Elves, gnomes and dwarves are all mixed up mythologically. The Noldar (elves) of LotR were at one point going to be gnomes (the name is a bit of a hint) The Drow of D&D had their dark skin inspired from norse 'svartalf' where of course the concepts of dwarf and elf are kinda overlapping....and of course in D&D there are Xvarts, inspired by the same source, which are gnomes.
