History Literature / Gnomes

* CreatorProvincialism: The book largely focuses on northern and west European Gnomes, with only cursory mention being made of gnomes outside of Europe (and some of these are less than flattering). This is somewhat understandable, since originally Huygen was writing mostly for a Dutch audience, and is even to some degree "in-universe" (since the conceit of the book is that Huygen is making an actual field guide based on his own experience, and as a Dutchman in TheSeventies, that'd be limited in large part to democratic Europe) but it can still stick out to some extent (the Siberian gnomes being especially bad about this).

The popularity of ''Gnomes'' led to several more books on the subject by Huygen and Poortvliet, a 1980 animated film and the animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheWorldOfDavidTheGnome'' and its spin-off ''Wisdom of the Gnomes''. It also served as the inspiration for a whole sub-genre of "fantasy field guides" for things like dragons and whatnot, which became especially popular as secondary sources for other fantasy settings; very few of these ever really managed to match the sheer depth or beauty of ''Gnomes'', however.

* OurElvesAreDifferent: Gnomes themselves fill the [[CantArgueWithElves superior]] and InHarmonyWithNature typical elven role. Actual elves, on the other hand, are little flying critters identical with the modern stereotype of [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairies]].

* DarkIsEvil: The Siberian gnomes, while not outright evil, are significantly less benevolent, and sometimes outright malicious than their cousins. They also wear hats of black wool and grey clothes in contrast to the colorful clothes of other gnomes.

* BlackSheep: Siberian gnomes are often less benign than most others, and occasionally, like one in one of the Legends, malignant towards humans.

* BadassBeard: All male gnomes have long, full ones, but they turn grey relatively quickly.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: When [[MorallyBankruptBanker Sigurd Larsson]], the main character of Legend 7, gets deathly ill, ''nobody'' is sad about it. Mainly because Sigurd was a cruel, abusive slavedriver who lorded his wealth over everyone and used it as a weapon to torment the whole community. While on his deathbed, a gnome tells him that his family is burning all of his debt papers and freeing everyone from the unjust burdens he put on them.

* BreakTheHaughty: Legend No. 7 tells of a wealthy {{Jerkass}} farmer, Sigurd Larsson, who falls so ill that he's pronounced dead even though he's still conscious. This leads to him being...
* BuriedAlive: [[spoiler: ...until the gnomes dig him up and revive him on condition that he change his ways. He will be dependant on the gnomes for the rest of his life because he'll require a special medicine to avoid slipping back into a death state, ensuring that he'll have to stay on their good side]]

* OurGnomesAreWeirded: Gnomes in this book actually resemble small versions of Tolkienesque elves, which is why the CantArgueWithElves trope applies to them.

* {{Our Elves Are Better}}/OurGnomesAreWeirder: Gnomes in this book actually resemble small versions of Tolkienesque elves, which is why the CantArgueWithElves trope applies to them. Elves, on the other hand, are little flying critters identical with the modern stereotype of [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairies]].

* TheGoodKingdom : Though the gnomes are scattered all over the northern temperate zone, they seem to have just one king, and their society fits this trope. The gnome numbers are small enough, in fact, that the king traditionally greets them all personally after they get married.

* HandWave: A couple of them. Gnome couples all have exactly two children -- a pair of twins -- through "a certain intervention about which gnomes decline to speak." We're also told that even though there's no sign of mining or industry among gnomes, the royal palace has an abundant supply of metals of mysterious origin, which the subjects are free to take. Basically, both these hand waves let the gnomes have certain modern technologies while still being InHarmonyWithNature.

A 1977 bestseller written by Wil Huygen and illustrated by Rien Poortvliet, in which the creators pretend to be providing "field notes" and observations after years of observing gnomes in the wild and is presented in the matter of a field guide for those who want to take a hand at observing gnomes themselves. Although popular among children, it isn't written in a "children's book" style, and does not shy away from more "adult" aspects of what it would be like for a race of beings to live like this.

A 1977 bestseller written by Wil Huygen and illustrated by Rien Poortvliet, in which the creators pretend to be providing "field notes" and observations after years of observing gnomes in the wild. Although popular among children, it isn't written in children's-book style, and it includes some technical language, nudity and NightmareFuel moments.

''Gnomes''' popularity led to several more books on the subject by Huygen and Poortvliet, a 1980 animated film and the animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheWorldOfDavidTheGnome'' and its spin-off ''Wisdom of the Gnomes''.

* SuperiorSpecies: Not only are the gnomes morally superior to people, but they're also physically stronger (in proportion to their size), live 400 years on average, have superhuman senses including ESP, and never die of disease. The also seem to have no genetic abnormalities worth mentioning.

* {{Greed}}: One of the defining characteristics of Trolls, far outstripping even their sadism. On their worst day, the greediest human still doesnt hold a candle to the obsession trolls have with gold.

* CantArgueWithElves: The authors' attempts to defend their race to Tomte don't get very far. This is particularly galling to readers because the gnomes have so much going in their favor when it comes living in harmony with nature easy that they come off as very arrogant and hypocritical.

* BuriedAlive: [[spoiler: ...until the gnomes dig him up and revive him on condition that he change his ways.]]

* TheKingdom: Though the gnomes are scattered all over the northern temperate zone, they seem to have just one king, and their society fits this trope. The gnome numbers are small enough, in fact, that the king traditionally greets them all personally after they get married.

* CantArgueWithElves: The authors' attempts to defend their race to Tomte don't get very far.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: When Sigurd Larsson, the main character of Legend 7, gets deathly ill, ''nobody'' is sad about it. Mainly because Sigurd was a cruel, abusive slavedriver who lorded his wealth over everyone and used it as a weapon to torment the whole community. While on his deathbed, a gnome tells him that his family is burning all of his debt papers and freeing everyone from the unjust burdens he put on them.

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Like most other creatures in the book, these ones hew fairly close to traditional Scandinavian lore. They're bestial, big-nosed, hairy, tailed humanoids who revel in filth and cruelty, regularly antagonize gnomes and humans alike, and turn to stone in the light of day.

* {{Changeling Tale}}: Legend No. 6 starts with trolls stealing a human baby and replacing it with one of their own.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Apparently, Creator/WolfgangAmadeusMozart had a gnome friend and even gave him music lessons.