Talk:Gnoll

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[edit] Gnole

Reason for the edit to the origins of Gnoll:

The previous information contained conjecture that "gnoll" was a misspelling of "gnole." However, there is no proof that this is the case.

It had said: "The word "gnoll" is an apparent misspelling of "gnole" (The first edition D&D was full of typos and misspellings; note the misspelling of "Dunsany" in the original text). With the 1977 publication of Gygax's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, the misspelling was canonized, "

The quoted text from the Monster Manual which is included in the article contradicts the editor's conjecture that it's a misspelling -- it is stated in the Monster Manual that a Gnoll may be a cross between a Gnome and a Troll. That would indeed be correctly spelled Gnoll. To be spelled Gnole it would have to be a cross between a (Gnome and a Trole). This indicates that Gnoll was intentionally spelled that way, and was not a typo. Even if the Gnoll was inspired by the (very vaguely described) Gnole, that doesn't mean it has to be spelled the same.

The "misspelling" of "Dunsany" as "Sunsany" may have been intentional as well (though it's obviously an homage), but there is really no evidence to support whether it is or isn't a typo or misspelling.... So statements saying it's definitely a misspelling do not belong in an encyclopedia without some proof. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.24.209.24 (talk) 00:20, August 22, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notability

Noteworthy enough that I looked the term up after finding it in two places, and I'm not a D&D enthusiast. Dunno if it deserves its own page, though. Maybe the pages for this sort of creature should be condensed down to a page of D&D common creatures. --Farry (talk) 13:22, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

While most of the information is from D&D (and that's where they're most famous), gnolls have been commonly found in numerous other games/books/movies. Most famously, there's the Lord Dunsany poem that inspired Gygax's invention for D&D. -- Kesh (talk) 15:29, 15 April 2008 (UTC)