Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Nennig Gnomes, Wichtelknäppchen Gnomes
Category: Gnome
The Myth
Near Nennig there stands a small mound of earth known as the Wichtelknäppchen, the Little Gnome’s Hill. Long ago, a woman was carrying supper there on the Saturday of the village fair for her people.
Among the food she carried was a cake that had come fresh from the oven only an hour before, and its scent drifted strongly through the air. The smell tempted the gnomes who lived inside the mound, and they came out of their hole and called to her, “Woman! Bake me a cake! Bake me a cake!”
But the women of Nennig were known to be quick of tongue, and this one turned sharply and answered, “First you bake your gnome cake, and then you call us to the fair. When are you celebrating your fair?”
This reply angered the gnomes greatly, though they had long done much good in the region. From that day on, they never returned.
The woman also vanished. It is said that on clear nights she can still be seen passing by with her basket, while the gnomes dance upon the hill in the bright moonlight and mock her, crying, “Bake me a cake! Bake me a cake!”
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Das Wichtelknäppchen bei Nennig. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Wichtlein_Nenning.html
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive