The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [22]
Fourth edition increased Dungeons & Dragons elves to a height equal to humans and deemphasized their low constitution, a balancing attribute created for earlier editions. The fourth edition also created a separate race of elves known as the eladrin, which restored elves in Dungeons & Dragons to the mysterious, sometimes dangerous, and altogether powerful status they enjoyed in Middle-earth (Carter 2007:39).
GNOMES • Gnomes are small, at least as small as dwarves if not smaller. They have a lot in common with the image of a typical garden gnome, usually wearing funny hats, with long noses, curly beards, and a twinkle in their eye. Gnomes are associated with being sneaky, perhaps a bit mischievous, and wise in the ways of ancient secrets.
The word “gnome” comes from the Renaissance Latin “gnomus,” which was coined by Swiss alchemist Paracelsus. He uses the term to reference one of the four elementals, specifically as earth-dwelling beings eighteen inches high and very taciturn.
Although gnomes weren’t a part of the Fellowship, they did indeed exist in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The term was used briefly in The Book of Lost Tales to describe the races of elves that would become the Noldor (Burke 2007:37). “Gnomus” has a lot in common with “gnosis” which is why the term was used to reference the elves, Noldo meaning “The Wise” in Quenya.
The connection to wisdom is perhaps the reason why gnomes have since become associated with technology. Tinker gnomes, appearing in Dragonlance Adventures (1987) for first edition Dungeons & Dragons, first introduced this new form of gnome to the game. World of Warcraft later cemented the idea of gnomish technologists (Carter 2007:51).
Because gnomes are traditionally identified with many of the characteristics of dwarves, the two are sometimes conflated. For that reason Tolkien dropped the term out of concern that readers might become confused. However, other folkloric names persisted, including “elves” and “dwarves.” Tolkien did replace “Goblin” with “Orc” after the publication of The Hobbit.
In Dungeons & Dragons, gnomes first appear in the Chainmail supplement, grouped with dwarves (Gygax and Perren 1971:28). They appeared as monsters in Blackmoor (Arneson 1975:24), described as living in “air-enclosed cities on the bottom connected to the surface by tunnels.”
Gnomes didn’t debut as a playable race until the advent of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Gygax explained that he added gnomes to broaden the choice of races, because players were tired of having the other Tolkien-inspired archetypes of dwarves, elves, and halflings (Gygax 2004). He created gnomes to fill a gap between Halflings and dwarves—specifically, a demi-human spellcasting alternative to elves. Gygax cited the illusionist class as being the primary role for gnomes.
HOBBITS • Harking back to 1955, Tolkien wrote in a letter to W.H. Auden, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit” (Tolkien 2000). He didn’t know why he wrote it, but he did. And with that random thought, hobbits were born.
Hobbits are a particularly rural breed of a long tradition of little people in mythology. Short, pudgy, with hairy feet and fond of smoking pipes, hobbits aren’t the first race anyone thinks of when they consider an adventuring companion. Thanks to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings they are now indelibly linked to fantasy literature (Aeon 2001).
In Middle-earth, hobbits are a short people, measuring between two and four feet in height. They are long-fingered, often portly, with curly hair and oversized feet. They are fond of food and have a penchant for hills and dales, where they farm (Day 2001:121).
Tolkien translated “hobbit” from “holbytla” (hole-builder) and explained that the term “hobbit” was a worn-down form of the original. It is interesting to note