Now and Then, The Gnome Took Hold of the Reins (1907 CE)

A small movement becomes the turning point of the scene: the gnome reaches for the reins, and at once the forest feels less like a place being crossed than a will acting on those within it. In John Bauer’s illustration, the uncanny does not arrive through spectacle alone. It enters quietly, through gesture, shadow, and the sense that the natural world is not passive at all, but alert, watchful, and capable of intervening.

An Illustration from Among Gnomes and Trolls

This work was made for the first edition of Bland tomtar och troll in 1907, where it accompanied the fairy tale The Enchanted Forest. From the beginning, that publication became one of the most important vehicles for visualizing Swedish folklore, and Bauer’s contributions were central to its identity. His images did not merely decorate the stories; they gave them atmosphere, rhythm, and a distinct imaginative world that would become inseparable from the tales themselves.

The Forest as a Living Force

What gives this image much of its strength is that the forest does not behave like a neutral setting. As in many of Bauer’s works, nature feels animated, almost sentient, as though it were participating in the story rather than merely surrounding it. The moment when the gnome takes hold of the reins captures that idea precisely. It suggests a shift in control, a crossing into a domain where human direction may no longer be enough and where other forces quietly take over.

That is one of the recurring features of Bauer’s fairy-tale world. Mystery does not always announce itself dramatically. Often it emerges through slight but decisive disruptions, moments in which the familiar slips into something older, stranger, and less governable.

Folklore, Nature, and the Supernatural

The image reflects a broader early 20th-century fascination with folklore, myth, and the unseen life of the landscape. In Scandinavian storytelling, beings such as gnomes and trolls were not simply ornaments of fantasy. They were expressions of an older way of imagining the world, in which forests, mountains, and darkness were charged with presence. Bauer’s art gave this inheritance a visual form that felt both intimate and unsettling, balancing wonder with danger.

This is part of why his illustrations became so culturally significant. They crystallized a specifically Swedish folklore atmosphere while still speaking to larger themes: the fragility of human control, the pull of the unknown, and the uneasy beauty of entering enchanted ground.

Gouache, Ink, and White Highlights

The artwork is executed in gouache, ink, and white pigment on paper, and measures 21 × 18.5 cm (8.3 × 7.3 inches). The gouache gives the image its dense, matte color, while the ink sharpens form and structure. White highlights add emphasis and depth, helping Bauer create a space that feels at once detailed and dreamlike. The combination of these materials suits his fairy-tale imagery especially well, allowing darkness, texture, and atmosphere to work together with unusual precision.