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.
In Walferdange, a man named Weiß was once plowing near the Wichtelcheslöcher, the Gnome Holes, on the Walferberg. As he worked, he heard the gnomes inside their dwelling calling to one another while they baked, crying out for more rusks and cakes.
Laughing, the man called back in their tongue, “And one for me too!” and continued his work without thinking further about it. That evening he left his plow in the field and went home.
When he returned the next morning, he found a fine cake lying upon the plow. Filled with joy, he thanked the gnomes and carried it home. The cake brought him good fortune, for no matter how much was cut from it, it never diminished, and before long the man became very wealthy.
One day, however, a poor old woman came to the house and asked for a piece of bread. The farmer’s wife showed no compassion and harshly sent her away. The old woman left in sorrow, and from that moment the bread began to dwindle and soon was gone. With it, the good fortune also left the house.
Tradition / Region:Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Beggen Wichtelcher, Gnomes of Gnome Hill Category:Gnome
The Myth
Near Beggen there is a hill that still bears the name op de Wîchtelcher, the Gnome Hill. It was said that little gnomes once lived there in underground dwellings and tunnels that branched in all directions and even reached as far as the Alzette River. People claimed to have seen them drawing water from the river before suddenly vanishing back into the earth, and the so-called gnome holes are still pointed out.
One day a farmer from Beggen, from the Krellenhaus, was plowing his field when he heard voices beneath the plow calling, “Bake me a loaf! Me too! Me too!” Laughing, the farmer answered, “Me too!” and went on his way.
When he returned the next day, he found a small loaf of bread lying on the plow. He took it home, and he and his family ate from it day after day, yet it never diminished no matter how often they cut from it. From then on, everything prospered for the farmer, and he became a wealthy man. A note on the bread warned him not to reveal where it had come from.
One day, however, a visitor came to the house. As was customary, the farmer offered him bread. When the guest hesitated, the farmer laughed and said, “Go ahead and eat it — it’s gnome bread!” At that moment, the loaf began to shrink and soon disappeared.
Others told the story differently. According to them, a neighbor once remarked that although the family sold all their grain, they always had bread. The farmer’s wife then revealed the secret of the loaf that never diminished. But as soon as she told it, the bread became ordinary and was soon gone.
Tradition / Region:Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Wichtelcher of Mersch, Gnomes of Wichtelcheslê, Wichtelchesfels Gnomes Category:Gnome
The Myth
In the valley around Mersch, the gnomes were once said to be especially numerous. Their dwellings were shown in many places, including on the hill near Angelsberg, but the best known lay near Schönfels and Reckingen.
At the foot of a rock near Schönfels, called op Wichtelcheslê, there was once a narrow entrance to their dwelling, now blocked. It was believed to lead deep into the mountain through a labyrinth of passages that stretched to the other side near Reckingen. There, the Wichtelchesfels, or Gnome Rock, stood with the Wichtelchesloch, a hollow opening through which one could enter a passage. Many daring men followed it far into the mountain without reaching its end. One man even carried two pounds of tallow candles inside, yet he too failed to find the end.
In this region the little earth sprites lived. They were said to have dug a deep well in the valley called the Wichtelchespötz. It was so deep that no one knew its bottom. Long ago, people from the surrounding villages tried for three days to fill it with stones, but without success. Today it remains as a small bog about two meters wide, overgrown with shrubs. The place is called Im Hals, a narrow gorge, and it was once said that a village had stood there, for old people remembered seeing piles of stones and even gravestones.
Some elderly women claimed to have seen the little gnomes themselves coming down from the Gnome Rock. They were said to be one to one and a half feet tall and carried buckets suspended from a pole across their shoulders as they went to fetch water from the Eisch River. They never harmed anyone. When people began to track them, they withdrew from sight and only came out at night, helping the good, pious, and orderly people with their work while troubling the wicked and stealing their grain in the fields.
The gnomes were said to be clever, industrious, and friendly toward good people. They avoided human houses and lived together among themselves. They dressed much like humans but always wore large straw hats and usually carried a spade or hoe over their shoulder.
An old man once told how he had left his plow in the field one evening and returned the next day to find his entire field already plowed.
Another farmer, while working near the Wichtelchesfels, once heard faint voices from inside the rock calling, “Bake me one too!” He went closer and shouted back, “Gnome, bake me a roll too!” The voices fell silent. When he returned to his plow, he found a fine roll lying upon it. The roll had the strange property that it did not shrink no matter how much he cut off and ate. But once he told the villagers about it, the roll began to shrink and soon disappeared entirely.
In the district of Konsdorf there is a place known as the Wichtelhäusercher, the Gnome Houses. It was said that underground dwellings once lay there, where little gnomes lived.
One day a farmer was plowing his field directly above these hidden homes when he suddenly heard a voice calling from below, “Mama, bake me a cake!” Laughing, the farmer repeated the call, “Bake me a cake!”
When he turned his plow and came back to the same place, he found a cake lying there on a plate. As he picked it up, he heard a voice say, “This cake will last as long as no one else finds out about it.”
And indeed, the cake lasted for three whole years. Whenever a piece was cut away, the missing part filled itself again.
But the farmer’s wife from Grevenhaus was talkative and could not keep the secret. As soon as she revealed it to the godmother, the cake disappeared at once.
