Gnomes? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Encaitare · 07-26-2004, 11:50 AM

I'm currently reading "The Lays of Beleriand" and in the Tale of the Children of Húrin, it keeps referring to Gnomes. I'm assuming Tolkien doesn't mean those of the garden variety. Also, it uses the phrase "Faërie" all the time, which I'm guessing refers to the Blessed Realm. Can someone please tell me what's going on with these two words? It's driving me up the wall!

Son of Númenor · 07-26-2004, 12:09 PM

'Gnomes' was the original name for the Noldor.

As for 'Faërie': here is an excellent explanation of the word by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh:

"Faërie is an old, old term that refers to a plane of existence beyond the physical yet short of the divine. The Elves are not the only inhabitants of Faërie in its traditional conception (which is fairly faithfully represented in Smith of Wootton Major), and it can be a perilous realm for mortals. The term pre-dates Tolkien by a very long time, and he simply used it when writing the early versions of his legends. In those days the link between the legends of the Elves and the physical modern world was much more direct, and I've a feeling that Tolkien wanted to imply that our use of the term was a result of it being a name for Eldamar."

07-26-2004, 11:50 AM	#1
Encaitare Bittersweet Symphony Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: On the jolly starship Enterprise Posts: 1,814	Gnomes? I'm currently reading "The Lays of Beleriand" and in the Tale of the Children of Húrin, it keeps referring to Gnomes. I'm assuming Tolkien doesn't mean those of the garden variety. Also, it uses the phrase "Faërie" all the time, which I'm guessing refers to the Blessed Realm. Can someone please tell me what's going on with these two words? It's driving me up the wall!

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07-26-2004, 12:09 PM	#2
Son of Númenor A Shade of Westernesse Join Date: May 2004 Location: The last wave over Atalantë Posts: 515	'Gnomes' was the original name for the Noldor. As for 'Faërie': here is an excellent explanation of the word by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh: "Faërie is an old, old term that refers to a plane of existence beyond the physical yet short of the divine. The Elves are not the only inhabitants of Faërie in its traditional conception (which is fairly faithfully represented in Smith of Wootton Major), and it can be a perilous realm for mortals. The term pre-dates Tolkien by a very long time, and he simply used it when writing the early versions of his legends. In those days the link between the legends of the Elves and the physical modern world was much more direct, and I've a feeling that Tolkien wanted to imply that our use of the term was a result of it being a name for Eldamar."