Handmade Scandinavian Gnome — Radagast

Deep in the forest a little hut is hidden. It is not easy to reach. But if any forest creature gets into trouble — its master will soon be there. This is Radagast. Friend of all forest creatures and birds. A wise mage who chose, over the loud glory of his abilities, unity with the forest and its inhabitants — because, in his view, that is the real work of a wizard.

Hedgehog Sebastian has lived with him long enough to have formed preferences: the left pocket is better than the right, overcast days are pleasanter than bright ones, and he has opinions about walking pace which he expresses by shifting his weight slightly. Radagast considers this reasonable and walks accordingly.

Once a pair of forest birds built a nest in his woolly hat. He left it there — and now he walks with a nestling every spring. His staff was a gift from a tree. He says this without explanation, and most gnomes stopped asking long ago what is meant. He uses the staff for support on uneven ground and sometimes, on clear nights, to point at things in the sky that deserve more attention than they usually get.

He is quieter than most gnomes. But when he laughs — and this happens often, usually at something small that everyone else walked past — the laughter carries through the whole forest. And gnomes pause for a moment and feel that everything is all right.

In his shaggy cloak there is always room for one more small creature. The gnomes once counted in Radagast's pockets two mice, a stag beetle and a half-asleep mole. He himself only found out that evening when he came home and began unpacking.