Editing Gnome (section)

==Precursors==
There was a belief in early modern Germany about beings that lurked in the mines, known as {{lang|de|Bergmännlein}} (var. {{lang|de|Bergmännlin}},{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|pp=170, 199}} {{lang|de|Bergmänngen}}{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|pp=210, 211}}), equatable to what Paracelsus called "gnomes".<ref name="verardi2023"/> Paracelsus's contemporary, [[Georgius Agricola]], being a supervisor of mines, collected his well-versed knowledge of this mythical being in his [[monograph]], ''De amantibus subterraneis'' (recté ''De animatibus subterraneis'', 1549).<ref name="verardi2023"/> The (corrected) title suggests the subject to be "subterranean animate beings". It was regarded as a treatise on the "Mountain spirit" ('''{{lang|de|Berggeist}}''' by the [[Brothers Grimm]], in ''[[Deutsche Sagen]]''.{{Refn|Grimms, ''DW'';{{sfnp|Grimm|Grimm1816|p=3}} cf. ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' "kobel".<ref name="Grimm-DW-kobel"/>}}<ref name="lecouteux-dict-bergmännchen"/>

Agricola is the earliest and probably most reliable source on {{interlanguage link|Berggeist|de}}, then known as ''Bergmännlein'', etc.{{sfnp|Wolfersdorf|1968|p=40}} Agricola's  contemporary [[Johannes Mathesius]], a [[Lutheran Reformation|Lutheran]] reformist [[theologian]], in ''Sarepta Oder Bergpostill'' (1562) uses these various mine-lore terminology in his German sermon, so that the noxious ore which Agricola called {{lang|la|cadmia}} is clarified as that which German miners called {{lang|de|cobelt}} (also {{lang|de|kobelt}}, {{lang|de|cobalt}}),{{Refn|This clarification (identification of cadmia's real German form) is possible through Agricola's publications too, but is more complicated. In the text itself he write that the ore in Latin ''cadmia'' was called in  German {{lang|la|cobaltus}}, which is of course Latinized.<ref name="agricola-cobaltum"/> The pure German form {{lang|de|kobelt}} can be looked up in the appended glossary ("{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6tlCB1PdJoC&pg=PA473 |2=Cadmia metallica {{lang|de|Kobelt}}}}"), or by tabulating a comparison with the contemporary German translations which the Hoovers have done.{{sfnp|Agricola|Hoovers trr.|1912|pp=112–113}}}} and a demon the Germans called ''kobel'' was held responsible for the mischief of its existence, according to the preacher. The ''kobel'' demon was also blamed for the "{{Transliteration|el|hipomane}}"{{sic}} or horse's poison (cf. [[hippomanes]]<!--{{linktext|μᾶνις}}-->, {{section link||Rosenkranz mine, Annaberg}}).{{Refn|name="mathesius1562"|[[Johannes Mathesius|Mathesius]] (1652), quoted in English by the Hoovers,{{sfnp|Agricola|Hoovers trr.|1912|loc='''1''': 214, n21}} excerpted by Wothers.<ref name="wothers2019"/>}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Mathesius apparently used {{lang|de|gütlein}} also.<ref name="mathesius-gloss-gutelin"/>}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The Hoovers in their translation of Agricola echo the opinion that ''kobalt'' has this name because the ''kobel'' demon was blamed for it. Cf. also [[Johann Beckmann]] (1752).<ref name="wothers2019"/> See {{section link||Cobalt ore}} for further details on the "cobalt" etymology.}}