Gnolls versus Gnoles

I chose gnolls. I could have gone with goblins, kobolds or something else from actual folklore. Or, I could have used a made up appellation such as Razor Apes or Wart Monkeys. But I decided to populate the setting of the Wakening Cycle with hyena-headed humanoids. I wanted something gritty, brutal and inhuman, yet able to organize.

I didn’t put much thought into it until an acquaintance from the Alliante Writer’s Group asked “what is a gnoll?”

I expected to trace the word’s origins back to Celtic or German myth. That's not what came up on Google though. Instead, “gnoll” is an invention attributed to Gary Gygax, creator of the game Dungeons & Dragons.

Now I’m a huge Gary Gygax fan. Too many years of my life were spent playing his game. Not just as a participant, either; I was Dungeon Master. However I’m also a bit of an amateur historian, and have always enjoyed links to the past. I came within a hairsbreadth of changing to kobolds.

I expanded my search and discovered a pair of short stories. The first was published in 1912 by Edward Plunkett, titled “How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon The Gnoles.” The second was written by Margaret St. Clair and called “The Man Who Sold Rope To The Gnoles.” The tales captured my attention, and provided an appealing connection to past. Finally, I was beginning to enjoy the research. The idea occurred to use gnoles instead of gnolls.

But did gnoles fit the role I had planned? Plunkett provided little in the way of description. Margaret St Clair supplied details which had nothing to do with dog-headed humanoids:

“The senior gnole is a little like a Jerusalem artichoke made of India rubber, and he has small red eyes which are faceted in the same way that gemstones are…the gnole…had no ears…little fanged mouth and…narrow, ribbony tongue…no more fit for human speech than was a serpent's…The senior gnole watched…his little feet on the top rung of his chair and poking at the facets of his left eye now and then with a tentacle.”

Back to Google. I found out that a jerusalem artichoke is a sunflower-like plant which grows in North America. Its root is a tuber with assorted shapes and sizes, comparable to a cross between a carrot and a potato. The best illustration I’ve seen of St Clair’s version of a gnole looks like a malevolent humanoid turd. It is rendered by an unknown artist and may be seen at:

http://yog-blogsoth.blogspot.com/2016/08/gnole.html

Upon first consideration, gnoles didn’t have a lot in common with gnolls. I was tempted to scrap the whole idea and call my monsters Wart Monkeys. But upon further thought I realized St Clair is describing the senior gnole; an individual specimen. Is he incredibly obese? Have old age and debauchery ravaged his features like a gnole version of Dorian Gray? Could he have suffered an industrial accident or experiment gone awry like the Toxic Avenger or Swamp Thing?

The idea of gnoles gained appeal. I liked the idea of linking Gygax’s version of the monster to St Clair’s. I just had to reconcile the physical differences used in earlier stories. It’s one of the things I've accomplished in the sequel to the The Wakening Cycle: The Voolvoon Wizard.