The gnoll has undergone a dramatic evolution over the course of its appearances in fiction. It first appeared in the work of Lord Dunsany as a vaguely described gremlin or goblin. Next it appeared in early Dungeons & Dragons as a gnome/troll hybrid, perhaps derived from the way "gnoll" could be interpreted as a portmanteau name for the hybrid offspring of gnome father and troll mother. The writers soon thought this was too silly the changed the creature to a humanoid hyena, while retaining the non-indicative name. From there, the new gnolls eventually evolved from generic savage humanoids to hyenas mutated by demonic possession by the most recent or "fifth" edition of the game.
Trolls are monsters in Scandinavian folklore, but the D&D monster is derived solely from a short story by Poul Anderson and has nothing in common with Scandinavian trolls. In fact, trolls in folklore range in diversity from hideous giants to dwarfish. It would not be a stretch to described the Danish trold as a gnomish troll.
Gnomes by name seemingly originated in the work of famous alchemist Paracelsus, although they were preceded in folklore by stories of the similar dwarves, kobolds and so forth. Paracelsus described gnomes as elementals (here synonymous with fairies, unlike D&D taxonomy) of the earth. In occult books gnomes are described as a group that includes satyrs, dryads, elves, brownies and so forth; their ruler is King Gob, hence his subjects are often called goblins.
1d4chan went into some disturbing detail on how gnolls are nothing like real hyenas. Real hyenas are viciously matriarchal, androgynous (which led to medieval historians mistaking them for hermaphrodites), and may spray not unlike a skunk. So naturally /tg/ decided to write their own setting with matriarchal gnolls.
I did find an attempt to reconcile the change between the gnome-troll hybrid and hyena humanoid depictions of gnolls. Long story short, gnolls are gnome/troll hybrids afflicted with hyena lycanthropy that inexplicably locks them into the form of hyena humanoids. This creates a parallel with the modern gnoll, which is likewise created by transformation of another (in this case a hyena).
Considering all the other weirdness in D&D history, or mythology and folklore in general, I don't believe that the fabled gnomish trolls need to be literal crossbreeds. The gnomish troll could just as easily be a transporter malfunction a la The Fly or an attempt to describe a Danish trold by someone who doesn't understand the difference between D&D trolls and Scandinavian trolls.
Creating a gnoll from another creature doesn't need to be limited to a single method, either. There could be many different ways to create gnolls, such as demonic possession, channeling spirits a la that episode of Buffy, mystical tattoos, alchemy, sculpting life from clay, etc.
However, I would like to have an explanation for the name. Humanoids in general are pretty bland and interchangeable, so a gnome/troll connection would go a long way to making gnolls more memorable than yet another generic cannibal beastmen tribe.
Henceforth I am going off into some wild world building tangent.
There are a number of stories involving men that transform into hyenas as well as supernatural accounts of hyenas. Some stories describe witches who assume the forms of hyenas to do wicked things at night, while during the day appearing as healers, blacksmiths or woodcutters. (Rather unfortunately, this has been used as slander and blood libel against Ethiopian Jewish blacksmiths.) Some stories ascribe hyenas with vampiric qualities like drinking the blood of sleeping victims, mesmerizing victims, haunting battlefields to prey on dying soldiers, etc.
There are stories of spiritualists who travel in spiritual form to fight demons, vampires and witches, often in the form of animals. For example: the "hounds of god" in Swedish Livonia, the benandanti in Northeastern Italy, the Slavic krsnik, the white cadejo in Central America, etc.
Hyenas were themselves described very inaccurately by pre-modern natural historians. They were ascribed traits like changing sex, defiling tombs, inflexible spines, gall stones that grant oracular sight, mimicking human voices, mesmerizing prey, etc. They were called names like crocuta, leucrota and onolysum, and they were believed to be hybrids of dog, wolf, or panther. (See my other post on the fantastical hyena of medieval bestiaries for more information.) They were generally unfairly demonized. In reality hyenas kill most of their food and lions scavenge hyena kills way more often. Don't believe the propaganda in The Lion King.
I think I'll burrow that wholesale. I don't want to have to worry about Hasbro's copyright claim on Gorellik and Yeenoghu. I don't want to worry about Faerûn's setting baggage, either. What follows is going to be complete fiction, unrelated to any real religious belief.
The hyena diva is neither good nor evil, she simply is. She is invoked by both good folks and the wicked alike. Those who are good invoke the power to protect their communities from evil. Those who are wicked invoke the power for personal gain and to cause harm. The ignorant will easily conflate the two, leading to many situations where innocent spiritualists are feared, hated and ostracized as wicked witches.
The tribe of the hyena is the only community where they would be truly safe, as all members of this tribe venerate the hyena diva and may allow themselves to be ridden. They are not gnolls, not quite. The modern gnolls aren't a race, but ridden by spirits. The spirits of gnomish trolls must be invoked to ride hyenas, transforming the ridden into gnolls.
There exists a race of gnomish trolls, the Danish trold, who are instrumental in the creation of gnolls. Those were ignorant of trolls' diversity mistakenly thought these trolls were a crossbreed of gnome and troll, so the name stuck. At some point a band of them joined the tribe of the hyena and allowed the hyena diva to ride them, and thus the first of the modern gnolls were born.
Gnomes and trolls
There is a lot to unpack here. Although they originate from different folklore traditions, in folklore (i.e. not D&D) both gnomes and trolls are earth elementals. Gnomes swim through stone. Trolls turn to stone in sunlight in many stories.Trolls are monsters in Scandinavian folklore, but the D&D monster is derived solely from a short story by Poul Anderson and has nothing in common with Scandinavian trolls. In fact, trolls in folklore range in diversity from hideous giants to dwarfish. It would not be a stretch to described the Danish trold as a gnomish troll.
Gnomes by name seemingly originated in the work of famous alchemist Paracelsus, although they were preceded in folklore by stories of the similar dwarves, kobolds and so forth. Paracelsus described gnomes as elementals (here synonymous with fairies, unlike D&D taxonomy) of the earth. In occult books gnomes are described as a group that includes satyrs, dryads, elves, brownies and so forth; their ruler is King Gob, hence his subjects are often called goblins.
On the creation of gnolls
The reproduction of gnolls has changed between the most recent or fifth edition and earlier editions. In earlier editions the gnolls were generic savage humanoids who reproduced in the conventional mammalian fashion. In fifth edition they cannot reproduce this way, or at least not reproduce new gnolls. They are created by subjecting a corpse to demonic possession and feeding it to a hyena, which then mutates into a gnoll.1d4chan went into some disturbing detail on how gnolls are nothing like real hyenas. Real hyenas are viciously matriarchal, androgynous (which led to medieval historians mistaking them for hermaphrodites), and may spray not unlike a skunk. So naturally /tg/ decided to write their own setting with matriarchal gnolls.
I did find an attempt to reconcile the change between the gnome-troll hybrid and hyena humanoid depictions of gnolls. Long story short, gnolls are gnome/troll hybrids afflicted with hyena lycanthropy that inexplicably locks them into the form of hyena humanoids. This creates a parallel with the modern gnoll, which is likewise created by transformation of another (in this case a hyena).
Considering all the other weirdness in D&D history, or mythology and folklore in general, I don't believe that the fabled gnomish trolls need to be literal crossbreeds. The gnomish troll could just as easily be a transporter malfunction a la The Fly or an attempt to describe a Danish trold by someone who doesn't understand the difference between D&D trolls and Scandinavian trolls.
Creating a gnoll from another creature doesn't need to be limited to a single method, either. There could be many different ways to create gnolls, such as demonic possession, channeling spirits a la that episode of Buffy, mystical tattoos, alchemy, sculpting life from clay, etc.
However, I would like to have an explanation for the name. Humanoids in general are pretty bland and interchangeable, so a gnome/troll connection would go a long way to making gnolls more memorable than yet another generic cannibal beastmen tribe.
Henceforth I am going off into some wild world building tangent.
Researching folklore
I could find precious little information on possible hyena gods, save one. In an Ugandan religion there is a god or demon named Luisi. Luisi is the hunger that exists within all hyenas. Wizards who let it ride them will act like hyenas, walking on all fours and chewing bones. According to another source (that I cannot verify!), Luisi is a goddess of death, decay and rebirth.There are a number of stories involving men that transform into hyenas as well as supernatural accounts of hyenas. Some stories describe witches who assume the forms of hyenas to do wicked things at night, while during the day appearing as healers, blacksmiths or woodcutters. (Rather unfortunately, this has been used as slander and blood libel against Ethiopian Jewish blacksmiths.) Some stories ascribe hyenas with vampiric qualities like drinking the blood of sleeping victims, mesmerizing victims, haunting battlefields to prey on dying soldiers, etc.
There are stories of spiritualists who travel in spiritual form to fight demons, vampires and witches, often in the form of animals. For example: the "hounds of god" in Swedish Livonia, the benandanti in Northeastern Italy, the Slavic krsnik, the white cadejo in Central America, etc.
Hyenas were themselves described very inaccurately by pre-modern natural historians. They were ascribed traits like changing sex, defiling tombs, inflexible spines, gall stones that grant oracular sight, mimicking human voices, mesmerizing prey, etc. They were called names like crocuta, leucrota and onolysum, and they were believed to be hybrids of dog, wolf, or panther. (See my other post on the fantastical hyena of medieval bestiaries for more information.) They were generally unfairly demonized. In reality hyenas kill most of their food and lions scavenge hyena kills way more often. Don't believe the propaganda in The Lion King.
I think I'll burrow that wholesale. I don't want to have to worry about Hasbro's copyright claim on Gorellik and Yeenoghu. I don't want to worry about Faerûn's setting baggage, either. What follows is going to be complete fiction, unrelated to any real religious belief.
World building: the hyena diva and the tribe of the hyena
The hyena diva (Latin for "divine hyena") is a goddess of death and rebirth, the lord of hyenas, and the demon (in the Ancient Greek personification sense) of the hunger within hyenas. She is worshiped and invoked by druids, beastmen, lycanthropes, skinwalkers, etc. The hyenas include the fantastical crocuta and leucrota (because I don't make an arbitrary distinction between real and fictional animals in my fantasy fiction), and display fictitious traits taken from medieval bestiaries like changing sex and robbing graves.The hyena diva is neither good nor evil, she simply is. She is invoked by both good folks and the wicked alike. Those who are good invoke the power to protect their communities from evil. Those who are wicked invoke the power for personal gain and to cause harm. The ignorant will easily conflate the two, leading to many situations where innocent spiritualists are feared, hated and ostracized as wicked witches.
The tribe of the hyena is the only community where they would be truly safe, as all members of this tribe venerate the hyena diva and may allow themselves to be ridden. They are not gnolls, not quite. The modern gnolls aren't a race, but ridden by spirits. The spirits of gnomish trolls must be invoked to ride hyenas, transforming the ridden into gnolls.
There exists a race of gnomish trolls, the Danish trold, who are instrumental in the creation of gnolls. Those were ignorant of trolls' diversity mistakenly thought these trolls were a crossbreed of gnome and troll, so the name stuck. At some point a band of them joined the tribe of the hyena and allowed the hyena diva to ride them, and thus the first of the modern gnolls were born.
Sources on gnolls, gnomes and trolls
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnoll
- https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Gnoll
- https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Gnoll
- http://lonelygm.blogspot.com/2013/02/about-gnolls-gnoles-and-trollish-gnomes.html
- https://myrstat.net/2015/06/14/gnole-gnoll/
- http://initiativeone.blogspot.com/2013/03/gnoles-and-gnolls.html
- http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2815
- https://whiteboxandbeyond.blogspot.com/2017/04/gnome-gnoll-troll.html
- http://johnwickpresents.com/projects/wicked-fantasy/wicked-fantasy-gnolls-for-the-pack/
- https://unclehyena.livejournal.com/217885.html
- http://humoncomics.com/archive/troll
- https://www.britannica.com/art/gnome
- http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta25.htm
- http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/09/mythology-monday-turning-to-stone/
Sources on hyenas and lycanthropes
- http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast153.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werehyena
- https://inthedarkair.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/malicious-myths-the-were-hyena/
- https://ronelthemythmaker.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/werehyena-folklorethursday/
- https://theillustrationist.com/2013/02/09/bultungin-the-werehyena/
- https://esoterx.com/2013/07/14/whos-laughing-now-an-abyssinia-were-hyena-in-ethiopia/
- https://buffy.fandom.com/wiki/Primal
- Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection - E. A. Wallis Budge
- Symbolic and Mythological Animals - J. C. Cooper
- The American Catholic Quarterly Review ... - James Andrew Corcoran, Patrick John Ryan, Edmond Francis Prendergast
- https://www.weasyl.com/~zerix/submissions/791579/luisi
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