Matching 50 mythical creatures with each of the 50 states

Wisconsin: Gnomes

When you think of Wisconsin, the two things that come to mind might be the beer and the cheese. And sure that makes perfect sense, but that doesn’t exactly give us a monster to represent the state.

But did you know that among the different folktales told about the state of Wisconsin, one has to do with Gnomes? In fact, according to VolumeOne, there are actually “Rock-Tossin’ Gnomes” in Fifield. I mean that’s pretty epic in terms of cool folklore.

So when it came time to represent the state of Wisconsin, it just made sense to choose Gnomes as the creature of choice. For the people of Wisconsin it seems that if you toss a rock in the woods, Gnomes will toss the rock back to you, like a fun little game of catch. But beyond this folktale, the fact is that in history, the Gnome is an Earth spirit that is known to guard precious treasures.

As a cheese lover, I find that to be a precious treasure. So that means we need Gnomes to protect the cheese. And if they want to play toss with rocks, we aren’t going to get mad at that. After all, that could just be their downtime after guarding the cheese.

Gnomes just feel like a perfect fit for the state of Wisconsin, and it has just as much to do with the fact that there are already tales of Rock-Tossin’ Gnomes as it is the fact that they need to protect our favorite dairy product.