It is important that we understand the derivation of the word gnome. As Nuygen & Poortvliet indicate in their now-classic 1977 treatsie on the subject Gnome, ". . . it is not sheer coincidence that the word gnome itself is derived from Kuba-Walda, which means "home administrator" in the ancient Germanic language. We all know what an administrator is, of course; and the lion's share of a previous thread on this message board was devoted to determining just who constituted the USM family. Nuygen and Poortvliet further state: "Another varient of the name [gnome] translates 'to put in order' - with or without an apron." This gives us all a better idea of the gnome's function (administrator) and duties (to put in order). Hmmm.

And that, my friends, is a Gnome Fact!

Source of this Information:  One of the chief sources of information is Wilhelm J. Wunderlich's bulky treatsie De Hominibus Parvissimis (Concerning the Wee People) published in in 1580. That information has been included in the book by Wil Nuygen (writer) and Rien Poortvliet's (illustrator) entitled Gnomes (Harry N. Abrams, Publisher, 1977) from which most, but not all, of these Gnome Facts are taken.