Editing Gnome (section)

==Paracelsus==

Paracelsus uses ''Gnomi'' as a synonym of ''[[Pygmæi]]''<ref name="OED"/> and classifies them as earth [[elemental]]s.<ref>Cf. {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|pp=231–232}}</ref><ref name="veenstra2013"/> He describes them as two [[span (unit)|spans]] tall.{{efn|If 1 span is taken to be 9 inches, 2 spans equal 1.5 feet. Cf. below where Agricola gives 3 ''dodrans'' (equal to 3 spans, i.e., 2.25 feet).}}<ref>{{harvp|Paracelsus|1658|loc='''II''': 392}}: "Gnomi humiles sunt, duas circiter spithamas æquantes"; {{harvp|Paracelsus|1567|p=181}}: "die Gnomi sein klein bis auff zwo spannen unnd dergleichen ungeferlich"; {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=235}}: "The mountain people are small, of about two spans".</ref><ref name="lewis1964"/> They are able to move through solid earth, as easily as humans move through air, and hence described as being like a "spirit".<ref>{{harvp|Paracelsus|1658|loc='''II''': 391}}: "Terra autem gnomis tantum chaos ist. Illi enim transeunt solidas parietes, saxa & scopulos, instar spiritus..."; {{harvp|Paracelsus|1567|p=179}}: "also den Gnomis die erde ihr Lufft, dann ein jedes ding wonet, geht und steht im Chaos. Die Gnomi gehn durch ganze felsen, mauren, unnd was innen ihr Chaos zu gros ist..."; {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=234–235}}: "the mountain manikins have the earth which is their chaos. To them it is only an air";  {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=232}}: "to the gnomi in the mountains: the earth is the air and is their chaos.. Now, the earth is not more than mere chaos to the mountain manikins. For they walk through solid walls, through rocks and stones, like a spirit;"</ref> However the elementals  eat, drink and talk (like humans), distinguishing them from spirits.{{sfnp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=228}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Them being "taciturn" according to C. S. Lewis<ref name="lewis1964"/> appears to be a misattribution, for Paracelsus states: "The mountain manikins [gnomes] are endowed with speech like the nymphs [undines, water], and the vulcans [salamanders, fire] speak nothing, yet they can speak but roughly and rarely".{{sfnp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=240}} Hartmann also seems to misstate the "spirits of the woods" as saying nothing,{{sfnp|Hartmann|1902|p=156}} since this answers to "sylvestres" of the forests, given as an alternate name sylphs, or air spirits.{{sfnp|Hartmann|1902|pp=54, 152–153}}{{sfnp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941|p=231}}}}

And according to Paracelsus's views, the so-called [[Dwarf (folklore)|dwarf]] ({{langx|de|Zwerg, Zwerglein}}) is merely ''monstra'' ([[deformity|deformities]]) of the earth spirit gnome.{{Refn|Sigerist's translation: "The giants come from the forest people and the dwarfs from the earth manikins. They are monstra like the sirens from the nymphs. Thus these beings are born".<ref>{{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941}}, translator's preface, p. 221, translated text, p. 248</ref> The Latin term "monstra" is used as is in the 1567 German edition also.<ref>{{harvp|Paracelsus|1567|p=195}}: "Die Riesen kommen von den Waltleuten, die zwerglein von den Erdleuten, unnd sein {{lang|la|monstra}} von ihnen wie die Syrenen von den Nymphen, von solche dingen werden wol selten geborn".</ref> However, this is not "monster" in the common modern sense, and explained as the "misbegotten" ({{lang|de|Mißgeburten}}) in one reference handbook in its entry on "Paracelsus".<ref name="handwoerterbuch1974-paracelsus"/>}}

Note that Paracelsus also frequently resorts to circumlocutions like "mountain people" ('''{{lang|de|Bergleute}}''') or "mountain manikins" ("'''{{lang|de|Bergmänlein}}'''" {{sic}}<ref>e.g. {{harvp|Paracelsus|1567|p=181}} "Bergmänlein"</ref>) to denote the ''gnomi'' in the German edition (1567).<ref>For the English "mountain people" "mountain manikins" cf. {{harvp|Paracelsus|Sigerist tr.|1941}}, passim.</ref>