Trolldom - Traditional Norse Folk Magic - A popular method.

[DrJohannesG]

Culturally speaking the Tomte is not a "Gnome". A gnome is a word formed by Paracelsus in an effort to categorize spirits belonging to the earth element, while the Tomte is just as often described as "the first person who dies in a house". ¨The tomte is servant spirit who is associated with a house or a certain location, rather than a specific human. It is not until the late 1800 when the tomte starts being associated with certain clothes and alike.

[SilasAkay]

The "tomte" or house spirit, commonly related to farms and so on in sweden and scandinavia, is, if I'm not misstaken, a Gnome. Much like the garden gnomes of america, but over here, they are usually depicted in gray wool clothing, with a red wool hat. So somewhat similar to the US gnomes. They possess great power and knowledge, and if you misstreat them, they can slaughter all your farm animals over night and so on. Correct me if I'm wrong. :)