Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Goldkaul Wichtelcher, Kehlen Gnomes
Category: Gnome
The Myth
In a hollow called the Goldkaul, near the Kehlbach stream by Kehlen, there once lived the Wichtelcher, little gnomes whose underground tunnels were said to stretch from the hollow to the nearby Ehlbusch forest.
These small beings were known to help people with their work. At night, they would quietly enter a farmer’s barn and thresh his grain. They did this for a long time, unseen and without asking for anything in return.
One evening, however, a farmhand felt pity for them and placed food out for them while they worked. From that moment on, the Wichtelcher never returned.
Farmers who plowed fields near the Goldkaul sometimes heard the gnome children calling to their mother as she baked: “I want a cake too! I want a cake too!” If a farmer then called out jokingly, “I want a cake too!”, he would find a cake lying on his plowshare the next morning when he came back to the field.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die Wichtelcher in der Goldkaul. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Wichtlein_Goldkaul.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
Other
- How to Invite The Gnome of the Goldkaul