trolls in folklore

8/10/2019 Trolls in Folklore

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How Historical Land Disputes May Have Inspired Land Disputes In Folklore With Trolls as Characters

Trolls are a mainstay of Scandinavian folklore in many folk tales of the re!ion they are

commonly anta!onists" and they have stuck with us# Trolls have inte!rated themselves into the $n!lish

lan!ua!e and are never far away even in modern times% from children toys" to modern Internet&$n!lish

where 'ein! a troll means 'ein! a mean&spirited poster who is seekin! to stir up trou'le()undarsson

*+,# The memora'le tales in which these creatures have caused trou'le in the human world are perhaps

the reason the -word. troll has traversed the lan!ua!e 'arrier and has come in prevalent use in modern

$n!lish# The world in which these fairy tales developed" was a violent world where strife was never far

away due to feuds over land# It is not too far of a stretch then" to think that folktales featurin! trolls

disputin! land ownership with people may have 'een created in an effort to e/plain the nature of these

often violent land disputes or perhaps to make li!ht of" and demoni0e the trans!ressors of these

disputes# Interestin!ly trolls often seem to 'rin! trou'le" to people" due to land ownership disputes" as

depicted in Boots Who Ate a Match With the Troll, Trolls Scared a Fisherman, and The Three Billy

Goats Gruffthese stories may plausi'ly draw inspiration from historical events#

Land ownership was often disputed in Scandinavia durin! the vikin! era and later on after the

christian conversion# Durin! these times it was not uncommon for 'lood&feuds and murders to take

place over forests" lakes" or !ra0in! land# Such 'lood&feuds were a way for people to take the law into

their own hands(Lindow +,# These events would have likely carried over into folk lore# 1ccordin! to

the article Trolls of Scandinavia -Trolls lived 2ust a'out everywhere in the Scandinavian Countries#

They 'elieved that they owned the lakes" fields" forests" and 'rid!es where they lived# This always

caused a !reat deal of misunderstandin!"as the farmers and townsfolk also 'elieved that they owned

these places#.

In Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, there is a le!end called Ho to Scare !ff a "oacher #

In this story there is a lake 'etween Sel2ord and Sandland# While the lake 'elon!s to the people of


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Sandland" a man from Sel2ord fishes there in the sprin! and autumn every year# Two men" from

Sandland with ownership of the land" in this tale have had enou!h of the mans poachin! positionin!

themselves on different hills they shout 'ack and fourth how they want to eat the poacher" after cookin!

him in a !iant kettle# This story could 'e a possi'le source in spawnin! the creation of the tale" TrollsScared a Fisherman#

In the story Trolls Scared a Fisherman a man !oes to fish at a lake in his lands every sprin! and

autumn however" the trolls also 'elieved the lake to their possession# 3ecause of their 'elief in

ownership of the lake" they decided to scare off the fisherman" -I want to cook 4on Lon!&3one" who

fishes on our lake every autumn and sprin!#.(5videland 678, was shouted from across the valley to the

other troll promptly scarin! the man from the lake" leavin! the land to the trolls#

It is not always the case that the trolls win the land dispute# It is pro'a'ly safer to say that more

often than not in the folklore it is" not surprisin!ly" the humans that win the disputes# In the story Boots

Who Ate a Match With the Troll, it is the human farmers who eventually win the dispute over the

woods# In the story a farmer 'elieves he owns the woods on his land" while conversely" the troll also

'elieves that he owns the woods# The Farmer sends his sons out to hew down the tim'ers" which results

in his first two sons 'ein! eaten" or in some versions scared off 'y the troll" who followin! all criteria

of classic troll 'ehavior says" 9Hey" you# This is my forest# :o choppin! in my forest# I;m !onna eat

you up#9 This ultimately results in the youn!est son defeatin! the troll" which results in the trolls death

ultimately settlin! the dispute# This story may have a link to actual events" In 4esse 3yock;s 'ook Feud#

in the $clandic Sagas he states" -The cuttin! of trees in %&'nfir(inga Sagais an act in a series of

disputes which causes )eitir to kill 3odd&Hel!i.(3yock erhaps one of the most famous cases of a trolls ownin! land" or 'elievin! they do" is The Three


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Billy Goats Gruff # 1lmost everyone is familiar with this classic :orwe!ian folk tale in which it is ?uite

clear the troll 'elieves himself to own the 'rid!e# From the collection of folk lore The )orth*land Tales

the troll clearly states as much -Who is that trippin! over my 'rid!e.(@A,# 1ccordin! to SuraLune Fairy

Tales" -While the most common usa!e of the word trip means to stum'le or misstep" in this instancetrip takes on the less common definition of 9a li!ht or nim'le tread#9. (which leads to the interestin!

thou!ht that it could 'e )ruff 'rothers who could 'e trespassin! and are the anta!onists, The troll may

well own the 'rid!e in this story" and the !oats are trespassin!" or the troll was simply a s?uatter

underneath someone;s 'rid!e and the )ruff 'rothers had the ri!ht to 'e there# In either case" the !oats

wish to cross" and the troll wishes to eat them# In the end" whether 3i! 3illy )oat )ruff had le!itimate

ri!hts to cross the 'rid!e or if he was trespassin!" it does not really matter as he kills the troll in the

end" thus resolvin! the dispute#

Where the Scandinavian people went" so to did their land disputes" includin! those with the

supernatural# $ven in modern times" Icelandic people still seem to 'e contest with folkloric creatures

a'out whether they own the land" or as in this case" instead of trolls" elves do# In the article +lves in

Modern $celand "

The trou'le started last month when the 'ulldo0ers kept 'reakin! down durin! work on a new

road# The mysterious accidents in front of one particular stone 'rou!ht work to a standstill at the

construction site at L2arsko!ar# The contractors solved the pro'lem in an unorthodo/ way 'ut one

which is fairly common on Iceland# They accepted an offer from a medium to find out if the land was

populated 'y elves and" if so" were they causin! the disruptions#

This !ives rise to the ?uestion" e/actly how lon! do folk 'eliefs stay in cultural memoryB It is

curious" that a scientifically advanced western nation has a stron! enou!h 'elief in elements of folklore

to have the head of Icelandic infrastructure issue a halt on road work due to superstitions and folk

'elief#


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However" as unlikely it is that elves are the cause of road construction delays in Iceland" it does

provide an interestin! insi!ht on how these folk tales featurin! land disputes could develop this" alon!

with a lon! history of actual feuds over land and resources in Scandinavia" may 'e the cause for the

creation of these fairy tales# These tales provide and interestin! insi!ht into the folk 'elief and historyof a land" which possessed scarce resources" causin! many feuds over land in the time when the tales

likely ori!inated#

Works Cited

9The $atin! Contest#9 Boots Who Ate a Match With the Troll # 4ennin!s and >onder" n#d# We'# +8 :ov#

*7+6#

1s'2ornsson" and 4or!en Moe# 9The Three 3illy )oats )ruff#9 Scandinavian Folktales# :#p#% Trwheeler"

n#d# @A&@rint#

Heinner" Hiede 1# 9SurLaLune Fairy Tales% 1nnotations for Three 3illy )oats )ruff#9 SurLaLune Fairy

Tales# Annotations for Three Billy Goats Gruff # Suralune Fairy Tales" Dec# *7+*# We'# +8 :ov#
http://trwheeler.com/http://trwheeler.com/


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*7+6#

5videland" eimund# 9Trolls and )iants#9 Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend # Minneapolis% niv# of

Minnesota" +=@@# 678&7A# >rint#

Soderlind" olf# 9Trolls in Modern Iceland#9 $smennt-is# euter ariety" n#d# We'# +8 :ov# *7+6#

9The Trolls of Scandinavia#9 Troll Mother # Troll Mother" *77@# We'# +8 :ov# *7+6#

Lindow" 4ohn# 93loodfeud and Scandinavian Mytholo!y#9 .lvissmal # W3& erla! FGr

Wissenschaft nd 3ildun!" A :ov# *77=# We'# +@ :ov# *7+6#

trolls in folklore

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