Product Code Database
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings.
In later folklore, trolls became beings in their own right, where they live far from human habitation, are not Christianized, and are considered dangerous to human beings. Depending on the source, their appearance varies greatly; trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them.
In Scandinavian folklore, trolls are sometimes associated with particular landmarks (sometimes said to have been formed by a troll having been exposed to sunlight). Trolls are depicted in a variety of media in modern popular culture.
Bragi responds in turn, describing himself and his abilities as a skillful skald, before the scenario ends.
Old Norse:
- Troll kalla mik
- trungl sjǫtrungnis,
- auðsug jǫtuns,
- élsólar bǫl,
- vilsinn vǫlu,
- vǫrð nafjarðar,
- hvélsveg himins –
- hvat's troll nema þat?Lindow (2007:22).
Anthony Faulkes translation:
- 'Trolls call me
- moon of dwelling-Rungnir,
- giant's wealth-sucker,
- storm-sun's bale,
- seeress's friendly companion,
- guardian of grave,
- swallower of heaven-wheel;
- what is a troll other than that?'Faulkes (1995:132).
John Lindow translation:
- They call me a troll,
- moon of the earth-Hrungnir ?
- wealth sucker ? of the giant,
- destroyer of the storm-sun ?
- beloved follower of the seeress,
- guardian of the "nafjord" ?
- swallower of the wheel of heaven the.
- What's a troll if not that?
There is much confusion and overlap in the use of Old Norse terms jötunn, troll, þurs, and risi, which describe various beings. Lotte Motz theorized that these were originally four distinct classes of beings: lords of nature ( jötunn), mythical magicians ( troll), hostile monsters ( þurs), and heroic and courtly beings ( risi), the last class being the youngest addition. On the other hand, Ármann Jakobson is critical of Motz's interpretation and calls this theory "unsupported by any convincing evidence".Ármann Jakobsson (2006). Ármann highlights that the term is used to denote various beings, such as a jötunn or mountain-dweller, a witch, an abnormally strong or large or ugly person, an evil spirit, a ghost, a Black people, a magical boar, a heathen demi-god, a demon, a brunnmigi, or a berserker.Ármann Jakobsson (2008).
Lindow states that the etymology of the word "troll" remains uncertain, though he defines trolls in later Swedish folklore as "nature beings" and as "all-purpose otherworldly beings, equivalent, for example, to fairy in Anglo-saxons-Celts traditions". They "therefore appear in various migratory legends where collective nature-beings are called for". Lindow notes that trolls are sometimes swapped out for cats and "little people" in the folklore record.Lindow (1978:33—35).
A Scandinavian folk belief that lightning frightens away trolls and jötnar appears in numerous Scandinavian folktales, and may be a late reflection of the god Thor's role in fighting such beings. In connection, the lack of trolls and jötnar in modern Scandinavia is sometimes explained as a result of the "accuracy and efficiency of the lightning strokes".See Lindow (1978:89), but noted as early as Thorpe (1851:154) who states "The dread entertained by Trolls for thunder dates from the time of paganism, Thor ... being the deadly foe of their race". Additionally, the absence of trolls in regions of Scandinavia is described in folklore as being a "consequence of the constant din of the church-bells". This ringing caused the trolls to leave for other lands, although not without some resistance; numerous traditions relate how trolls destroyed a church under construction or hurled boulders and stones at completed churches. Large local stones are sometimes described as the product of a troll's toss.Thorpe (1851:158, 154—156). Additionally, into the 20th century, the origins of particular Scandinavian landmarks, such as particular stones, are ascribed to trolls who may, for example, have turned to stone upon exposure to sunlight. Lindow compares the trolls of the Swedish folk tradition to Grendel, the supernatural mead hall invader in the Old English poem Beowulf, and notes that "just as the poem Beowulf emphasizes not the harrying of Grendel but the cleansing of the hall of Beowulf, so the modern tales stress the moment when the trolls are driven off."
Smaller trolls are attested as living in burial mounds and in mountains in Scandinavian folk tradition.MacCulloch (1930:223—224). In Denmark, these creatures are recorded as troldfolk ("troll-folk"), bjergtrolde ("mountain-trolls"), or bjergfolk ("mountain-folk") and in Norway also as trollfolk ("troll-folk") and tusser. Trolls may be described as small, human-like beings or as tall as men depending on the region of origin of the story.MacCulloch (1930:219—223, 224).
In Norwegian tradition, similar tales may be told about the larger trolls and the Hulder ("hidden-folk"), yet a distinction is made between the two. The use of the word trow in Orkney and Shetland, to mean beings which are very like the Huldrefolk in Norway, may suggest a common origin for the terms. The word troll may have been used by pagan Norse settlers in Orkney and Shetland as a collective term for supernatural beings who should be respected and avoided rather than worshipped. Troll could later have become specialized as a description of the larger, more menacing Jötunn-kind whereas Huldrefolk may have developed as the term for smaller trolls.Narváez (1997:118).
John Arnott MacCulloch posited a connection between the Old Norse vættir and trolls, suggesting that both concepts may derive from spirits of the dead.MacCulloch (1930:228 & 231).
Troll, a Norwegian research station in Antarctica, is so named because of the rugged mountains which stand around that place like trolls. It includes a ground station which tracks satellites in polar orbit.
Beginning in the 1950s, Troll dolls were a popular toy based on the folklore creature. Trolls based on the dolls appeared in the Hollywood movie animated movie Trolls (2016) and its subsequent sequels Trolls World Tour (2020), and Trolls Band Together'' (2023).
Troll is the name, and main antagonist, of a 2022 Norwegian movie released by Netflix on December 1, 2022.
Rolf Lidberg was a Swedish artist well known for his troll illustrations.
The Danish artist Thomas Dambo has created from recycled wood a series of monumental troll sculptures that can be seen in several botanic gardens and similar installations.
|
|
