Do trolls exist - a question that is often asked by lovers of all things supernatural and unknown. Norway is considered the country where real trolls live. But are these creatures really there or is it just an old legend?
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It is unlikely that the myths and legends of Norway can be called good. One of the most popular characters in Norse mythology, with whom the whole world is familiar, is the troll.
Legend says that in ancient times the planet was covered with snow. Therefore, when people came to this land (to Norway), they learned that there were already owners on it. Here, kikimores, and.
The real masters in the mountains were the terrifying trolls. They lived in caves where they hid gold, silver and precious stones. The king among them was the oldest and most terrible.
There were giant trolls who even had several heads. There were also very small ones that lived in flowers and mosses. Their skin was covered with very rough bristles, the creatures had a hooked nose and there was always a wart on it.
According to legend, before being “born” into this world, each troll grows upside down on a tree. If it is not picked at the right time, it will grow very large, fat, angry and scary. All due to the fact that while falling from a tree the creature hits its head and becomes stupid and angry.
But if such a magical creature is picked too early, it will turn out small, “immature,” and also evil. However, if you disrupt the troll in time, he will be kind. Unfortunately, it is still a mystery who should do this.
These creatures cannot tolerate the smell of human body. Although there is a theory that these entities attack people, in fact, upon hearing the human smell, the monster immediately disappears. The longer an entity lives, the smarter it becomes.
According to legend, everyone, even the most evil creatures, has hearts. People believe that it is a precious stone.
An angry troll can cause real damage to a settlement. Therefore, Norwegian peasants tried to live in peace with them. Every year before pagan Christmas, the owner of the house placed various dishes near the gate, which were taken by the monster at night.
The creature can only be seen at night. If daylight hits the evil spirits, it will also turn into stone.
The special magical property of this creature is to transform into anyone. For example, they often took the form of beautiful girls. It is believed that if you marry such a bride, the tail that she got from the monster will fall off. If such a bride is treated poorly, she will transform into an old, angry woman.
So do trolls exist in Norway? Today, the entire population of Norway under 5 years of age firmly believes that these are real creatures. Surely in ancient times these entities really lived in these lands. But there is no exact confirmation of this.
What information will be necessary for those who decide to go to Norway and try on their own to find confirmation of the existence of these mythical creatures. It’s worth warning right away: finding their habitat is very difficult.
What do trolls look like? They all have a very strange skull shape that resembles an ostrich egg. They have large ears that can glow red.
Creatures almost never disguise themselves and do not hide their true origin. It is best to look for such evil spirits at night, when they are not hiding from the sun.
These formidable (at first glance) creatures love to dance. If the troll is happy, then he sings a song, and maybe even purrs like a cat. You will be really lucky if you can ask a troll to do something. It is believed that it will never break and will look like a real work of art.
A distinctive feature of this evil spirit is its brutal appetite. They eat almost always, except when they sleep.
If you are interested in this topic, then be sure to watch the film “Trollhunters.”
Although the question of whether there are trolls in modern Norway is very difficult to answer, there is another place through which local residents decided to perpetuate the memory of these famous mythical creatures.
Norway, Troll Wall
Troll Wall is a popular part of the Troltinden mountain range among tourists. It is located on the west coast of Norway and is the highest stone wall in Europe. A Norwegian and British team climbed this mountain range for the first time in 1965.
If you believe the ancient story, the trolls who lived in this place were too proud, independent and angered the gods with their behavior. As a result, the angry Scandinavian deities decided to take revenge on the local inhabitants and turned all the trolls into mountains. However, even being turned into rocks, they still do not stop giving salt to both the deities and the local residents.
Today, this mountain range has 14 different climbing routes. They can last from a couple of days to several weeks. Some of the routes are quite dangerous even for experienced climbers with good equipment.
This is one of the most favorite places for those who practice BASE jumping. Even though the treacherous wall is a very dangerous place, and jumping here is risky, this does not stop true extreme sports enthusiasts.
Stretching among the mountain peaks of southwestern Norway, the “Troll Staircase”
Probably many who would like to visit Norway know what it’s like troll trail. Otherwise, this tourist road is called the “troll staircase”. This is a very dangerous narrow route, 106 km long.
Around the trail there are picturesque views of hills and fjords, national parks and nature reserves. This path was opened in the summer of 1936, construction lasted exactly 8 years. The name of the trail itself was given personally by King Haakon VII of Norway.
Who are trolls?
Many of us probably know, although maybe not exactly exactly, who dragons, mermaids, mermen, goblins, gnomes, brownies, etc. are. And the word “troll” is also familiar to many. But do you know what trolls look like, what they eat, what their character is, when their image appeared, and finally, what the word “troll” itself means?
I will not describe what trolls look like in the mythology of various countries, but I will try to give the most accurate and correct, one might even say “classic,” portrait of a troll.
So, the image of the troll was formed in medieval Norway. Scandinavia was the last stronghold of paganism. People worshiped and believed in their gods: Thor, Odin, Loki, etc. Each god corresponded to some element, season or natural phenomenon.
For example, Thor is the god of thunder, Loki is the god of fire, etc. But soon Christianity came to pagan Scandinavia. People were forbidden to believe in their gods, and their statues and altars were mercilessly destroyed. This is how myths arose, where various creatures, as well as magic, came to the fore. Castles and houses were decorated with figures of various beasts; finally, their images could often be found on the covers of medieval books, knightly armor and weapons. It was believed that they were supposed to protect a warrior or a castle from enemies or simply bring good luck. Many creatures were attributed magical powers. Among the various branches of medieval schools of magic was the Deprecur Mage Bestiaries ("School of Conjuring Beasts"). Trolls, for example, belonged to the class of creatures with colossal power and were “animals” symbolizing the School of Earth Magic, and, for example, dragons and chimeras belonged to the School of Fire Magic.
Now let’s take a closer look at the trolls themselves. The word "troll" means "huge". How did the image of the troll come about? The Norwegian land is quite harsh: inaccessible cliffs, rocky soil, cold winter. All this contributed to the emergence of a myth about creatures - huge and ferocious rulers of the rocks. Subsequently, this myth was repeatedly remade. Moreover, other countries that “borrowed” this image remade it and identified it in accordance with their views. This is how many “types” of trolls arose, and by comparing them, one can single out one, truly correct image of a troll. By the way, it would not be amiss to note that the myth about trolls may be based on real facts; it’s just that rarely anyone is lucky enough to see a troll.
So, as we already know, trolls live only in the mountains in huge caves, since trolls are truly very large creatures (an adult troll reaches 3-5 meters in height and up to 2 meters in width), usually near mountain rivers . On hot days, trolls like to climb up to their necks into a fast-flowing river and thus rest. It’s worth noting right away that there is an opinion that trolls can be very small, and also that they are nocturnal creatures and if the troll does not have time to hide before sunrise, he will turn into stone. This is not entirely true. A real troll can walk at any time of the day, and Svarts, a “type” of trolls, turn into stone, like vampires. These creatures, as well as the Grimteks - “little trolls”, are also of purely Norwegian origin, although Svarts are also found in the mythology of Great Britain. In fact, the creatures listed above are just “distant relatives” of trolls. It’s just that people, often unknowingly, call them trolls, since outwardly they have some similarities.
But let's get back to the real trolls. These creatures have very thick skin, usually covered in mosses, bumps, warts and other growths, some of which can be as dense as rock. By the way, based on skin color, trolls are divided into green, gray and black depending on their habitat, but more on that later. Trolls have only four fingers on their hands and feet; in addition, each troll has a small but thick, usually triangular, tail. The troll's head is similar to the head of a turtle, only unlike it it is not extended forward, but sits tightly on a very thick short neck.
All trolls have good night vision, since they are still more active at night. What do trolls eat? This question is very easy to answer, the fact is that trolls are omnivores. The Scandinavian lands are rocky and infertile, so trolls spend most of their time searching for food and can go without it for a long time. Trolls living near small mountain rivers often feed on fish.
Now let's look at the character of trolls. Most of them are quite harmless and trusting creatures. Seeing a person in the distance, the troll tries to hide, but keep in mind that all this time he will be watching how the person behaves on “foreign” territory. And if the troll doesn’t like something in his behavior, then from a simple-minded “fat guy” the troll can turn into a mortal danger to humans, because the troll’s power is very great. Often rockfalls in the mountains are the wrath of some troll, who thus seeks to drive the “stranger” out of his territory.
Having gone far into the mountains, you can hear dull knocks - these are the steps of a troll walking around its domain, and if you are very lucky, you can hear the voice of a troll who has met a “neighbor”. Usually these are dull uterine or grumbling sounds.
And finally, let's look at the subspecies of trolls, as mentioned above, differing only in skin color. So, green trolls are trolls that most often live in small mountain valleys, near fast rivers. Gray and black trolls are mainly inhabitants of mountain crevices, multi-level caves and other dark places. They try to stay high in the mountains, close to the eternal snow, since they, unlike green trolls, prefer colder living conditions.
So if you are in Scandinavia, remember about trolls, and who knows, maybe you will be lucky enough to see a real troll...
Jotuns, thurses, giants in Scandinavian mythology, trolls in the later Scandinavian tradition. On the one hand, these are the ancient giants, the first inhabitants of the world, preceding the gods and people in time. Such giants include Ymir and his descendants, the frost giants, as well as the great sages Bölthorn, Odin’s grandfather, Vafthrudnir, with whom Odin competed in wisdom, and possibly Mimir, the owner of the honey spring, from where Odin drew wisdom and with whose head always consulted
On the other hand, the Jotuns are inhabitants of a cold, rocky country on the northern and eastern outskirts of the earth (Jotunheim, Utgard), representatives of elemental demonic natural forces, enemies of the Aesir. At all costs they sought to take away from the last wives - the goddesses Freya, Idunn, and magical attributes - the Thor hammer, the rejuvenating apples of Idunn, the draupnir ring, etc. in the end, the frost giants were defeated by the Aesir, led by one.
Trolls, in Germanic - Scandinavian mythology, are evil giants who lived in the depths of the mountains, where they kept their countless treasures. It was believed that these unusually ugly creatures had enormous strength, but were very stupid. Trolls, as a rule, tried to harm people, stole their livestock, destroyed forests, trampled fields, destroyed roads and bridges, and engaged in cannibalism. Later tradition likens trolls to various demonic creatures, including gnomes.
In general, trolls are mountain spirits associated with stone, usually hostile to humans. Trolls live mainly in the mountains and forests of Norway, although they are found in Sweden and Iceland, but they are never in Denmark.
Legends about trolls originated in Scandinavia. According to legends, they frightened local residents with their size and witchcraft. According to other beliefs, trolls lived in castles and underground palaces. In the north of Britain there are several large rocks about which there are legends that they are trolls caught in sunlight. In mythology, trolls are not only huge giants similar to ogres, but also small, gnome-like creatures that usually live in caves (such trolls were usually called forest trolls. The details of the image of trolls in folklore greatly depend on the country.
Sometimes they are described differently even in the same legend. Most often, trolls are ugly creatures, from three to eight meters tall (sometimes they can change their size), almost always an attribute of the troll’s appearance in the images is a very large nose. They have the nature of a stone (they are born from a rock), they turn to stone in the sun. They eat meat. They often eat people. They live alone in caves, forests or under bridges. Trolls under bridges are somewhat different from ordinary ones. In particular, they can appear in the sun, do not eat people, respect money, are greedy for human women (they do not see them as food. There are legends about the children of trolls and human women.
Norway.
Troll figurines carved from wood are a favorite folk craft item. Trolls are often associated with oil fields in the North Sea, one of them is called “Troll”. But more often, trolls are associated, of course, with the formation of mountains and rocks, about which people say that these are trolls turned to stone, for example: trolltinds, trollholm, trollheim, jotunheim and many others. In Norway there are other place names associated with trolls: Trollway ("Troll Road"), Trollbotn ("Troll Gorge"), Trollvann ("Troll Lake").
According to Norwegian legends, you can see a troll in a deep forest or high in the mountains. The troll looks like a mountain or a giant boulder, overgrown with moss and heather, and sometimes trees. The Norwegian troll may have one, three, five, six, seven, nine or more heads.
The ancestors of trolls, in the view of the Norwegians, are giants - jotuns / jotuns, who stood at the origins of the formation of the world. The name "Jotun" was preserved in the later folklore tradition as "Jutul". Also the Old Norse name for "Rise is". In any case, the word "Troll" became a general designation for a mountain giant, and sometimes a designation for all evil spirits. Moreover, the Norwegian word “Witchcraft” also has the root “troll” - “trollskap”.
According to legend, giants were at enmity with gods and people. They were said to be fierce, cruel and stubborn. The most famous fighter against the Jotuns is the god Thor. He defeated them with his famous hammer Mjolnir thanks to his courage and cunning. However, in mythology there are also references to how the Jotuns and the Aesir fell in love with each other. In the later folklore tradition, giantesses were called gyugras.
With the Christianization of Norway, the trolls had a new enemy - the holy catch. Olav had a special gift: he could control mountains and rocks, and knew how to turn trolls to stone. Subsequently, the giants tried to fight the churches.
There are stories that trolls sometimes appear among people in human form. Usually a person cannot immediately guess who he is dealing with. However, it is recommended that if he suspects something is wrong, he should under no circumstances shake the stranger’s hand.
Trolls often kidnapped people. However, folklore tradition provided several ways to defend against or resist trolls. First of all, this is, of course, the Christian cross, the sound of church bells and everything else that is associated with the Christian religion. In the event that it was necessary to free a troll captive from the mountains, then the bells had to be rung. Only if the church was so far away that the bell ringing could not be heard up to the mountains, then the bell was brought to the mountains and rung there.
They say that a troll does not always harm a person; he can also be good-natured and act like a hospitable host. It happens that a troll helps a person, and a person helps a troll.
Now that the world has changed so much, there is no place for trolls in it, but still, in the form of high mountains and forested hills, they observe whether everything is in order in their domains. Or maybe, tired of the bustle of the world, they decided to retire and head to the beautiful troll castle of Soria - Moria.
Sweden.
In Swedish myths there are trolls of both sexes. Their height is 5-8 m, and sometimes higher. Swedish trolls are sure to cause harm; one of the legends associated with trolls is the legend of changeling children. According to this legend, trolls kidnap newborn children and replace them with their own babies. The Swedes build toy “Troll Houses” that are very similar to real houses.
Iceland.
Iceland was colonized by Norwegian Vikings, so the folklore is similar. Icelandic trolls are also "Creatures of Stone", and many features of the landscape are named after trolls.
Irish trolls are called trolls. These giants are relatives of Norwegian and Swedish trolls. Tretls are ugly and stupid, greedy and vindictive, usually causing a lot of trouble to people (for example, stealing livestock), but are loyal to those who do them a favor. They live alone in the mountains. An iron club or knife is almost never released from its paws.
There is a common legend about trolls who live under bridges, or who built these bridges. Trolls usually charge money or favors for crossing the bridge. In some versions of the legend, the troll's life is connected with the bridge. The troll is either involved in the construction of the bridge, or appears immediately after its construction, and when the bridge is destroyed, the troll dies.
Trolls in literature.
In the fairy tales of Scandinavian writers of the 19th century. trolls played the same role as gnomes in German fairy tales: the main source of miracles happening to people - the heroes. The Norwegian P. K. Asbjornsen and the Finn Zacharias Topelius wrote a lot about them in the 19th century. their trolls are giants and powerful sorcerers who love to play cruel tricks on people. These are also the case in Mr. Ibsen's famous play Gynt "Peer".
In the series of books by the Finnish writer Tove Janson “Moomin Trolls” (1945), perhaps the most original look at trolls appears. They are small, peace-loving creatures living a peaceful, pastoral life. Outwardly, they look like small humanoid hippopotamuses.
Trolls appear in English writer John Tolkien's story "The Hobbit" in 1937. Tolkien's trolls are huge, evil, but simple-minded creatures, cannibals, more similar to ogres (ogres) than Scandinavian trolls. This stereotype turned out to be so tenacious that in the mass consciousness, especially among Anglo-Saxon writers, these two types of creatures practically merged.
The image of the Norse trolls, often mixed with the image of the Jotuns, continues to appear in literature - in particular, they play a central role in Paul Anderson's story "The Broken Sword".
Clifford Simak included trolls - as well as fairies, goblins, banshees and dragons - in his 1968 science fiction novel Goblin Sanctuary.
Trolls - wild, but almost harmless - are encountered by Astrid Lindgren in "Roni, the Robber's Daughter."
In Terry Pratchett's books about the flat world, the original race of trolls is presented - silicone creatures whose thinking depends on the temperature of the environment. Their stupidity is explained by the poor functioning of the silicone brain at normal temperatures; with strong cooling, trolls show ultra-high intelligence.
In Asprin's books about the corporation, myth plays an important role in distinguishing women - trolls (trollins) from men. Unlike men, trollins are very beautiful. One of the regular characters in the series is Trollina Tananda.
The legend of the trolls.
Far to the north, where winter storms crash against the coastal cliffs, lies a long, narrow country. It is covered with endless dense forests, where lakes glow on moonlit nights, and the majesty of the gloomy mountains is breathtaking. When you sail in a small boat between the gloomy rocks of the Norwegian fjords, it is not difficult to understand how the legends of Valhalla and the harsh Scandinavian gods were born. On a cloudy, foggy day, it’s easy to imagine the boats of proud Vikings in these mysterious backwaters. Norwegians are very proud of their ancestors.
Today, snow and ice cover this country six months of the year. But it wasn't always like this. Once upon a time, in its place lay a huge glacier that covered the entire territory of the country for thousands of years. Gradually, with the warming of the climate, the glacier retreated to the north, and people followed on its heels. Having seen the splendor of this country, they stayed here and called themselves "Normans" (people of the north.
However, soon they noticed on this land numerous strange creatures that possessed supernatural powers, but at the same time were very careful and did not allow themselves to be detected. People started calling them trolls. Gradually, trolls began to appear in fairy tales. Interestingly, the legends describe them in very contradictory ways.
Trolls can be small varieties of gnomes, or they can be as huge as mountains (of course, they are distant relatives of the titans, who were born from rocks and ate stones. The only thing that the legends do not contradict each other is that trolls were disgusting and ugly There are stories about two-headed and even three-headed trolls, there are one-eyed trolls, like cyclops, many have moss and even trees growing on their heads. Despite their terrifying appearance, there are also good trolls, but they are all so naive and stupid that even village boys. , could easily outwit them.
All trolls live inside the mountains, or nearby, in caves where they hide their countless treasures; they come out only at night, waiting for unlucky travelers under the bridge. They feed on meat, kidnapping livestock and people. Most of them live to be a hundred years old, but sunlight is destructive to them, and in the morning, if the troll does not reach the shelter, he will die, turning to stone.
And there are absolutely terrible stories. Trolls are cold creatures, and only the warmth of human blood can warm them. But trolls do not always kill and eat their victims. They could grab and drag a woman into their cave to turn her into a slave, forever buried in the darkness and dampness of an underground lair. She could also become a troll's wife. She was smeared with a disgusting ointment, her skin became rough, covered with blisters and fur, her face changed, and she became as ugly as her husband.
But there is also a way to deal with trolls. Only if you ask the troll a riddle will he have to solve it. Only if he cannot solve it will he die, but if he solves it, he will answer with his own question and this will continue until someone loses. In such a situation, you need to try to keep the troll busy with riddles until dawn, because with the first rays of the sun the troll will immediately turn into stone and this will be your salvation, otherwise he will tear you apart.
Troll wall. The highest vertical and overhanging rock wall in Europe with a height of 1000 meters. Eldorado for selected climbers, both in summer and winter, with the most difficult climbing routes in the world. Here are the origins of mountaineering in Scandinavia. This amazing place is located on the west coast of Norway, in the Ramsdal area. According to legend, the trolls who once lived in these parts were turned into intricately rugged cliffs of strange shapes. Since then, the troll wall, replete with difficult, unclimbed routes, has attracted climbers from all over the world. There is also a troll church there.
Previously, trolls ate people, but now they play dirty tricks on little things - they steal keys or puncture a tire. But in Norway they are used to them, and no one is offended. Moreover, everyone has their own little troll at home, which helps deal with the “Evil Spirit”, for example, with the tax inspector. Even in our modern world, Norwegians respect trolls, because no one knows in advance where and when you will meet them.
Painting by artist John Baer
The troll is perhaps the most common character in Scandinavian mythology. There are so many films, legends, myths, songs about them, from funny to tragic. Like the famous ballad Herr Margenling. These magical creatures inhabited forests and mountains, and were part of the worldview of people of ancient times. And for a reason.
At the time when legends about trolls and other creatures took shape in Norwegian folklore, Scandinavia was almost uninhabited. There are a few settlements near the sea, a handful near large rivers. And among the incredibly high mountains and dense forests, there are only farmsteads for several tens of kilometers at best. The forest was wild and inhospitable to humans. And at the same time he kept wealth within himself: wood, herds of ungulates, precious metals in earth and stone. Is this why trolls are often treasure keeper?
The troll is tall. It can be as tall as a tree, or as big as a mountain. Often, popular fantasy attributed the appearance of the huge chasms with which Scandinavia is dotted to the activity of trolls or giants. Legends have been preserved that describe troll quarrels in which they beat their fists on the mountains. This is how lakes appeared. There is a Norwegian legend about Rhys Longshanks. One day he was asked if he could cross a very deep lake. He began to boast: “I won’t even wet my pants!” But the water reached his armpits. Then he stood with one foot on one bank, the other on the other, to dry himself. He was so tall.
John Baer
The trolls were not particularly beautiful. Their image is often attributed to being tall like a mountain, with a potato or crochet nose, large hands and wide feet. The skin is gray or green, hard as stone. As myths claimed, Trolls could not stand sunlight. Therefore, she wandered mainly at night. The Scandinavian trolls had different personalities. Some legends describe their stupidity, others their ferocity and gluttony. But a troll can become human. So in the famous ballad Herr Margenling, the troll begs the man she loves to kiss him. In that case, she would become an ordinary woman.
In Norwegian fairy tales, all giants are called trolls. This is a common word for all evil spirits. “I met a troll in the forest,” that is, anything strange and mysterious. The Norwegian word meaning “magic, witchcraft” is trollskap, which has the root “troll”.
Theodor Kittelson. The troll who wondered how old he was
Trolls roam their lands at night. But there are tales in which they do not live in the forest, or near the mountain, in the magical castle of Soria Moria. Sometimes "east of the sun, west of the moon."
There are some stories that claim that the troll is easy to meet in the Dovre forests. These are deserted, wild forests where people do not live. But this is the place for wonderful creatures. In people's minds they have become a place of great danger and evil. There is a legend that once upon a time Harald Fairhair, the future king of all Norway in the ninth century, freed the troll Dovre. He was from exactly those places. Then, in gratitude, the troll allowed Harald to live with him for five years. There the king learned a lot, a variety of tricks and arts. Which allowed him to later become a unifier of lands.
Troll from the series "Metalocalypse". Lake Troll Series
At the end of the 19th century, tales of trolls were almost forgotten. Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelson put a lot of work into bringing lost legends back to life. He walked around villages and towns, recording the stories of fishermen, dressmakers, lumberjacks and many other people. The artist created many paintings with trolls in a variety of situations. And he wrote fairy tales, from the words of ordinary people and those composed by himself.
Next, trolls appeared in the pages of JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. So trolls were initially stupid and clumsy. But the magician Sauron used them, teaching them the little they could understand. And developed their ability to think using spells. So the trolls began to speak the orc language, and in the Western lands a greatly simplified Common language. But then a special breed appeared, the Uruk-hai, capable of withstanding sunlight. Of course, this was the work of Sauron.
The Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen in his book for his Dovre grandfather gives the name from those same Dovre mountains. He is the hero of the poetic drama "Peer Gynt".
And it’s not worth talking about computer games. Trolls are frequent characters there. Many films have been and will be made in which the troll will be either a comical or an evil character. This image from Scandinavian mythology has long passed into popular culture, finding its place in it.
The term “trolling” comes from the slang of participants in virtual communities and is not directly related to the sphere of scientific discourse. Literally translated into English. trolling means “catching fish with a lure.” In its most general form, this phenomenon is characterized as the process of posting provocative messages on virtual communication resources with the aim of escalating a conflict situation by violating the rules of the ethical code of Internet interaction. The purpose of such actions can be waves of edits (post-moderation of messages, topics, news) - flames (from the English flame - “flame, fire”), or aimless confrontation - “holivars” (from the English holy war - “holy war” ).
In relation to the user engaged in trolling, the designation “troll” has been established. According to Irina Ksenofontova, an employee of the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this word gained popularity because of its other meaning - “trolls” as creatures mentioned in Scandinavian mythology. The mythological creatures trolls, especially in children's stories, are portrayed as ugly, nasty creatures designed to cause harm and do evil.
The Oxford English Dictionary first mentioned trolling in connection with the Internet in 1992, citing two versions of its origin: mythological and fishing.
Ancient tales, legends and myths introduce the reader to all sorts of spirits and strange creatures. Our ancestors believed in their existence unconditionally. These are mermaids, and elves, and gnomes. If all these spirits are familiar to most, then some of these creatures can be called quite rare. For example, who are trolls? These are one of the strangest mythical creatures, known to us mainly only from Scandinavian, British and German legends.
Description of creatures and place of residence
Trolls are mountain spirits, most of them huge in stature, hostile to people. According to legend, they once rebelled against the supreme god Thor, were defeated, and have since lived in the mountains and caves, gradually degenerating. For Norwegians, for example, the question of who trolls are does not exist. These creatures can almost be considered the national symbol of this country. Trolls are everywhere here. They lie in wait for unwary travelers in the mountains, live in the basements of palaces and castles, and at night hide from sunlight in caves. Norwegian trolls, like everyone else, are very afraid of sunlight. Therefore, they hunt only at night. Any unwary troll who did not have time to hide in the cave turns into stone with the first ray of sunlight. Therefore, tourists visiting Norway are highly discouraged from taking any minerals with them as a souvenir from this country. Any stone lying on the road may turn out to be a troll, which at night, having returned to its original appearance, will certainly harm the person who tore it out of its usual environment.
Where else can you meet a troll?
According to Norwegians, the only country where these mythical creatures live is Norway. Trolls, according to their stories, sometimes wade across the sea to look at Denmark, but always return back. After all, Norway is their homeland and home. Some residents of this northern country even believe that one of the trolls lives right in the capital, in the basement of one of the ancient buildings. However, both the British and the Germans know who the trolls are. In the north of England you can see three huge rocks, which, according to legend, are considered petrified trolls. Judging by the legends, these creatures can be not only huge (5–8 m tall), but also small, like gnomes. There are also individuals of normal human size. Therefore, if you meet a strange person in the mountains, you should definitely pay attention to whether his tail is sticking out from under his cloak.
How to behave when meeting a troll
Trolls are creatures that are in no way related to vegetarians. They love meat very much. And sometimes they don’t mind eating a human. Therefore, when you meet a troll, you need to run away from him without looking back. Moreover, if such an “acquaintance” occurred on arable land, then across the furrows so that the traces form a cross with them. Sometimes it is also advised to ask the troll a riddle. If he does not solve it, then he will let the traveler go. Otherwise, he will offer him his own. Anyone who doesn’t figure it out will immediately be torn to pieces.
So, you probably now understand who trolls are. Of all the variety of mythical creatures, these are perhaps the most bloodthirsty and dangerous. In addition, they do not shine with special intelligence and are unusually ugly in appearance. A large nose, for example, is a fundamental characteristic of all trolls, no matter how big or small they are.
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“In old German and Baltic myths, trolls are strong and ugly giants who live and store their treasures in the mountains. According to legend, trolls were sometimes even extremely hostile towards people and their potential enemies, the Jotuns, however, people are saved only by what many claim: trolls are extremely stupid." "Nordic monsters living in the dark, active only underground and at night, in in the rays of the sun they burst like tomatoes or turn into stone. They were given birth to by the Jotuns, the gloomy giants of the dark Jotunheim. Trolls hate people and there is no better delicacy for them than human flesh. Fortunately, they are so stupid that even a village simpleton can save his life by deceiving a troll. Tolkien first mentioned trolls in 1937, when he published The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. The professor used these monsters for comic effect. The trolls had normal names: Tom, Bert and Bill Huggins, were frankly stupid, spoke Cockney (barbaric slang of one of the districts of London), constantly drank and ate everything that came to hand. Once exposed to sunlight, they turned into stone, which Gandalf did not fail to take advantage of - the wizard forced the stubborn trolls to argue with each other until morning came.”
Trolls of Middle-earth are “evil creatures bred by Morgoth in the First Age of Middle-earth, perhaps in imitation of the Ents and in mockery of them. The trolls were distinguished by their enormous height and strength, and they were also ugly and extremely slow in thinking. Their skin was thick and rough, their blood was black; any troll, except Ologhai, turned to stone in the sunlight. They ate raw meat, killed for fun, and collected stolen goods in their lairs. As follows from the Scarlet Book, it was in the troll cave that the Orcrist and Glamd-ring blades were found. Trolls are presented quite interestingly in Terry Pratchett’s series of books about the Discworld. The organisms of the Discworld trolls are based on silicon, unlike conventional life forms, which are based on carbon.
These trolls have great physical strength and endurance. Traditionally, trolls are considered stupid creatures. The brain activity of trolls directly depends on the temperature of their environment - the warmer it is, the worse they think. The slowdown in the thought process is due to overheating of their silicone brains. When sufficiently cooled, trolls display amazing intelligence and extraordinary mathematical abilities. There is a widespread belief that trolls turn into stone in daylight, which is not true, since trolls are already stone at any time of the day. However, many trolls have brains with such a low thermal tolerance threshold that even the slightest heating effect from morning sunlight causes them to shut down.
The conception and birth of children among trolls involves the same processes as in other humanoid races. But trolls are an unusually long-lived race. Usually they do not die on their own, but die a violent death. Over time, trolls increase in size and become very slow. They practically stop moving and reacting to stimuli as their thought process also slows down tremendously. Gradually, it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish them from ordinary, lifeless stone, and such trolls become victims of gnomes - miners of minerals. It is possible that this is precisely the reason for the ancient enmity between these two races of the Disc. All trolls have diamond teeth, which also attracts numerous treasure hunters. There is a hypothesis that many of the hills and rocks of the Ovtsepik Mountains are ancient petrified trolls.
Contrary to the legends of our world and the world of the Witcher, which say that trolls are creatures born from the earth, and their body is a rock, and that trolls hate sunlight, which kills them, turning them into motionless stones, in reality it is Mr. Sapkowski’s business will arrange it much more prosaically, but at the same time much more interesting. Trolls are living creatures and they prefer day to night, because they are so clumsy that they stumble over stones in the dark, breaking their faces and spilling their drinks. Their skin is indeed hard as stone, but underneath it lies muscles and a heart that pumps blood. And since trolls bleed, they can be killed. Trolls are primitive, this is true, but they are intelligent creatures. They can speak humanly, although not very well. Trolls live in pairs, coming together once and for all their lives, and contrary to what evil tongues say, feelings are not alien to them (even if trolls express them in a somewhat unceremonious manner). All trolls have a weakness for construction and alcohol. Often they combine both passions, building bridges and drinking away the money collected to pay for the passage. This is where the expressions “straight as a troll’s bridge” came from when something is very crooked, and “troll smoke break” when workers take their next break.
The concept of the games in the Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) series “deviated significantly from the fairytale troll canons, presenting us with a completely new creature with the letter “t” - a skinny humanoid of two meters in height (women are slightly taller - due to the stoop of males) with green or gray skin, with a large nose and long arms.” Despite their caricatured appearance, the trolls of the games show remarkable dexterity and strength. In addition, “these creatures have absolutely no fear of death and go straight into battle, but they are afraid of fire and can be stopped, for example, by a chain of fires. Their ability to regenerate is legendary - any severed limb grows back in a maximum of 18 minutes. Trolls also see well in the dark, have an excellent sense of smell, and love to feast on the meat of unwary travelers.
Norwegian digital artist and animator Ivar Rodningen uses the theme of the Norwegian folk epic, namely images of trolls, in his work. A talented romantic...
Trolls can easily be called the most famous character in Scandinavian folklore, primarily fairy tales and ballads.
Who are trolls? A troll is a troll. He is big and ugly in appearance. Sometimes, like people, he has one head, but sometimes he has three, nine or even twelve. He is unusually strong, but terribly stupid. And he is very easy to deceive.
Trolls live mainly in the mountains and forests of Norway, although they are also found in Sweden, but they are never in Denmark. As the classic of Norwegian literature Bjornstjerne Bjornsson wrote, “trolls do not get along in Denmark. It happens, of course, from time to time that some troll wades across the sea and looks around at the treeless, sunlit Danish lands. But he shakes his many heads - and again fords the sea, boiling with foam under his heavy steps. He returns to Norway because it is his homeland."
There are trolls in Iceland too. They are called tertles. These giants are relatives of Norwegian and Swedish trolls. Tretls are ugly and stupid, greedy and vindictive, usually causing a lot of trouble to people (for example, stealing livestock), but are loyal to those who do them a favor. They live alone in the mountains. An iron club or knife is almost never released from its paws. They cannot stand the ringing of bells and will never touch a person who goes to the mountains immediately after church communion. Like trolls, with the onset of day or when a ray of sun hits them, they turn into stone.
The wives of Icelandic trolls are called skess. They are stupid and vindictive, but they love their troll children very much. Skess often kidnap handsome men, dragging them into the mountains, or marry them. Norwegian trolls also have wives, but they are called gyugrs.
In general, stealing a handsome prince or princess and dragging him up a mountain is a favorite pastime of trolls in fairy tales.
All trolls look different. Some are as tall as mountains, others are no taller than a person. The troll's head often looks like a tree stump. Their noses are ugly, very large and covered in warts. The mouths are wide, up to the ears, with yellow fangs. The eyes are small and squinted. Some trolls have only one eye, and it is located in the middle of the forehead. Grass, heather and even trees grow on the head.
All trolls have a tail. The tail is generally a distinctive feature of the Scandinavian undead. The beautiful Huldra, the Norwegian mountain witch, also has a cow's tail. Not a single guy can resist the power of the huldra's spell. Huldras often give birth to children from earthly men. Huldras can help people, and then their advice, like the advice of fairies, must be obeyed unquestioningly, or harm mortals. They often steal food that they forgot to cross. They appear invisible in the estate because they have an invisibility cap.
Mountain dwellers are very cunning and unscrupulous, but they behave worst of all in the summer, when people drive their cattle to summer pastures - setters. Then comes a real holiday for the huldras and trolls. Girls who stay on the setter think most of all about the guys and forget to cross milk, cream and other food, and then the trolls can take whatever they want. And it happens that you even manage to see them. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Sometimes huldras and trolls live in people's houses in the mountains all winter.
Mountain dwellers usually do not start quarrels with people first, unless they become too annoying. But when they get angry, they can turn a person into anyone they want. The troll himself can turn into a prince, a goat, a black dog, a bear, or even just a tree.
Trolls love to play evil tricks on people. At night they come out of their mountains to the ground and begin to scare people. They can grab a horse by the bridle and start leading it around in a clearing. No matter how hard a person tries to turn his horse, nothing works. There is only one way to overcome the evil force - to look through the collar to see which of the mountain inhabitants has come out into our world and is playing such evil jokes on you. As soon as you see the troll through the collar, the evil spirits will immediately retreat from you.
Often trolls drag people up to their mountains. To rescue a person from the mountain, you need to ring the bells. Trolls are very afraid of the ringing of church bells and objects made of steel.
Of those who were captured by the trolls, some stayed with them for a few minutes, others for a long time, and still others remained with the mountain dwellers forever. The trolls forced their captives, men and women alike, to perform the most menial tasks.
Trolls love to give husbands whose wives have been kidnapped live dolls that are exactly like their wives. These changelings soon become sick and die, and their husbands bury them without recognizing the changeling. In such cases, abducted women no longer have any hope of salvation.
Unfortunately, people who escape from the mountain often cannot recover from the severe shock and lose their minds.
As already mentioned, trolls quite easily change their appearance; they can shrink or increase in size and take on the appearance of another person. It costs them nothing to turn a beautiful girl into a groom at a wedding and kidnap the bride. If the bride notices a substitution, she should ask someone to throw any steel object on the floor or shoot a couple of times near the house. This should drive the troll away.
Sometimes it is not the trolls who drag people up the mountain, but the people themselves who marry someone from the troll tribe.
Often trolls steal children from people and substitute their own troll children - changelings - in their place. Most often this happens at Christmas. Turning into a cat, the troll enters the house and replaces the human child with his own troll cub. Shiny steel objects, a hymnal, or even just garlic can prevent a troll from entering the house.
Substitution is not so easy. Only over time do parents begin to realize that their child has been replaced. The baby troll doesn't grow at all, its head just gets bigger. But he eats for seven. Changelings typically have small squinting eyes, dark skin, and furry ears.
To get rid of the troll, you need to force him to reveal his origin. Here mothers resort to various tricks. One mother, for example, began to cook porridge in eggshells. The changeling, in amazement, forgot about everything in the world, jumped off the bed and shouted: “I’ve been living in the world for a long time, but I’ve never seen porridge cooked in eggshells!” Then he realized that he had given himself away and ran away into the mountains.
Usually there is one troll in each mountain. But not everyone lives alone; some also live in families. The Dovre Mountains, where Peer Gynt went to fight the trolls, are famous for the fact that many troll families live in them. Everyone knows that no other mountain in Scandinavia is home to as many trolls as Dovre.
In the Dovr mountains there also lives a large troll - the Dovr Grandfather, who got his name in honor of the giant Dovr, whom King Harald Fairhair saved from captivity. He lives in a mountain called Snowcap, which is the highest mountain in Norway. His brother lives in the next mountain, and two peaks away lives their old uncle. It is in the kingdom of the Dovre grandfather that Peer Gynt finds himself in Henrik Ibsen's play.
No one knows how long trolls live, we only know that it is a very long time. Before the eyes of a young troll, an oak forest can grow and die three times, and before the eyes of an old troll, seven times.
Trolls should not appear in the sun, because the first ray of sunlight will turn them to stone.
Where did trolls come from? They come from the Jotuns, or giants, who lived on earth long before people. This is how it is told in Scandinavian legends.
Long before the earth was created, Niflhel, the kingdom of darkness and cold, already existed. In the middle of it was the Boiling Cauldron spring. In the south lay Muspellsheim - a kingdom of light and heat, surrounded by flames, inaccessible to anyone; the black giant Surtr, armed with a fiery sword, defended the entrance to it. Nilfhel was separated from Muspellsheim by the terrible World Abyss Ginnungagap; Twelve noisy streams rushed into the abyss from the spring of Hvergelmir, and as these streams moved away from their source, they cooled, and their poisonous water gradually turned into ice, and the poison came out as dew and turned into frost.
When the ice finally accumulated so much that he could no longer move, it filled the entire abyss between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness and cold. Fog accumulated above the piles of ice and, freezing, also turned into ice, piling up layer by layer over the abyss. At the northern end, this abyss was completely covered with snow and ice, and blizzards, storms and bad weather reigned there; at the southern end, facing Muspellsheim, it was light from the sparks that flew there from this hot kingdom.
Sparks fell on the snow and frost: the snow and frost melted, turned into drops, which, coming to life, united and finally took on the image of the giant Ymir. Together with Ymir, the cow Audumla emerged from the frost, and it was she who fed Ymir with her milk.
The world arose from the parts of Ymir's body. From legs and teeth - mountains, from flesh - land, from blood - seas and lakes, and from hair - forests.
Ymir and other giants lived in Etunheim, or the Land of Giants,
Giants personified evil, while gods were the embodiment of good. That's where the trolls came from.
“Troll” is a very ancient word, found in all Germanic languages. In the “northern” languages, the word meant a mythological giant. Both in pagan times and in the times of early Christianity, trolls were considered the main opponents of man, very dangerous and possessing enormous witchcraft powers. After the adoption of Christianity in Scandinavia, trolls began to be considered devilish helpers. Kings Olav Trygvasson and Saint Olav fought with the trolls, as is narrated in ancient northern legends, including sagas.
Gradually, trolls moved from myths and legends into fairy tales and ballads.
The most common in Scandinavia are knightly ballads, which talk about a conventional hero-knight, and magic ballads, or fairy tales, associated with a fairy tale. The boundary between these two types of ballads is rather vague, because their heroes inevitably encounter supernatural creatures - most often elves and trolls. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, ballads were very common, the plot of which was based on the abduction of maidens by a troll.
But trolls appear not only in fairy-tale ballads, they are also found in historical ballads, that is, in ballads that deal with historical characters, trolls are often mentioned. In Denmark, for example, this is a ballad about the struggle of St. Olav with the trolls in Hornelummer.
Fairy-tale ballads are undoubtedly genetically related to epics and fairy tales. As a rule, they have a romantic plot and a tragic ending. Ballads in which trolls appear are characterized by such fairy-tale plot types as “The Bride Kidnapping”, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, “The Enchanted Groom”.
Collecting folklore works in Scandinavia, as well as throughout the world, began only in the 19th century. The most famous collectors of fairy tales in Scandinavia were the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812 - 1885) and Jørgen Moo (1813 -1882), often called the Norwegian Brothers Grimm, and the Swede Gunnar Olof Hulten-Kavallius (1818 - 1889). It is on their collections that many works of Scandinavian writers are based.
The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875) is famous all over the world. It is to him that the honor of creating a literary and author's fairy tale belongs. During his lifetime he was called the king of fairy tales.
Andersen in the period 1835 to 1852. published four collections of fairy tales - "Fairy Tales for Girls", "New Fairy Tales", "Stories", "New Fairy Tales and Stories". Each of these collections represents a complete and indestructible whole. In total, Andersen wrote 156 fairy tales. Andersen himself was terribly unhappy that he was considered a purely children's writer, since he considered his fairy tales addressed to readers of all ages.
Andersen's fairy-tale creativity is conventionally divided into two periods: the early stage - 1830 - 1840s, when the writer mainly processed folk tales, and the stage of more mature creativity - 1840 - 1870s - when fairy tales were created based on his own invented stories. Andersen's fairy tales - actually his fairy tales - are much longer than fairy tales based on folk tales, and have their own creative history. All of the writer’s original fairy tales - unlike folk tales, which exist in a great variety of variants - are “stable”, unchangeable.
In Russia, unfortunately, Andersen’s fairy tale “Elf Hill”, in which trolls, elves and other evil spirits are the main characters, is poorly known. This fairy tale was written in 1845 and is a purely author’s fairy tale, in which real personalities are hidden under the guise of folklore characters. Thus, under the guise of “an old troll, a true Norwegian,” the Norwegian Matthias Boey, who married the stepdaughter of Jonas Collin, Andersen’s friend, was brought out. The sons of Boya become the prototypes of the young trolls.
Trolls also appear in other Andersen fairy tales - for example, in “The Snow Queen,” which was first called “The Troll’s Mirror.” In this fairy tale, the image of a troll is interpreted by Andersen as an image of the devil: “Once upon a time there was a troll, angry and despising, that was the devil himself.”
It is in the role of seducing demons, personifying human vices, that trolls appear in the drama of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
Peer Gynt is a historical figure who lived in the Gudbrandsdaleren valley in the 18th century. He is the hero of a fairy tale from the collection of Asbjornsen and Mu, which is based on the plot of how a brave and clever peasant boy fools stupid trolls
Very interesting is the invented and long-indecipherable character of the drama, known in the Russian translation under the name “Great Crooked”. This is a symbol of “dullness” and the cowardly “sideways path” of Peer Gynt. The curve represents, as it were, Gynt himself “inside out.” For a very long time, researchers could not decipher the word “boygen”, which Ibsen used to name his character in the original text. One of the famous Norwegian illustrators of the 19th century, Theodor Kittelsen, made several drawings for the drama. He depicted the Great Curve as a fog enveloping Peer Gynt, a kind of frost giant who has no solid body. Nevertheless, although Kittelsen's premise was correct - there really is a troll hiding under the Great Curve in the play, but not quite an ordinary one - this is a dragon troll, genetically related to the World Serpent, one of the children of the giantess Angrboda and the god Loki. The word “boygen” itself is dialectal and means “to encircle.” As is known from northern mythology, the World Serpent was thrown by the Aesir into the deep sea, and there it grew to such a size that it now lies tightly wrapped around the earth, gnawing its tail.
The most famous modern trolls are, without a doubt, the Moomins, created by the Finnish writer Tove Jansson (1914 - 2001), who wrote in Swedish. It was she who created this world-famous image - like a hippopotamus with kind eyes and a tiny tail, Moomintroll, who lives with his parents in a blue house in Moominvalley. Moomintrolls do not harm anyone and always welcome new guests. In winter, the Moomins hibernate, filling their stomachs with fir needles. Moomintroll meets his ancestor - a real troll - in the story "The Magic Winter".
Of the books about trolls published in Scandinavia in the last decade, the books by the Norwegian writer Fried Ingulstad should be noted. These are her tales about the troll and the Nisse family and the large book "Trolls", which are, in fact, a real encyclopedia on folklore, addressed to children and their parents. In the Troll Encyclopedia, chiVV readers will find a complete set of rules and information about these magical creatures - from the history of their birth to recipes for preparing their favorite dishes and - just as important - they will learn what to do if you meet a troll in the forest.
Fans of fantasy books and films have long known about such mythological characters as trolls. You can meet them in a variety of works, both modern and written half a century ago. But some readers and viewers who have only recently begun to be interested in this topic would be interested to know where the trolls live. We will try to answer this question as fully as possible.
First, let's tell you who trolls are. These are huge, extremely dangerous and completely unfriendly creatures towards humans. According to legends, they have a height of 2 to 8 meters. However, some of them, those who have magical powers, can shrink while trying to blend into the crowd. But they are always given away by another distinctive feature - a disproportionately large nose, which for some reason they cannot disguise.
According to some legends, they are created from stone or were simply generated by rocks - in any case, they are directly related to inorganics. They live in dungeons, where sometimes entire castles are built. They come to the surface only at night - usually to kidnap a bull, a ram, or even a person. Yes, they do not disdain cannibalism.
Most often they are afraid of the sun. If its rays illuminate the trolls, they will turn back into the stone from which they were born. In Great Britain there are even several huge rocks of unusual shape, which locals say are former trolls who did not manage to get to safety before dawn.
However, the cartoon, which was recently released, shows trolls from a completely different side. They differ in size from relatives of giants - they are very tiny. In addition, these creatures are quite cute, enjoy life and try not to quarrel with anyone. Their world is shown to be amazingly beautiful and bright. As a result, many young viewers became interested in finding out where the trolls from the cartoon "Trolls" lived.
It was precisely because they were literally beaming with happiness that the poor fellows had serious problems. Evil and disgusting bergens catch them and eat them to feel happiness. Therefore, the place where the trolls live is kept secret in the cartoon - their village is hidden from the eyes of people and other creatures that could disrupt the harmony they enjoy.
But still, classic trolls have a very distant relation to those shown in the cartoon. Moreover, they differ not only in their large size and bad character. If you're wondering where trolls live, the answer is definitely not a sunny, beautiful village. After all, Scandinavia was and remains their homeland. Harsh lands, whose inhabitants terrified almost all European countries.
And the name itself comes from the Swedish Troll - “witchcraft”. Therefore, the magical origin of these villains is undoubtedly. But what’s interesting is that despite the similarity of cultures, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish trolls are very different from each other.
For example, the Norwegians tell legends about monsters that had two, seven, nine and even more heads. By the way, this is where the trolls left the most “evidence” of their activities. Many toponyms are somehow connected with them. The most famous are Trollvey (troll road), Trollbotn (troll gorge) and Trollvann (troll lake). The first was supposedly built by these stone giants in order to easily get to the right places. And the gorge and lake simply had a bad reputation - it was believed that a person who decided to visit them might not return because of the evil trolls.
Only Swedish legends say that there are trolls of both sexes. Here you can also hear legends about the abduction of human people and the replacement of monsters with cubs. Therefore, many mothers in areas where trolls lived necessarily used special amulets. They reliably protected babies from abduction in the first days of life.
Most legends answer the question quite clearly about where the trolls lived: underground. In huge caves, where there is plenty of space to store stolen goods, and you can also safely hide from sunlight.
But there are also exceptions. In Scandinavia, trolls living under the bridge are classified as a special subspecies. They are smaller in size (imagine a bridge under which an 8-meter giant lives comfortably), are not afraid of the sun, and also do not stoop to cannibalism. Sometimes they even build stone bridges across rivers, under which they themselves live. True, more often they simply seize them immediately after construction, and then demand a fee from everyone who wants to use the structure.
Are you wondering if there is a place in the world where trolls live - a country or a city? Surprisingly, yes! Icelanders, who are descendants of people from Scandinavia, have preserved the traditions of their ancestors. They seriously believe that trolls exist and can be useful and harmful. Several years ago, they achieved a ban on the construction of a large state road, since it passed through places where, in their opinion, trolls live. In order not to disturb their neighbors, whose anger could fall on local residents, a petition was drawn up and signed by thousands of people.
Often they even leave treats for these amazing creatures, and sometimes build bright houses. Perhaps the Icelandic trolls are most similar to those shown in the cartoon that sharply increased their popularity. And brought fame all over the world.
Now you know where trolls live, and you can also easily distinguish a Norwegian troll from a Swedish one, and even more so from an Icelandic one. Even if it is impossible to meet them today, such knowledge still makes the world around us brighter, more interesting and richer.
