Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Kalvergrond Gnomes, Kuborn Gnomes
Category: Gnome
The Myth
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.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die Wichtelmännchen im Kalvergrond. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Wichtlein_Kalvergrond.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