REAL GNOMES: Stories, Sightings and Origins

When most of us think about Gnomes we make a picture in our minds of those cute little garden decorations, dressed in little red hats and with fishing rods. This image comes to us thanks to Walt Disney and his depiction of the Seven Dwarves in the fairy tale Snow White. But are gnomes real? Do gnomes exist? Are they just a thing of legend, fable, and children’s fairy stories? Where do gnomes come from? 

The gnome is typically said to be a small, humanoid creature that lives underground. They are sometimes referred to as "Earthmen". Gnomes are believed to be Earth dwelling spirits or spirits of the Earth usually found in and or around mines, guarding treasures of gold, silver and precious stones. They are described  as two "spans" high, very reluctant to interact with humans, and able to move through solid earth as easily as humans move through air. Gnomes are considered mostly harmless but very mischievous.

This Gnomes was spotted in Graubünden canton of Switzerland  

Could these be real Gnomes? Proof that Gnomes exits?

One theory is that Gnomes were prudish women in their past-lives, and now spend all of eternity looking out for prudish women. Some people believe they are related to goblins and others state they are relatives of the fairies or faeries. "Small enough to be king of the fairies, and ugly enough to be king of the gnomes" - Nathaniel Hawthorne in Twice-Told Tales (1837)

Many cultures around the world have their legends and folklore about “little people” – elves, fairies, gnomes, elementals, or simply the “wee folk”. In Scandinavia they are the Tomte or Nisse; the Nimerigar, Yunwi Tsundi, and Mannegishi of various Native American tribes; the Menehune of Hawaii; and most famous, perhaps, are the Irish Leprechauns.

ACCORDING TO JOSEF JIRÁNEK:

"One late evening he goes through his district and saw on one of the plain burn a small fire. (...) Around the fire were five small men with white beards wrapped around their waists. They were so small (...) He knew that they were dwarfs of the forest. He reached down and listened to their talk. They talked about forest wildlife, the trees, the flowers, the forest and about everything what that day in the woods happened. (...) When they met another day again, they were very upset. They found that mushroom pickers harm forest. They devastate mushrooms and must be punished. One of the dwarfs took out a black wand and three times waved with her over his head and uttered the magic formula. At that moment, thunder, storm started and hid all the mushrooms. Little people disappeared and since then nobody have seen them."

Have you ever had an experience with gnomes? Do you believe that gnomes are real? Join the discussion! I would love to hear your opinions! 

CRYPTOZOOLOGY: The Kraken and other Sea Monsters

Human beings have discovered all the animals that exist right? No, wrong. There are new species being discovered in the Amazon and around the world every day. Cryptozoologists believe that there are still rare creatures yet to be found. For centuries the giant squid was believed to a mythical creature existing only in Greek legends and fisher mens tales. The sea could be home to some amazing things we are still yet to discover. There are thousands deep trenches under the sea that we have yet to fully explore, caverns so deep they reach pressures that would crush a human being alive.

These legends of giant sea beasts is a common theme running through all cultures, from the Leviathan mentioned in the bible right the way through to the modern day. In ye olde days crossing the sea was something that people had to do regularly, (not like these days where we can just get on a plane) it would have been a common experience for sailors, spice traders, pirate raiders and foreign invaders and other crusaders. The ancient Chinese believed in a fish that could leap over a waterfall and be transformed into a sea dragon. This is the legend which inspired the Magikarp pokemon. 

Probably the most famous sea monster is the Kraken, a legendary giant sea creature which lives in the seas around Scandinavia. Kind of octopus like the Kraken can smash up and destroy ships with its enormous tentacles and should you be lucky enough not to be killed and eaten by the man eating creature itself it can also create whirlpools which can rip ships to shreds and suck you down to a watery death. In Greek legend the Kraken was one of the titans controlled by the god of the sea, Poseidon. 

Release the Kraken!

What is the Megalodon? Well... Imagine a shark that is so enormous that he eats whales for dinner some reports quote the creature as over 20m in length. It is also known as the Megatooth shark because its of the sheer size and scariness of his teeth. The Megalodon was a prehistoric shark (Carcharocles megalodon) which many people believe could still exist in the present day. Its not unheard of for animals to have survived from that time period, there is evidence that this can happen: Reptiles like crocodiles and alligators were around in those days as well as many birds, insects and plant life. Some Cryptozoologists theorize that the Loch Ness monster could in fact be a left over from the time of dinosaurs.

There are two monsters or 'titans' which are repeatedly mentioned in the bible, these are the Leviathan and the Behemoth. The Book of Enoch explains which is which and where these monsters can be found on Earth. "And on that day were two monsters parted, a female monster named Leviathan, to dwell in the abysses of the ocean over the fountains of the waters. But the male is named Behemoth, who occupied with his breast a waste wilderness named Duidain." The leviathan is described in the Book of Job as a monster which no man could capture, with multiple limbs and a back covered with shields which no weapon could penetrate. Most impressively for a sea creature it can breathe fire! Satanists and Demonologists believe the Leviathan to be one of the princes of Hell.

Here's a curve ball. Mermaids are a type of sea monster too. When we think of mermaids we have this romantic image, we think of the little mermaid or splash because these are the images we are given by the media. Mermaids are ugly. How sexy can a fish woman be? I've seen photos of supposed mermaid corpses and I can tell you they are not a pretty sight!

Like we say, the Ocean is massive and we cannot possibly know about every thing that lives down there, life can change and evolve and there will always be new developments. Some of these may one day be proved not to exist or to exist and I'm sure that creatures we didn't expect to be proved real could be. I just shared with you some of my favorite cryptozoology creatures and cryptids and I would love to hear if you have anymore to add or any suggestions that should have made the list.