Between Useldingen and Ewerlingen, in the woods near the Lohmühle mill, little gnomes were said to live. The people of the area called them Äschtercher.
These small beings were known to frighten children who wandered too far into the woods. They were said to be especially drawn to those who bathed in the Attert River, where they would appear suddenly and startle them.
Thus the people spoke of the little gnomes of the forest, who lingered near the river and the mill and whose presence was feared by the young.
Not far from the Griéfchen, a plateau-like hill near Greisch, a great number of gnomes were once said to live. They came out at night and secretly stole from the people, often taking their ripe grain from the fields.
At last the villagers resolved to put an end to this. They surprised the little thieves with a trick and stoned many of them to death. The place where this happened was afterwards said to have received the name Stênrausch, the Stone Rush.
Afterward, when most of the male gnomes had been destroyed, a single female gnome was said to remain for a long time. She lived alone in a rocky cave and was often seen, yet no one dared steal from her or harm her. The cave where she lived is still pointed out, as is the place where she kept her fire.
Because of her presence, the place came to be called Wölfragrond, the Wild Woman’s Ground.
Legend says that little gnomes once lived in the mountain above Walferdingen.
One morning, as several farmers were going out to their fields, they passed close to a small hole in the ground. From beneath it they heard giggling and other noises. Curious, they began to dig at once. Before long they broke through into a set of beautifully built underground rooms.
Inside they found many kitchen utensils and various household objects, which people said the gnomes had taken from human homes. They also discovered gold, which they carried with them to the fields and watched over carefully as they worked.
But when they returned home in the evening, the gold had vanished. They hurried back to the hole, only to find that the fine rooms they had seen before were gone. In their place were only ruins — everything broken and utterly destroyed.
Tradition / Region:Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Dudelange Wichtelcher, House Gnomes of Dudelange Category:Gnome
The Myth
An old man from Esch-sur-Alzette, seventy-five years of age, once told that he had seen the Wichtelcher in Dudelange. They were tiny little men who lived in a certain house there. He claimed that they once ran between his legs as he stood nearby.
According to him, the owner of the house had once plowed one furrow too many, committing what was seen as an unjust act. Because of this wrongdoing, the little gnomes abandoned the house and were never seen there again.
In Luxembourg City, on Butchers’ Street, there once lived a baker who had more work than he could possibly manage. He searched for journeymen to help him, but none could be found. Troubled and weary, he went to bed one evening with his work unfinished.
When he rose the next morning, he was astonished to find that all the baking had been done. The same thing happened the next day, and again on the third. During the night, unseen little elves had helped the baker and completed his work.
But on the fourth day, in a moment of frustration, the baker uttered a curse, crying out against all the devils of hell.
From that moment on, the little helpers never returned.
Between Eschdorf and Kuborn, in a small valley enclosed by two hills, stands a solitary rock known as Kalvergrond. According to the old people, little gnomes once lived there. Even today, their dwelling is said to be visible in the form of two small rooms carved into the rock.
In summer, the gnomes helped the people of nearby Kuborn with their fieldwork, and in winter they sewed and knitted for them. They were especially fond of a miller who lived below Brattert, in a place called Mühlengrund, where a mill once stood. Only a few heaps of stones remain of it today.
At night, when the miller fell asleep by the mill trough, the gnomes would come and grind the grain for him. But the miller’s curiosity drove them away. One evening he pretended to sleep so he could catch them in the act. The little men came as usual, filled the mill, and began their work. Suddenly the miller cried out, “Now I’ve caught you!”
Angered by this, the gnomes abandoned him. Soon the miller fell into poverty, and after his death no one wished to buy the mill, so it quickly fell into ruin.
From that time on, the gnomes no longer helped anyone. People often went to the rock hoping to see them, and this too embittered them. One morning they had vanished, and no one knew where they had gone. Yet their dwelling in the rock at Kalvergrond is still shown today.
Tradition / Region:Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Strassen Gnomes, House Gnomes of Kempenhaus Category:Gnome
The Myth
In Strassen there once lived a man who had fallen into poverty through no fault of his own. In the house where he lived — which is still known today — little gnomes came to help him. Each morning he found that the work in the house, the barn, and the fields had already been done. When winter came, the man placed clothes in the barn so the gnomes might protect themselves from the cold. But when the little beings saw the garments, they believed their service was no longer needed and disappeared from that time on.
In the same region, people also told of a farmer who was plowing his field when he heard voices calling from underground, “I want a cake too! I want a cake too!” Laughing, he called back, “I want a cake too!” The next morning he found a cake on his plow. He could cut from it as much as he wished, yet it was never more than half eaten.
Another tale tells that in Kempenhaus the little gnomes once carried out their helpful work at night. They fed the horses, threshed grain, churned butter, and even made shoes. One day food was placed out for them, and the little men grew sorrowful, believing that this meant they were being paid and that their help was no longer wanted. They left the house and went to Hiènenhaus, where they continued their work just as before.
But there, too, the housewife eventually said that the little gnomes must be given their dinner, and she set food out for them. After that, the gnomes vanished forever.
Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Berg House Gnomes, Stable Gnomes of Berg Category:Gnome
The Myth
In an old house in Berg, little gnomes were said to appear again and again in the stable. They fed the horses and made them grow strong and well-fed, even though they gave them no hay.
The people living in the house often saw the little beings in the manger. Noticing how poorly dressed they were, they felt pity for them. Wanting to show kindness, they had new clothes made and hung them on the manger for the gnomes.
Soon afterward, one night, the inhabitants heard the little creatures crying and wailing. They lamented that the people of the house no longer needed them and that they must now leave. They took the clothes with them, and from that time on they were never seen in the house again.
In Kopstal, at a place called Buchenfeld, little gnomes were once said to live. People claimed to have seen them there, and later, when the ground was dug, tools were found that were believed to have belonged to them.
At night, the little beings would enter the stables and feed the livestock. Once, the farmhand of the farmer Schneidesch saw one of the gnomes sitting naked upon a cow. He told the farmer what he had seen.
The farmer decided to show kindness to the little man. One evening he left clothes for him in the stable. The next morning the clothes had vanished, and from that time on the gnomes were no longer seen there.
In Bartringen, a little gnome once served as a stable boy in a nearby household. Each evening, after the farmer had thrown the fodder down from the hayloft into the stable, he would call out, “Tomorrow you feed the horses at such and such an hour!” Then he would go to bed.
The little fellow, who usually sat high up in the barn, heard the order but gave no answer. Still, he obeyed with perfect punctuality. When the farmer came to the stable in the morning, he would find the industrious helper already at work, sometimes sitting on one of the horses with a comb in his hand. In a moment, the gnome would dart through the hayloft door and disappear back into his place.
The farmer was grateful for the help. Each day, the doors from the stable to the kitchen hearth were left open, and a bowl of food — though without a spoon — was placed for the little worker. After eating, he would return to his post and continue tending the stable and the horses.
One winter, however, the cold was severe. Feeling pity for their small servant, the people had a pair of breeches made for him and laid them beside his food. When the little man came at midday and saw the clothes, he stood there thinking. The household called to him to put them on, for the weather was bitterly cold.
But the gnome believed the breeches were payment for his service and a sign that the family wished to dismiss him. He began to weep loudly, left the house at once, and was never seen there again.
