How many dwarves are there in Wroclaw?

In the second half of 2020, there were about 360 dwarf figures in Wroclaw.

They reside in all parts of the city. Their population is growing rapidly. Learn more about this remarkable community.

In Polish folk demonology it is difficult to find a homogeneous term for the dwarf figure. Actually, each region uses a different name and attributes different behavior to it. This, of course, has to do with foreign influences, overlaid with indigenous folk beliefs as well.

What are the names of Wroclaw’s dwarves?

The most common terms for dwarfs are:

• Dwarf
• Gnome
• Skrzat (Pomeranian and Greater Poland, Silesian)
• Dwarf folk
• Klobuk (Warmian-Masurian)
• Chobolt/chobold (Warmian-Masurian)
• Kauka
• Kobold (Warmian-Masurian)
• Karzełek (Pomeranian)
• Kraśnia (Kashubia, Pomerania)
• Kraśniak
• Lilliput
• Domowy, domowoj (Belarus, Lublin, Bialystok)
• Uboże (old Polish, in most regions)
• Piędzimężyk
• Plonek (sieradzko-kaliskie)
• Kite (mazowieckie)
• Domowik (podlaskie)
• Skarbnik, Skarbek – the guardian spirit of the mine in the mining folklore of Upper Silesia, Bochnia and Wieliczka
• Podziomek
• Inkluz (Silesia)
• Snake (residual among Lemkos, Gorlice)

SKRZAT “In a dictionary from the 1500s: ancestral spirits, lary (Roman), gnomes, we call them little people, in a much older manuscript: little people (pigmeus) krzat (instead of gnome); to this day with the people is known and skrzot, common in the Western Slavs; with the Czechs szkratek, skrzitek, with the Slovenes szkrat(el). Thus, the Proto-Slavic uboże or grandfather (or domestic) was replaced by the German schratt , “forest spirit, wild husband,” Old High German scrat(o).”

KRASNOLUDEK (dwarf, dwarf, dwarf), dwarf (named after the red cap).
Indira Malcher in her article “The figure of the dwarf in Polish folk demonology” proves the origin of the dwarf from this very dwarfism.

KRASNY “In the 15th century, also a rare oboe form of kraśni red, colorful, beautiful, lovely, splendid from the 14th century, today poet. and dial. (e.g., kash.-slov. Krwsni – colorful, frothy; flushed on the face, fresh, beautiful (…)”

According to her, “Exceptionally in the native sources there is an explanation of the name krośnięta, which are Kashubian equivalents of kraśniets, dwarfs, deriving it from Sanskrit, where kare – means to lose weight, krea – thin, lichy; while Czech krasti – to lose weight, diminish. Therefore, in Kashubia, the name dremni or, rarely, drebni i.e. petite, tiny, is used interchangeably.”

Quotes from:

• Malcher, The figure of the dwarf in Polish folk demonology, Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze, Wrocław 1999
• A Brückner, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego, Wiedza Powszechna, Warsaw 1957
• Slawski, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego, Kraków 1966-1969
• Urbańczyk, Former Slavs. Wiara i kult, Wroclaw 199
• J. Pełka, Polish folk demonology, Warsaw 1987
• Cieślikowski, Konopnicka’s Fairy Tale, Zeszyty literackie, Wroclaw.

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