Editing Gnome (section)

==Folkloristics==
{{expand section|date=August 2024}}
Grimm discusses the Bergmänlein somewhat under the subsection of Dwarfs (''Zwerge''), arguing that the dwarf's ''[[Cloak of invisibility|Nebelkappe]]'' (known as [[Cloak of invisibility#Tarnkappe|Tarnkappe]] in the ''Nibelungenlied'') slipped from being known as a cape or cloak covering the body in earlier times, into being thought of as caps or head coverings in the post-medieval era. As an example, he cites the Bergmännlein wearing a pointed hat, according to [[Gabriel Rollenhagen|Rollenhagen]]'s poem ''Froschmeuseler''.{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|loc=p. 462, n2}}{{Refn|In the published version of Rollenhagen's work, "''Bergmännlein''" is used in the {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=LVP1IG_Aaq0C&pg=PT19&dq=%22Bergm%C3%A4nnlein%22|2=index}}, but the verses themselves read: "{{lang|de|Funden sich auf dem Berg beysammen Der kleiner Männlein ohne Nahmen,/ In weissen Hemdlein, spitzgen Kappen,/ Als man gewohnt an den Bergknappen}}".<ref name="rollenhagen1730"/>}}

As can be glimpsed by this example, the approach of Grimm's "{{lang|de|Mythologische Schule}}" is to regard the lore of the various ''männlein'' or specifically ''Bergmännlein'' as essentially derivatives of the ''Zwerge''/''dvergr'' of pagan Germanic mythologies.<ref>Cf. {{harvp|Baba|2019}}. Generally speaking, "the mythological school inherits their mentor Grimm's genre-classification theories<!--神話学派は確かに師グリムのジャンル理論を継承し-->", p. 71, and  the mythological school, as the name implies is the approach of seeking "vestiges of mythology".</ref>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|{{harvp|Baba|2019}}'s specific mention of "Bergmännlein" is limited to saying they appear as characters in two tales from the collection of [[Karl Müllenhoff]], at p. 26. She discusses near synonyms in Grimm's ''Deutsche Mytholgie'', namely, ''männlein'' being used as circumlocution for dwarf (''Zwerg''), p. 26, and ''Zwerg'' being a ''Berggeist'' pp. 101, 103; or equivalent to a mine spirit, p. 125, and deriving from the Germanic dvergr p. 134. As a reminder, Agricola's monograph on "mountain elves" was considered a book on ''Berggeist'' in the Grimms' ''DS''.<ref name="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen"/>}}

In the 1960s there developed a general controversy between this "mythological school" and its opponents over how to interpret so-called "miner's legends". What sparked the controversy was not over the ''Bergmännlein'' type tale per se, but over Grimms' "Three Miners of [[Kutná Hora|Kuttenberg]]",{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|"Die drei Bergleute im Kuttenberg", ''[[Deutsche Sagen]]'', No. 1}} who are trapped underground but supernaturally maintain longevity through prayer.<ref name="leslie2006"/> Siegfried Kube (1960) argued the tale was based on ancient mythology, i.e., pagan alpine worship.{{Refn|Yoshida (2008), p. 185<ref name="yoshida2008"/> ''apud'' Baba (2009), pp. 101–102.<ref name="baba2019"/>}} This was countered by {{interlanguage link|Wolfgang Brückner|de|preserve=1}} (1961) who regarded the tale as inspired by medieval Catholic notion of the [[purgatory]].{{Refn|name="yoshida-p179"|Yoshida (2008), pp. 179–181<ref name="yoshida2008"/> ''apud'' Baba (2009), p. 102.<ref name="baba2019"/>}} Whereas [[Ina-Maria Greverus]] (1962), presented yet a different view, that it was not based on organized church doctrine, but a world-view and faith in the miner's unique microcosm.<ref name="greverus1962"/>{{Refn|name="yoshida-p179"}}

Greverus at least in her 1962 piece, centered her argument on the ''Berggeist'' (instead of ''Bergmännlein'').<ref name="greverus1962"/>{{sfnp|Baba|2019|pp=102–103}}  Grimm also uses the ''Berggeist'' apparently as a type of ''Zwerg'',{{Refn|e.g., the dancing ''berggeister'' of DS No. 298.{{sfnp|Grimm|1875|p=389}}{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|p=470}}}} but there has been issued a caveat that the meaning of the term ''Berggeist'' according to Grimm may not necessarily coincide with the meaning used by the proletarian Greverus.{{sfnp|Baba|2019|pp=102–103}} {{interlanguage link|Gerhard Heilfurth|de}} and Greverus's ''Bergbau und Bergmann'' (1967) amply discuss the ''Bergmännlein''.{{sfnp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967}}

The collection of tales under the classification of "Berggeist" was already anticipated as far back as Friedrich Wrubel (1883).{{sfnp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967|p=61}}{{sfnp|Wrubel|1883|pp=29–90}}{{Refn|[[:ja:小澤俊夫|Ozawa]] (1970), Review of {{interlanguage link|Gerhard Heilfurth|de}}, co-written with Greverus (1967).<ref name="ozawa1970"/>}} Later {{interlanguage link|Franz Kirnbauer|de}} published ''Bergmanns-Sagen'' (1954), a collection of miner's legends which basically adopted Wrubel's four-part classification, except Wrubel's Part 2 was retitled as one about "Bergmännlein".{{sfnp|Heilfurth|Greverus|1967|p=61}}<ref name="ozawa1970"/>

In [[Karl Müllenhoff]]'s anthology (1845), legends No. 443 ''Das Glück der Grafen Ranzau'' and No. 444  ''Josias Ranzaus gefeites Schwert'' feature the ''Bergmännlein-männchen'' or its female form ''Bergfräuchen''.<ref name="muellenhoff1845"/>{{sfnp|Baba|2019|pp=125–126}}

Other collected works also bear "''Berggeist-sagen''" in the title, such as the collection of legends in [[Lower Saxony]] by Wolfersdorf (1968).{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968}}