its a treasure trove.
I’ve got it! Great book, if a little dense. I’ve also got Alan garners ‘book of British goblins’ which is wonderfully illustrated even if it too, possesses rather few goblins. What is a goblin anyway? That should be another video 😂
@@TheStoryCrow I'm probably walking above the seams and tunnels your ancestor toiled in here in Lancashire... and on gnomes, the miners of Lancashire and Cornwall (independently I guess?) had encounters with 'cthonic entities they called 'knockers''. Some of the hills here are almost hollow with old workings, and ''the people under the hill'' are still talked about in places like Astley Bridge and Belmont. Haunted lands!
The coblynau ( plural ) are the mine spirits of Welsh folklore and the word " coblyn " ( singular ) is closely related to the English " goblin " . Then you have the Germanic " kobold " , also . These are all smaller , imp like spirits , which seems to be standard for " goblins " .
The Aboriginal Americans have amazing stories about the little people, ever modern one's as they regularly still encounter them on traditional lands and during Pow Wows...Even in South America there still regularly encountered and protected as a native tribe of people just like any other traditional tribe in the rainforest.
chthonic is now my new favourite word. I love this. I'm a big fan of dnd but the thing that fascinates me more is the lore upon which dnd is based upon. Most of the core races in there are based upon old folklore stories. Can't wait to delve into the full story (which has helpfully just been recommended to me to watch next!
Hello mate! Fancy seeing you here. I know. I love d n d. Or did. Haven’t played for aeons. We should have a game. Bagsy gnome illusionist hashtag chaotic neutral
"Entering altered states usually with the aid of substances or... appliances." I'm imagining a shaman staring at a washing machine on the spin cycle right now... It's a good image, thank you, you majestic muppet. 😉
I wonder if he was mining the depths of Durham :) The city still has a coal miner festival every summer. I've always found that the hills and valleys in this region are very picturesque, it's very easy to imagine that you could see the little shadows around the cliffs and rock formations.
Dwarves ('dweorgar' (pl) in Old English) seem to me to be telluric beings, cthonic, masculine beings associated with metalworking, as you say. I've come to think that these aspects of the dwarves, in addition to the etymology of their names in Old Norse (corpse, bloated one, one who is prepared for burial, decomposing one, the slumbering one... which are euphemisms for or direct references to the dead) point to them being mythologised versions of the dead. The dead apparently give people dreams, nightmares, are associated with poetic inspiration and mead in Germanic mythology and the dwarves are associated with these things too. Buried treasure within the grave (dwarfish metalworking), and dwarves being telluric beings of the subterranean underworld certainly gives me deathly imagery and I've seen similar theories in one or two places online. In Indo-European folklore, household spirits like the English hob, the Swedish Nisse, the Russian Domovoy seem to be omnipresent. The ancestral dead, seemingly. Or spirits of the previous landowners. I don't know, I wonder though! I wonder why they are often depicted as being diminutive beings? Is it a more recent thing? Really cool video
Very good points re spirits of the dead. I think the diminutive nature of these being happened over time. Elves and the sidhe used to be human sized according to older sources. It’s a really interesting phenomenon.
@TheStoryCrow I've often wondered that since Germanic society (among all traditional societies) was classist, that the elves ("white ones", the illustrious dead, beautiful) were the aristocracy as they are associated with the dead of barrows because of the atributes they possess which are intrinsic to them, whereas the dwarves (metalworkers; according to some sources are synonymous with "dark-elves" with a somewhat darker phenotype akin to those beneath the aristocracy in social ranking; not associated with the "wide-blue," (in Norse sources, where the blessed dead go in the heavens, the elves are here and the god Ing who is lord of the dead of barrows/elves) ) were spirits of dead metalworkers and perhaps other freemen. The two terms are somewhat synonymous as if not all elves are dwarves but all dwarves are elves. It would also presumably vary on a regional basis and change over time. Dwarves are referred to as looking like corpses in certain sources whereas elves are beautiful.
This is really interesting and I think there’s a lot to this. Yeah I’m personally fascinated on where elf meets dwarf in the mythology and folklore Slight side note. But Re dark and light skins tones and aristocracy, you may be interested to know that recent genetics suggest that many of the (I think I got this right - might have been Mesolithic) early Bronze age round barrows (presumably elite internments) STILL contained disproportionately large elements of the pre PIE and pre megalith builder western hunter gatherer genotype - yunno with the dark skin and blue eyes - just to throw a curve ball at all this. Of course, no idea how that might relate to the much much later Germanic mythology about elves and dwarves - if at all. Just these parallels between darker and lighter skinned dead things got me wondering 😂 If anything it at least shows more continuance between successive waves of migrations then previously thought. I’ve wandered off topic 😂
@@TheStoryCrow Since I wrote my previous comments, I realise those ideas I put forward are quite far-fetched and I apologise if what I say is a bit too much off-topic or out there for you haha And it's cool that you brought this up! Because I've gotten glimpses of bits of information regarding Megaliths, Neolithic Britain and Ireland before the Indo-European invasions but my memory might be a little hazy: So, in Britain and Ireland during the Neolithic (just to be clear, this is before the Bell Beaker types from the Lower Rhine came here and dominated the landscape genetically and culturally), you had Neolithic Farmers, a race people with (largely) shared common Anatolian ancestry of people who were very prevalent all over Europe. And while the overall DNA of these Neolithic types came from the Anatolian Peninsula, their paternal lineage did indeed pertain to a Western Hunter-Gatherer (Cheddar Man) paternal lineage. And you are correct about the phenotype of these indigenous Hunter-Gatherers! (Blue eyes, uniformly. And a darker complexion than modern Brits) And in Ireland, there was an insular population of these WHG people who were somewhat inbred during the Mesolithic due to being disconnected from the continent while Britain was not because of Doggerland (I'm sure you know - a stretch of land spanning the North Sea which connected Britain to the continent) A big wave of Neolithic Farmer immigrants came at some point and the indigenous Hunter-Gatherers took women from these continental newcomers and intermixed with them I think Neolithic passage tombs have been connected by some to an inbred royalty and (this is where my memory is particularly muddy) I think a while back I read and saw something about precisely what you're saying here - this royal lineage still expressing this very ancient WHG phenotype and having WHG DNA even into the Neolithic. And despite the fact that it fascinated me, I cannot remember for the life of me any details. I'll try to find the time, if I remember, to do some research because it's very fascinating, so thank you for underlining it! And I can imagine it particularly interests you because from what I remember in a previous video of yours, you have Irish heritage And I think that you're correct in doubting any relationship between Germanic/broader Indo-European culture and and pre-Indo-European culture in regards to elves and dwarves, but who knows? It seems as though light features in Northern Europe, particularly among the aristocracies became much more prevalent in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age when various invasions from the Indo-European Steppe occurred and a myriad of Indo-European ethnic groups began to form in Europe. Perhaps due to selection pressure? The Steppe Forest-Herders who, in particular, Northern Europeans descend from were not particularly fair in colouration but they carried, as I understand it, the alleles for it. They descend from the first people to carry the alleles for fair hair called the Ancient North Eurasians. They were Ice Age Hunter-Gatherers who commonly were light-haired, sometimes had light eyes who dwelt in the beautiful Altai-Saiyan region of Siberia. It is theorised that they were the progenitors of the baseline for later common Indo-European myths. So when it comes to Indo-European ethnic off-shoots who were lighter in colour, like the Andronovans; the first Indo-Iranic speakers (Alans, Huns, Scythians, etc) and asserted themselves as the ruling class, this echoes way into the modern age where a more "European" phenotype is noticeable among, for example, high caste Indians who incidently have huge amounts of Andronovan DNA I understand that, sadly and yet understandably this sounds like 19th andearly 20th century BS to some, but it really left me awestruck when I saw the genetic evidence, which in hindsight makes a great deal of sense in regards to ancient historical accounts. But I really think that the prevalence of fair hair among the middle and upper classes which is observable even today in modern Europe is more to do with how men are somewhat inclined to prefer lighter features due to it signalling low testosterone or something lol and people sometimes just like quirky traits like green eyes, grey or blue eyes or red hair. It does baffle me though, how red hair isn't more common since it's quite a beloved trait in women by people haha Judging by Norse scripture, we know that they had a certain bent towards preferring lighter hair and it was even a physiognomy for aristocracy just like it seemed to be in many other places throughout the world (like Roman ladies wearing blonde wigs). Norse nobles were the individuals most likely to be interred within barrows after death and barrows are associated with elves and Ingui-Freyr, the lord of elves and the dead of barrows. This was probably a cultural pattern repeated among the English and other Germanic peoples. But, alas, I'm not very opinionated on the matter, I have many questions and almost no answers and what I've said is merely meant to underline things of interest which spark controversy and curiosity haha
Can you tell me where pointed Hat, pointed ear, and pointed/ elongated nose imagery comes from in relation to a larger expanse of mythological spirits and sprites? The cone of power in Wicca and phallic crowns I understand for many cultures in the world, (which in itself is extremely esoteric) but why the long nose and pointed ears? You could say for elves it’s just a contemporary version made true by Tolkien… but if you look at the medieval art even in the Goetia or the dictionary infernal, all the lesser spirits have these features… the pointed ears I could only think maybe originally came from Pan or the original Saytr, where the Greeks drew them with horse/goat ears implying their beast/ feral connection… but that imaginary seemed to expand throughout all of European folklore in terms of ghouls/goblins/elves/fairy etc…
That’s a very good question, one I’ve wondered a lot myself and one I don’t really know the answer to. I think you already touch on a lot of good points. To Tolkien if add 19th and 20th century illustrators to popular folklore. But there’s more to it than that which you already mention. I think old memories of earlier deities plays a part like you suggest. I feel that the pointy hat may be influenced by the shape of the liberty cap mushroom (I talk about that in another video) which in my part of the world are colloquially known as ‘elf caps’. While we’re on that subject of mushrooms and altered states; have you considered that they may be represented in that way because that’s what they look like? I’ve seen pointy hatted and eared entities where I’m quite far down the rabbit hole. But are they possessing of independent existence of my own reflection of popular culture is down to your own metaphysics I guess. My friend saw and Earth god (gnome?) and says he was small naked bald and brown so perhaps subjective variations abound. Great question!
Greeks were definitely not the originators. It was probably PIE or the oldest hunter/gatherers. Isn’t it funny that both Celtic and Mediterranean religions have Dagan/Dogon and they’re considered fathers of their crafts. Dogon people came from Mali. All of our folklore comes out of Africa 70kya or more
@@TheStoryCrow it’s always hard for me to decipher what’s myth and possible reality, the old Gods seem to be more archetypal and astrological but these elementals, Tutha De danann, jinn, anything that seems like an additional mythos to an established religion, seem to hold strong specifics that seem too abstract to not be anything other than a description of an experience or a passed on witness
@TheStoryCrow The liberty cap makes me think of those Scythian hats which seem to be somewhat pertaining to a pattern of Indo-European peoples having them? Or even those little Anglo-Saxon caps. Interesting!
They are earlier manifestations of human consciousness which did not evolve and have remained in a fixed energetic state of being (as is their right) which is considered lower than our current one.
@@TheStoryCrow Its the Rosicrutian and secret school teaching on them. You can cross reference this with Rudolf Steiner if you want to chase it up further. Cheers.
Apologies… bit of a wyrd one… What’s the difference between a Gnome and an Imp if you don’t mind me asking.. not just how they look but what their mythology might mean. I only ask because my “childhood friend” looked very like an Imp of sorts, but what you said about Gnomes being utilised for making people rich or traversing the underworld is something I suspected of a long dead relative… he wasn’t dead when the Imp was my friend, but I always thought he had something to do with his presence. No problem if my question is something you’d rather not respond to, it’s just that if anyone would know, you might. Ofcourse, John and/or Caitlin Matthews might know but as I’m on that course, it’s not something I feel I can ask them just yet. I’m sure I’ll find out in time, if, as I said, you’d rather not offer your thoughts. ✨🙏✨
Well, I’m no cryptozoologist - but I’d say an imp is in a similar category to a fairy or goblin - diminutive and mischievous - but obviously this depends on when and where. In a lot of Christian narratives imps are companions to the devil - and thus subterranean. But generally I’d put imps as discarnate entities sharing this space, as opposed to ‘down there’ like gnomes which are definitely chthonic. But like I say it’s hard to categorise this stuff as things change over time
I’m sure there’s a grimoire somewhere with specific instructions. Or spend a long time underground playing sweet sweet music and thinking about rocks. 🪨
That’s a very good question. It feels to me like the ‘look’ of a lot of these entities may have solidified in the last two hundred years or so. Not entirely, but in part. But I would say nisse are influenced by Scandinavian folkloric entities like dwarves and dark elves, and so yes, connected to gnomes, in a sense. And yet in English we call the Christmas nisse ‘elves’ which are a different thing, so the terminology is not neat and never has been 👍
@@TheStoryCrow No, never any neat terminology when iy comes to the beings of the "otherworld", which is interesting in itself. I sometomes wonder if translations of for example the Grimm Brothers' tales and so on have mixed up several different little beings and so confused later generations...A nisse is a being looking after a farm and the animals and people living there. Perhaps a little like a Roman penates or Russian domvoj (if I spell it right). As I understand the gnomes does not live close to humans in the way that tomte-nisse/nisse does? I know they have been around in Swedish/Nordic folklore since at least 14th century when the saint Birgitta of Vadstena wrote about how people gave them milk and other gifts (so they are most probably older still) A nisse on a farm that is well managed and peaceful was a happy nisse and seen as a true blessing doing a lot to help his humans and the animals. (They are extremely strong and can easily lift a horse) If the nisse (they were often unmarried but some had families of course) was not treated right he could punish the humans and if they did not stop doing bad things like beating animals or being lazy and so on he would leave the farm and the family would have nothing but misfortune from that moment. I feel I know too little about the gnomes and other beings in your part of the world.
Yes that’s my understanding of a Scandinavian nisse as well. Less so the Yule variety. The one you describe sounds probably more like a brownie in my part of the world. Except sometimes they leave if you give them things, like jk Rowling ‘house elves’. Modern authors do like to mix things up in the popular imagination, much like the brothers grim as you suggest and doubtless many others before. Yes I feel you’re right about gnomes not needing to be near humans. Thanks for the input
