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<title>TrollMoon RSS Feed</title><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/index.html</link><description>Troll News</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 1998 - 2007 John Botofte</dc:rights><dc:date>2011-01-20T20:30:53+01:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:51:34 +0100</lastBuildDate><item><title>Trolls and Christmas</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Trolls</category><category> Folklore</category><dc:date>2011-01-20T20:30:53+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/trolls_and_christmas.html#unique-entry-id-64</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/trolls_and_christmas.html#unique-entry-id-64</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Christmas (or Yule) in old Scandinavia was a magical night, a night when late ancestors and the supernaturals were particularly active, you could hear them move around in the dark around the house, sometimes even sneaking in to steal the bountiful supplies of Christmas food.   It was even common for trolls to come and offer some powerful troll tools for a barrel of Christmas mead.


...Traditions stretching back to Viking times persisted, including the ancient sacrifice of a  horse to the gods that with time had changed to the sacrificial consumption of porc - and today turkey.   And sharing the Christmas bread, made from different grains from last year, was one of the main events during the Christmas meal.   A small slice of the bread was kept till next spring where it was spread over the fields, so the magic of 'Christmas could ensure a good crop.   Likewish, some of the water used for cleaning the floors before covering them with hay was kept for next Spring because of its magical powers.


...Even today, there are priests who oppose the presence of pixies, but it is a losing battle. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Dwarf</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2008-03-07T23:49:58+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/78789286c6666afc40c4e8328d084a66-63.html#unique-entry-id-63</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/78789286c6666afc40c4e8328d084a66-63.html#unique-entry-id-63</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Does not appear in rural folklore, only in pre-Christian norse mythology.   In Germany dwarfs have more or less the same role as the Scandinavian Troll.


This is the first image we know of which depicts a dwarf/gnome (lower left corner). 

...Dwarfs are a subterranean, often deformed people who live in caves and gorges. ...  They are very good smiths forging strong weapon from metal.   They can make themselves invisible, are often hostile to Gods and humans, but can, like trolls, do good deeds in return for humans' kindness.


First an illustration and detail from Louis Moe's great visual epic Ragnarok (1928):
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Troll Story: The Troll and the Weather</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Troll Stories</category><dc:date>2007-03-24T10:50:23+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/d0f05d8e8677edb568390bce074e3243-62.html#unique-entry-id-62</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/d0f05d8e8677edb568390bce074e3243-62.html#unique-entry-id-62</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Here is another short troll story from Axel Olrik's collection of traditional Danish legends and fairytales, Danske Sagn og &AElig;ventyr fra Folkemunde (1913), illustrated by Niels Skovgaard (1922) called


...It happened one summer day that a farmer went out into his field to check his corn.   It did not look very good, it was almost trying to sink back into the ground because of lack of rain.   On the other side of the farmer&rsquo;s fence stood the troll who controlled the weather, and the man could clearly hear him say: &ldquo;small small dripping rain, small, small dripping  rain!&rdquo;   The weather prediction made the farmer unhappy so he bent over the fence and gave the troll a big thump in the head with his hand. 

...After that the rain came and the farmer&rsquo;s crops were saved.


This story reminds us that not only were trolls an integral part of rural life whose magic you had to accept and hopefully be able to benefit from, but also that trolls&rsquo; biggest fear was thunder - maybe as a reminder of pagan days when Thor supposedly went troll hunting with his chariot, slaying the ones he could find with his spark throwing hammer.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Troll Story: The Hill Trolls Fight</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Troll Stories</category><dc:date>2007-03-12T22:04:13+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/6b78d3068ee0645da5e53cb4e09c5c6d-60.html#unique-entry-id-60</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/6b78d3068ee0645da5e53cb4e09c5c6d-60.html#unique-entry-id-60</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Here is another story from Axel Olrik's Danish collection of traditional fairytales, Danske Sagn og &AElig;ventyr fra Folkemunde (1913), illustrated by Niels Skovgaard (1922), this one an example of the common theme of trolls fighting each other, and of trolls and humans acting like true neighbours.


...A farmer from Western Jutland one day took a walk on his field, when a small grey man suddenly appeared in front of him. ...  &ldquo;Well, I am the troll in the hill on your field, and I cannot come to terms with my neighbour in the hill over there. ...  If you go down on your field at that time, you will see two bulls butting each other, the red bull is me, but the black bull is my neighbour.   I would ask you to bring a hayfork with you and if you will thrust it into my enemy when I cannot fight anymore, then you will have done great.&rdquo; 

...But the following day when the farmer is out walking on his land, he sees a small pot full of small red stones.   And when he looks more closely, he realises that the stones are gold coins and that they are a gift from the hill troll for helping him defeat his neighbour.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trolls after 1850</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>History</category><dc:date>2008-10-24T21:01:39+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/8ec66e896bdb6c451e65cb7d54becf09-59.html#unique-entry-id-59</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/8ec66e896bdb6c451e65cb7d54becf09-59.html#unique-entry-id-59</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[John Bauer, Stone Troll


Scandinavia after 1850 moved quickly from being very rural to becoming heavily industrialized (esp.   Sweden, Denmark and Southern Norway) and for the new educated classes (and their children) trolls became the magic world that their parents or grandparents had left (though - in reality - often in distress and with no hope or wish to return to).   These were not the supernatural beings that their ancestors had known and with whom they had lived in an imaginary symbiotic relation, who had interfered with their crops, cured or stolen their cows or exchanged their children with ugly troll children or left gold in the field for the  labouring farmer.   The modern trolls of John Bauer, Louis Moe or Theodore Kittelsen were pre-cultivated nature as an otherness in a parallel, almost dehumanised world, to which humans had only access through the fairy tale) and often they looked more like 4th world peoples like the Saami or Samoyed whose cultures contemporary anthropologists were uncovering and studying during this period.   Not surprisingly John Bauer illustrated a book about the Saami before he discovered his magic world of trolls in V&auml;rmland.   Sentimentalism was an integral part of this transformation of folklore as examplified by this drawing by Louis Moe, where folklore has become a vehicle of contemporary ideas - in this case the opposition between water and land:
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trolls in Rural Folklore</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>History</category><dc:date>2007-02-17T18:25:26+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/7bc6f51cc36f2e9a443afb33802d8727-58.html#unique-entry-id-58</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/7bc6f51cc36f2e9a443afb33802d8727-58.html#unique-entry-id-58</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In other words: We are physically and culturally different, live in separate but parallel dimensions (both humans and trolls have cattle, make a living from farming)  but are also interdependent, e.g. during hard times when life is difficult for both farmer and troll, and may/can enter and exit each other&rsquo;s dimensions &ndash; which involves some transformation &ndash; e.g. a human may leave the troll mountain richer or stronger after either tricking or helping the trolls, and trolls can learn from us (they like borrowing our tools for example) and even control us if necessary.


...As the Scandinavian countryside was very poor until recently, partly due to an harsher and more unpredictable nature, people suffered from high infant mortality and frequent famines, and the long distances in e.g.   Norway or Sweden and the countries' late industrial development delayed migration to the bigger towns, countryfolk developed through time a warmer relation to the supernatural world as they lived with it for much longer and used the stories of riches nearby, hidden away in the mountain or soil, as a way of preserving their hopes for a better life.   The stories made sense of strange natural phenomena (the changeling myth may have explained genetic diseases and missing people incl. mentally ill were thought to have been taken by the trolls) and you learned to tread carefully in the forest or on the mountain, not take anything for granted. ...  This battle between priest and troll was more or less an equal battle - the crucifix may, like the sun, another powerful religious symbol, have scared the trolls away, but in their world, the latter also had strong magical powers that must be taken serious, esp. as the church did not provide any cures for illnesses among humans or animals and the trolls were said to be healthy and live long lives and have very productive animals. 

...This is what Ebbe Sch&ouml;n in Troll has to say about the syntesis between religion and folklore: In rural society these made up together a belief system which was of great use during most phases of life.   Despite Christianity being an exclusive religion that reduced folklore to pure devil worship (that should be banned), the whole set of beliefs in trolls and giants etc. didn't just create fear, but also safety and mental stability by making an otherwise hard and unintelligible world more intelligible and teaching people how to act or not to act.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trolls during the Middle Ages</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>History</category><dc:date>2007-02-17T18:25:35+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/4eb636fe7ddb068f9084a600e84ecc7a-57.html#unique-entry-id-57</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/4eb636fe7ddb068f9084a600e84ecc7a-57.html#unique-entry-id-57</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There are many Scandinavian localities with the word 'troll' in them, incl. troll forests, troll hills, troll swamps, places often uninhabitable and connected with a local tale of trolls or giants.   The photo below is from Troldeskoven (Troll Forest) in Northern Sealand, Denmark, a forest famous for its strange wind-bent trees.   Just like the stories of giants to explain various topological characterics, these names should not be taken to serious, more as playful storytelling. 

...The Christian church fought an impossible fight to eradicate the heathen underground creatures and it is said that until the end of the Middle Ages there were still traces of the old Norse religion in Scandinavia - the same religion that has been "revived" in Iceland recently.   The Church had to build its churches on old sacred places and trolls were seen as manifestations of the Devil - but popular folklore with its more humanised trolls survived till the beginning of the industrial age.


...Thus Lund Cathedral in Sk&aring;ne, Sweden, is allegedly built by a giant or troll called Finn and in the crypt his work is commemorated with this stone figure holding one of the pillars:


In this illustration by Niels Skovgaard to a poem by the Danish poet Poul Martin M&oslash;ller a poor saint who has a troll build a church for him, has to learn the troll's name to save both his own sight and the troll-built church from being destroyed by the troll again. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trolls in Norse Mythology</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Troll Painters</category><dc:date>2007-02-17T18:25:38+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/1425e8401f800c5c4a1225aeef76d776-56.html#unique-entry-id-56</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/1425e8401f800c5c4a1225aeef76d776-56.html#unique-entry-id-56</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Abildgaard, Danish painter, followed by Kai Nielsen's Ymer Well in Faaborg, Denmark


The first troll was Ymer, the oldest creature of the Norse universe, shaped by the snow and ice, he belonged to  the Jotuns (same word as 'j&aelig;tte' or 'giant', see Giants), who were  of superhuman size and strength and always fighting the gods (Odin, Thor etc.), representing the destructive natural forces of Scandinavia - like the dragons of earthquake-ridden Japan.


One famous Norse troll is the dangerous troll Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf who embarks on a murderous campaign against  a Danish settlement whose besieged king Hrothgar asks the legendary warriour Beowulf for assistance.


This is how Grendel is described at the beginning of the poem:


He was of a race of monsters


...In other words the trolls and giants of the Norse period were seen as being locked in an eternal battle with humans, sometimes losing, sometimes winning, but always fighting.   As in this lovely illustration by Louis Moe from his masterpiece Ragnarok from 1929:
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Rich Mountain Troll</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2007-02-13T18:23:21+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/e975e4e6e1ad3fb0f9b307a2e192649f-53.html#unique-entry-id-53</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/e975e4e6e1ad3fb0f9b307a2e192649f-53.html#unique-entry-id-53</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It has been suggested that the belief in the rich mountain trolls has (one of) its origins in the hill burial of our ancestors during the Bronze Age and later when they (or at least the leaders of the community) were buried with their valuables, eg. golden goblets, so they had the means to lead a decent after-life.   There is a reference to this in Beowulf where a thrall (i.e. slave) in fact steals the gold goblet from a man buried in a hill. 

..."Once some men from the three farms in  N&oslash;r-Fjande (Western Jutland) went up on the hill called Skindbjerg to dig out the treasures that were said to be buried there. ...  They started pulling it up and it was already close to the top of the hole when they looked up and saw that the three farms in N&oslash;r-Fjande were all on fire.   Surprised they dropped the kettle which sank deeper and deeper into the ground, and they hurried home as fast as their legs could carry them.    But when they came home, there was no fire to see anywhere, it was the mountain troll's magic which had fooled them, but ever since that time no-one had been able to find the kettle."


We may think of the folklore stories of buried treasures like the above kettle as pure fiction, but in Southern Jutland for hundreds of years people told stories of a ship buried in a bog &ndash; which archaeologists later found and that turned out to be a 1.000 years old!]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Great B&#xf8;ygen  - The Giant Troll Snake</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2007-01-28T11:06:38+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/e842c64e8081252fe143dfcacee9bad4-52.html#unique-entry-id-52</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/e842c64e8081252fe143dfcacee9bad4-52.html#unique-entry-id-52</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[This creature that is known from one locality in Norway but with connections to both Denmark and Sweden, is a giant troll in the shape of a snake. ...  The word b&oslash;yg means 'bent' and is related to the old folk-belief that giants can appear in the shape of giant snakes.   In Gudbrandsdalen in Norway this story was related to Peer Gynt, a legendary hunter, well-known from Henrik Ibsen's play of the same name.   Here is  a short version of this story: Peer Gynt is trying to get to his hunter's cabin in the forest late at night, but stumbles into this big slithery thing that is both inside and outside the cabin so he loses direction. ...  B&oslash;ygen tells him to shoot once more, but Peer knows this must be a trick and that the bullet will just hit himself. 

...A similar story is told from Denmark about the farmer from Helb&oslash;j who on his way out of church is prevented to leave by a giant snake who encourages the farmer to stab him, but the farmer is wise enough to know that he will commit a sin if he kills another creature inside a church.


Both stories indicate that trolls play tricks on humans and try to distract them, lead them on the wrong path, commit evil. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Skalle - a troll story</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Troll Stories</category><dc:date>2006-12-10T12:01:15+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/e0866c7c7c3ef60175aeb6227d248524-49.html#unique-entry-id-49</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/e0866c7c7c3ef60175aeb6227d248524-49.html#unique-entry-id-49</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Here follows a summary of a troll story from Axel Olrik's Danish collection of traditional fairytales, Danske Sagn og &AElig;ventyr fra Folkemunde (1913), illustrated by Niels Skovgaard (1922):


...That evening when he entered the gates of the farm, he said "Good evening, Skalle" ("Flakey"), because the farm looked very bare. ...  The unmarried farmer replied: "If there is someone here whom I cannot see, then I invite that person to be my guest on the night before Christmas Eve.


On the night before Christmas Eve the troll came just as the farmer had finished tending to his animals in the stable, but still had not lit the candles in the house. ...  "Now I will ask you to be my guest on the night before New Year's Eve," said the troll. 

...On the night before New Year's Eve the man went outside the stable door and followed the troll down to his home. ...  "Don't you see that something is dripping down on the table, it comes from your stable. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Slattenpatte</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2006-11-21T20:30:48+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/9a4cd6247a4b218d47d8a97cb3155eb9-48.html#unique-entry-id-48</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/9a4cd6247a4b218d47d8a97cb3155eb9-48.html#unique-entry-id-48</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[A particular female troll is Danish Slattenpatte who also appears under other names elsewhere in Europe and is part of a particular class of stories about ghostlike horsemen hunting at night - esp. female devils or trolls. 


In Denmark stories are told of King Volmer hunting the last troll woman in the realm.   Someone out walking late at night encounters this ugly troll woman, who is always characterised as having long saggy breasts (thus the name - Slatten-Patte or Saggy Breasts), then a little while later a rider appears.   He introduces himself as King Volmer and asks if the late-night walker has seen the ugly troll woman he is looking for. ...  The stories of the nocturnal hunters are usually set at Christmas time and have been related to the belief that the dead ancestors return to participate in the celebration of Christmas.   But the troll woman Slattenpatte is also related to a common Germanic  creature with long breasts used to scare children (German Langt&uuml;ttin, Tittenwief).   Is this scary troll woman like later times' witches simply symbols of patriarchy's fear of post-menopausal women? ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trolls and Diseases</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2006-10-29T13:05:28+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/811bdf4cd5b0cd609b931683264de9cd-47.html#unique-entry-id-47</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/811bdf4cd5b0cd609b931683264de9cd-47.html#unique-entry-id-47</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There are many links between the creatures of folklore and illnesses.   Before the age of medical science diseases were thought to have been caused by ill-willed creatures/demons.   The most important example in a troll context is the changeling myth where a number of diseases have been suggested  as the origin of the myth, eg.   Downs' syndrome and Rachitis (caused by undernourishment) and Atrepsi.   The so-called "Br&oslash;ndmand" or "Well Man" residing in farm wells has also been seen as related to poisoned water causing various diseases.   In Norwegian language troll traditionally also refers to various diseases (e.g. lumbago) that in folklore was assumed to have been inflicted by magic. 


To be continued. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Sea Troll</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2006-11-09T18:32:57+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/7248696385f88753dae11c4a7387311d-46.html#unique-entry-id-46</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/7248696385f88753dae11c4a7387311d-46.html#unique-entry-id-46</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Similar to N&oslash;kken, but known both from inland waters and the sea, esp. in a wider European folksong tradition as a sacrificial myth (maybe dating back to prehistory) where human brides marry the Sea Troll (German Wasserman).   A famous folk ballad called Agnete and the Sea Troll tells about how the sea troll disguises himself as an handsome man who comes to her home to court her.   He wants to marry her immediately without waiting for her parents' permission.   For unknown reasons (maybe bewitched by him) she accepts and he leads her to the shore where she (in the Nordic version of this common European story) is saved in the nick of time by a man. ...  Like in the stories of N&oslash;kken/the Nix, the sea troll expects a bride or at least a human sacrifice at regular intervals. 

...A related troll is the "man in the well", the "well troll" or "well nix" that was supposed to live in wells and be the cause of illnesses.   In a documented court case from Denmark in the 17th century a so-called "wise woman" explained how she got money from her ill patient, went to the well, threw a rock into it to awaken the well man and then dropped some money into the dark water, so that this creature would lift the curse on her patient.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Names</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2007-02-17T18:26:08+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/5a5a56c515b2e6b201f5de90b092125e-45.html#unique-entry-id-45</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/5a5a56c515b2e6b201f5de90b092125e-45.html#unique-entry-id-45</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Here is a quick list of Scandinavian names for the creatures we generally call 'trolls':


Denmark: bjergfolk, h&oslash;jfolk, bakkefolk, de underjordiske, puslinger, v&aelig;tter, trolde

Sweden: v&auml;ttar, bolv&auml;ttar, underbyggarna, de underjordiska, bergsr&aring;n, troll (Southern Sweden), &auml;lvorna (speciality: dance) in the whole of Sweden, but no important role in folk tradition, vittra/vittror (Northern Sweden)

...As for the word troll, it may be related to common germanic truzlon which like old high germanic trollen means &rdquo;running with small steps&rdquo;.   Trolls basically include all sociale mythic creatures, eg. giants, dwarfs, pixies, though in later Scandinavian tradition trolls have become known for their strong family ties.


The word dwarf/dv&aelig;rg is also common germanic and is also often used about the illnesses caused by these creatures.   It may be derived from the indoeuropean verb dhreugh meaning deceive (Danish 'at bedrage')]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Finnish Troll movie to appear in 2007</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>News</category><dc:date>2006-10-05T18:37:10+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/bd4df2c09845181cf0ba5e69b7beda46-44.html#unique-entry-id-44</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/bd4df2c09845181cf0ba5e69b7beda46-44.html#unique-entry-id-44</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[A Finnish animated feature film, R&ouml;llin syd&auml;n (R&ouml;lli's heart) is in production.   It is about a troll called R&ouml;lli that has no basis in Finnish folklore (stories of trolls only appear in the old Swedish-speaking regions), but maybe the Finnish moviemakers hope to cash in on the Troll dollar (the trollar?).   Anyway, R&ouml;lli looks like this.   The inspiration from Uderzo's Asterix seems obvious and this may be the first troll ever with a moustache:
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Common Scandinavian troll stories</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Troll Stories</category><dc:date>2007-05-05T19:15:08+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/4c5b38b5c8a85cc197feaeb317e575cb-43.html#unique-entry-id-43</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/4c5b38b5c8a85cc197feaeb317e575cb-43.html#unique-entry-id-43</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Here is another typical troll story told in many parts of Scandinavia, this time reminding us that trolls in folklore can get both very old and be very hospitable:


...But you better take this metal rod with you for he always grabs visitors' hands to see how strong they are, and that might hurt a bit."   "OK," says the man and approaches the even older troll hanging in the cow's horn on the wall, asking him if he may stay there for the night. 

...On Christmas eve it was said on the castle that you could hear great joy and festivity at the Magle Stone where a large gathering seemed to be taking place. 

...When the stable boy came closer he was met by two trolls, one with a drinking horn, the other with a flute and he was asked to empty the horn and play from both ends of the flute. ...  The trolls chased him but had to stay on the roads which gave him a sufficient lead so he reached the moat just in time for the lady of the castle to let him in before raising the drawbridge moments before the trolls arrived. ...  The trolls had to accept this but before they left, they cursed both the family and the castle and predicted that the family would die out and the castle burn 3 times. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Regional Danish Troll Stories</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Troll Stories</category><dc:date>2006-12-10T12:02:17+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/266b8fe20d890f28dd7d77d64a3395b8-40.html#unique-entry-id-40</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/266b8fe20d890f28dd7d77d64a3395b8-40.html#unique-entry-id-40</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In the village of Viuf was 5 hills, each occupied by trolls, and when they partied, the hills all stood on glowing poles.   One night a farmhand who worked nearby, passed the hills and suddenly felt like teasing them so he threw a stone into the hole on top of one of the hills. 

...When he heard that little Kee was killed, he cut the throat of the farmhand and then left the farm never to return.


The island Bornholm in The Baltic Sea was once the home of the legendary Bonavedde, who was the son of a farmer (bona) and a mermaid (vedde - v&aelig;tte) and who unlike other humans could see the trolls and other supernaturals and who was constantly trying to rid the island of them.   One night, when he rode past their hill standing on glowing poles, a troll tried to offer him a potion that would bring him under the trolls' control but he poured it on the back of his horse so it became much faster, and now they could not capture him. 

...A well-known type of troll stories in Denmark tells about Wattis and Attis (it also found elsewhere in Scandinavia with different names) where someone passing by a troll hill suddenly hears a voice saying: "Tell Attis that Wattis is dead".   When the human comes home and tells his family or others what he has heard but doesn't understand, the hidden farm trolls or the cat (thus revealing itself to be a troll cat) immediately leave the farm with the words "Is Wattis dead? ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Finnish PhD in Trolls</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2006-09-29T19:33:16+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/0c5fcea883c43b73a71e193ebbbcf957-39.html#unique-entry-id-39</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/0c5fcea883c43b73a71e193ebbbcf957-39.html#unique-entry-id-39</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In 2005 Master of Philosophy Camilla Asplund Ingemark defended her PhD about the Swedish troll tradition in Finland. 

...According to the beliefs, a troll could also appear in the form of a beautiful woman, or give stolen goods as presents. 


...If he returned home, there was nothing to fear from trolls at that time: the spell evaporates immediately if one manages to escape the trolls. 


...According to Asplund Ingemark, it is important to remember that troll tales have been told even in Christian surroundings. 

...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I chose trolls as the subject of my research because I suspected that troll tales could reveal something about the relation between folk beliefs and Christianity. 

...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the time period under study, the Christian message played a significant role in the life of ordinary people. 

...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I have also grown increasingly interested in how folk beliefs describe everyday life and living circumstances, and what significance folk beliefs had in the life of ordinary people", Vaasa native Asplund Ingemark muses. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A typical Danish troll story collected by J. M. Thiele</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Troll Stories</category><dc:date>2006-12-10T12:02:25+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/b58753f320bfcb880974b8e6d1fcc8ae-38.html#unique-entry-id-38</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/b58753f320bfcb880974b8e6d1fcc8ae-38.html#unique-entry-id-38</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[On her way home from a succesful birth, the midwife Gertrud sees a frog with a silk thread wrapped around one of its leg and she immediately understands it is pregnant and happen to say that she will also help the toad give birth when the time is ready.


...Outside is a little but broad-shouldered man with a big head, wearing a grey suit and a grey cap which are different from the clothes worn by the peasants in this part of Denmark.   He introduces himself as Celte and tells her it was his wife, she promised to help give birth.   Gertrud now understands she is dealing with trolls and the only way she can get well out of this is by keeping her word, so she follows Celte to the troll hill, where he leads her into a dark cave formed by soil and big stones where Celte's troll wife is close to giving birth. 


...She does so but is curious about what is in the bottle and puts a little on her own right eye. ...  The troll woman now tells Gertrud to escape as quickly as possible, as trolls do not like to let go of Christian folk once they have them inside their troll cave. 

...She will, however, meet Celte once more when she helps her neighbours harvesting and spots Celte removing sheaves from the field and taking them into a hill nearby. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Changelings</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2007-02-22T18:53:12+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/139eed0d0d846e9fed05589338a244b7-37.html#unique-entry-id-37</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/139eed0d0d846e9fed05589338a244b7-37.html#unique-entry-id-37</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The oldest known picture of a changeling is the following church painting from the 14th century in Skamstrup church, Northwestern Zealand, Denmark, where the mother in the lower left corner finds a changeling in the cradle while the troll sits in the tree with her baby:


...It was not always easy to recognise a troll child as trolls didn't look very different (in original folklore), but they usually ate and drank more than human children and some never learnt to speak and stayed in bed all the time.   One way of getting rid of a changeling was by cooking less food for him than he required, eg. porridge in an eggshell.   Another way was by treating the changeling very badly (eg. by throwing him on the dunghill, beating him or putting him in the oven as if to bake him - like in Selma Lagerl&otilde;f's story The Changeling wheretroll mother returns just in the nick of time to save its child and reminds the humans that it never treated the human baby this badly, thus having a moral advantage over humans. 


...Though the church rejected any belief in trolls and other supernaturals, the Changeling myth also functioned to remind people of the strength of the church. 

...One was, that the stolen children developed an invisible shield, so they could return to the humans' houses and steal food and tools for the trolls without being discovered. 

...Recently, Danish writer Charlotte Weitze wrote a short story ("Skiftingen", 2003) about a young Danish woman who realises she is really a changeling, but that now her troll grandparents don't want her in their world either. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Mosekonen (the &#x22;Bog Woman&#x22;)</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2006-10-17T19:18:06+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/609f9dc011b3b3ebdc8166b8404d716b-33.html#unique-entry-id-33</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/609f9dc011b3b3ebdc8166b8404d716b-33.html#unique-entry-id-33</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Also known as the Mossak&auml;rringen or Bergk&atilde;rringen in Swedish and Bergmuttter in German.   Whenever mist banks appear along a stream  in the morning or evening, the Mosekonen is said to be brewing her magical potion.   No stories exist about her, so she is probably only a saying.   Other creatures like the Danish elfgirls (ellepiger) are however associated with morning or evening mist.    Here are two Danish versions of her by Arne Ungermann and Lorenz Fr&ouml;lich:
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Regional Troll Types</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2007-02-17T18:26:00+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/0d6bc0ec4ed165e5c8227197bfcaef4b-26.html#unique-entry-id-26</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/0d6bc0ec4ed165e5c8227197bfcaef4b-26.html#unique-entry-id-26</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Danish trolls liked to party and drink large amounts of beer and then their hill would stand on four redglowing stakes and any passer-by should be careful - but it could also be a chance in a lifetime to become rich by stealing the trolls' treasures while they were drunk or otherwise distracted as in the drawing below by the great Danish painter J. 

...Like elsewhere trolls were a constant reminder to the farmer to be careful with his tools and not forget them in the field when going home in the evening or they would be destroyed or simply be stolen by the trolls.


...Though Danish trolls often looked like humans, one could recognise them by their short answers when they were greeted: Thus they would reply with a simple 'day' to one's 'good day' or 'evening' to one's 'good evening' - perhaps to avoid the word 'good'.


...Norwegian trolls are bigger and look and appear more like Giants elsewhere and are perhaps also more unruly and evil-disposed beings as a reflection of Norwegian nature like these two fighting troll women by Kittelsen:


...One farmer insisted on getting his wife back, but when the mountain troll opened the mountain for him, the farmer saw that his wife had become an ugly troll too - and thus let the troll keep her. 

...For those interested in linguistics, the word hiisi can be derived from a proto-Uralic form, sijte, dating back maybe 2500 years or more, meaning 'bushes', 'meadow', 'sacrificial place', and is found in many Finno-Uralic languages, eg. 

...There are traditional folk tales about mountain trolls, usually living on the other side of the lake, opposite a Finnish family, with whom they then interact like neighbours - for good or bad or even worse! ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trolls&#x27; appearance and behaviour</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2008-02-07T20:44:21+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/b954ac6e9e7c2f9e29c99a0615387157-25.html#unique-entry-id-25</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/b954ac6e9e7c2f9e29c99a0615387157-25.html#unique-entry-id-25</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Many times trolls were, however,  said to be more handsome and elegant than their human neighbours so if you saw an elegantly dressed man or woman in the forest, it must be a troll and then you had to be very careful. 

...If by chance you noticed a tail or hairy feet etc. under their dress, you should discretely and politely make the troll aware of this, and then you would be generously awarded, but if you were rude, the troll would make you pay for it in some way or other. 

...They could also transform themselves into logs or stubs and only if you took out your knife to cut into them would they run away as trolls cannot stand steel - perhaps as it is not naturally occurring in nature but a product of human civilisation.   Trolls also had the power to change themselves into cats or dogs or snakes but most of the time they would stay invisible but you may hear them talk or whisper or laugh and if you could smell freshly baked bread or fried meat far out in the wilderness, you knew you were close to where trolls lived.


...At other times trolls helped the farmers with their work, troll women were for example particularly good at spinning wool, but you had to be careful not to give them anything that belonged to you personally, as that would give them control over you, and they definitely didn't want things decorated with a crucifix.


...One of the trolls' worst habits was theft, they esp. liked to steal beer or food, and during the Christmas season when people were preparing for several days of good eating and drinking one should be very careful because trolls could easily sneak in and steal from people's table or even throw the people out till they had consumed everything.


...Another very literary troll, which has not the the slightest  to do with the trolls of rural folklore, is this wonderfully  funny musical troll by the great humourous talent Robert H&ouml;gfeldt, that may be seen as a parody of the many faun representations that were common in contemporary art and design:
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Female Creatures</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2008-03-07T21:50:10+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/76effd85805af36228b69036f952ef11-24.html#unique-entry-id-24</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/76effd85805af36228b69036f952ef11-24.html#unique-entry-id-24</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Similar in many ways to Danish elverpiger and Norwegian huldra (both: wood nymphs), they are beautiful from the front but look like a rotten tree from the back or, as in the Sj&ouml;r&aring;'s (or Mermaid's) case, have a fish tail while the Norwegian huldra is often attributed with a cow tail that she (understandably) tries to hide from admiring human males. 


...A recurrent story about the Skogsr&aring;/Ellepige (the suffix r&aring; means the spirit guarding a certain location) that has been told in many places in Denmark and Sweden was the story of charcoal burners spending the night in the forest at a charcoal kiln guarding the fire that turned wood into coal.   In these stories the Skogsr&aring;/Ellepige comes to the lonely charcoal burner and tries to seduce him so he forgets about the fire (that is threatening the forest creatures).   In one story the seducing Skogsr&aring; asks the forest worker not to look out of the window in his forest cabin while they are making love but he does and thus sees that she has a tail and is extinguishing the fire with it  while distracting him. 

...Two days later he received a letter from his loved one telling him that she had not been able to come to their rendez-vous, as her mother had suddenly fallen ill. 

...In today's more environmentally aware world, the Skogsr&aring;/Ellepige would be seen as protective spirits of nature, defending the forest against human greed, but in the days when these stories were being told by uneducated folks in little cabins one or two hundred years ago or more, these creatures represented pure danger, reminding us how scared people used to be of the forest.


...They live underground or in mountains and stones like the V&aelig;tte and they can keep humans as prisoners and exchange human children with their own - like the trolls, but like the trolls they can also - acc. to various stories - be helpful and make humans who help them rich. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Male Water Creatures</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2007-04-07T22:26:24+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/7b06af1f5e5fd741e68decdb16af82de-23.html#unique-entry-id-23</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/7b06af1f5e5fd741e68decdb16af82de-23.html#unique-entry-id-23</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The origin of this creature is  debatable - as a sacrificial myth (in many parts of Scandinavia the river expected an annual sacrifice), to explain the melodious sound of water or simply to warn people against water.


...Sometimes he looks like an old man with a red cap and a long white beard (like a nisse/tomte), but he can also appear in the form of an attractive young man. 

...He is known as a great fiddler who will teach anyone his skills for a minor sacrifice, though you can always expect him to try with different tricks to pull you into the water, but if you survive the lesson, you will become a great fiddler yourself, a myth similar to that told of the father of blues, Robert Johnson, who got his great musical talent from the devil himself.   The Nix likes to receive meat as the price for teaching someone to play the fiddle, and there are many versions of the story where someone tries to fool the Nix by throwing him a meatless bone instead, but the Nix is no fool and instead "teaches" the offender to be silent.


...He will teach you a certain melody (Swedish "&Auml;lvastr&aring;ged"), but if you play it more than 5 times, things can become very dangerous and at the end you and the dancers will dance your way to the river where you will all drown.


...The Nix is a sexual predator who is particularly drawn to pregnant or unmarried women (also see the Sea Troll) - as well as to unbaptised children whereas men can in some cases, as mentioned above, control its power. 

...As a horse he tricks children to climb on to his back and ride him and then he takes them to the nearest water to drown them, an ancient abduction myth similar to modern urban folklore about alien abductions.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Bysen From Gotland</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2005-12-01T22:40:29+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/ccc12c64eb44d865e4ae63d2828ae690-21.html#unique-entry-id-21</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/ccc12c64eb44d865e4ae63d2828ae690-21.html#unique-entry-id-21</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Bysen (or trullet - related to 'troll') - a ghostlike creature from the Baltic island of Gotland who walks around with an ax, slowly and carefully chopping trees or branches, generally to maintain and protect the forest.   It is a human who committed some crime during his lifetime and now is condemned to walk on earth forever.   He is small and grey, not directly evil, but makes life difficult for forest workers, turning over timber loads and delaying transports of timber from the forest.


Could the Bysen look like this?   (drawing by Trollmoon)]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Taken by the Trolls</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2010-01-24T11:49:40+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/ae5697ff30643b5501f4ee58e58efc91-20.html#unique-entry-id-20</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/ae5697ff30643b5501f4ee58e58efc91-20.html#unique-entry-id-20</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In old days it was common belief that when a person had disappeared, he/she had been taken by the trolls/giants/elves and were now kept prisoner in the mountain/hill.   Until the beginning of the 17th century Swedish church records even mentioned this as a reason for people disappearing or people who had temporarily lost their memory and did not remember a certain period in their past.   The priest had a useful role when someone had been taken by the troll - By making the church bells ring very loud and long or praying/singing outside the mountain the troll sometimes became very ill and his prisoners could escape. 

...Adults are particularly at risk of being taken at certain periods in their life when they are &rdquo;unpure&rdquo; &ndash; eg. after giving birth and before going to church again (an extra factor being that they have milk to breastfeed the trolls&rsquo; children) or before their wedding (and wedding night). ...  Other potential victims are people working far from home, eg. shepherds in the mountain, children picking berries in the forest or young people whose thoughts revolve too much around the other gender and therefore are easily tempted by a pretty troll girl. 

...When they were finished, they had said: &rdquo;Now we just need to turn her eyes&rdquo; but in that moment the shot from her father&rsquo;s gun had sounded and thus she was saved.   The trolls came out and asked if they could have the silver back that she had been decorated with, as they had borrowed it, but the girl&rsquo;s father said no and took it home. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Troll Flora</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2011-02-02T00:38:04+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/bc983def906ee59d3f799d37952cf4ca-14.html#unique-entry-id-14</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/bc983def906ee59d3f799d37952cf4ca-14.html#unique-entry-id-14</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Many plants and natural phenomena have since prehistoric times been associated with the supernatural world, some because of their danger, others because of their aesthetic or unaesthetic appearance, some connected to myths/folklore.   Here are a few such plants either related to trolls or containing the word "troll" in its wider sense in their names:


Troll Berry, at least in Swedish known as Trollb&auml;r (Lat. 

...It is not to be eaten.


...And here a mushroom (Fuligo septica) known as "Troll Butter" 


...As mentioned by Ebbe Sch&ouml;n in Svensk Folktro A-&Ouml; this mushroom was once believed to be butter spillt during evil witches' "magical milking" intended to drain the farmers' milk cows of their milk.   The "troll" element in this name thus refers to magic rather than to the troll creature.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Little People</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2007-05-18T15:27:48+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/a7fbf1f8286102490f4d5bb699e98282-4.html#unique-entry-id-4</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/a7fbf1f8286102490f4d5bb699e98282-4.html#unique-entry-id-4</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Icelandic Landn&aacute;mab&oacute;k mentions that according to Ulfjot's law you were not allowed to sail towards land with the dragon head left on the ship as this would scare the land vetter away. 

...They don't generally mingle with humans, however, but can turn very vengeful if someone happen to pour hot water over them, pee on the ground above them or hurt them in any other way. 

...They went down into the underground, to a big room with food and drinks, but there was an awful smell as the farmer kept his animals just above.   The grey man told the farmer he was very tired of the smell and promised that if the farmer would move his animals somewhere else, he would have great succes - which the farmer had not had so far with his animal rearing - seemingly because of the unhappy neighbour underground. 

...If they have been treated kindly or with respect by a human, they may leave a gift - eg. a bunch of twigs and leaves that might seem quite ordinary at first, but if you appreciate the gift, it will bring you luck and success.


...&ldquo;It once happened on a farm in Sk&aring;ne that the parents were out working on the field while the children were staying at home alone, playing on one of the wall-attached benches in the living room. ...  After a few days, when the children were alone again at home, the wight children came out of the bench-end, now scolding the children: 'We got a grey dress by your mother, but our mother will give your mother a red dress in return.' ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Basic Definition of Trolls</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2008-02-07T20:40:57+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/9c84ed717f72a669f18384b24047f1f3-3.html#unique-entry-id-3</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/9c84ed717f72a669f18384b24047f1f3-3.html#unique-entry-id-3</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Basic Definition of Trolls (in Scandinavian folklore)


A supernatural creature who in some stories is hostile (and dangerous) to humans, in others more of a nature spirit, looks more or less like a human, but often of superhuman size and strength, sometimes ugly or scary looking (sometimes more than one head), other times more or less like a human, lives in hills, mountains, forests. 


There are many sources to this belief - 1) a pre-Christian shamanistic acceptance of the existence of another invisible world in our world, inhabited by spirits, eg. those of our forefathers, also related to  rites at grave mounds and dolmens, 2) a collective "memory" of encounters with other peoples or with animals (also attributed with the spirits of the ancestors), 3) a pre-Christian anthromorphic view of the creative and destructive forces of nature, but most important of all 4) trolls have a symbolic function that will be covered in this blog as this is the only one that we can prove through argument.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Farm Pixie</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2007-05-21T00:50:04+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/ef87e9b9f91e0cae4e4194a291ff5554-2.html#unique-entry-id-2</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/ef87e9b9f91e0cae4e4194a291ff5554-2.html#unique-entry-id-2</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[He lives in close vicinity to people, often in the stable or on the loft, and he easily gets annoyed with his human neighbours and teases them or makes life more hard for them. ...  To have a Nisse/Tomte on your farm has its obvious advantages and if you don&rsquo;t have one you can always employ one, though this is like recruiting the Devil himself, as you cannot easily dismiss the Tomte.


...It did not last long before the Tomte had made the farm so prosperous that the farmer felt very content and wanted to get rid of his farm hand. ...  The farmer agreed to this and next evening when the girl as usual were going out to the Tomte with his bowl of porridge, she put the bowl on the floor behind her. ...  And then she walked backwards into the stable and put the bowl down in front of the scared Tomte who thought that she was a horrible ghost and ran and hid himself. 

...Kittelsen who is closer to this creature's Norse origin, not as a house spirit, but as a mean-spirited boy ghost (see explanation below):


...These had many different names acc. to old Norse tradition and reflecting what they had done wrong when alive, e.g.: Thv&ouml;rusleikir (Pot Scraper Licker), Pottasleikir (Pot Licker), Askasleikir (Bowl Licker), Hurdaskellir (Door Slammer), Skyrg&aacute;mur (Junket Gobbler), Bj&uacute;gnakr&aelig;kir (Sausage Snatcher ), Gluggag&aelig;gir (Window Peeper) or G&aacute;ttathefur (Doorway Sniffer). ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Giants</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2006-05-16T18:47:08+02:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/7ba065ee5e58cae2b2dd8fbedd6d98e2-1.html#unique-entry-id-1</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/7ba065ee5e58cae2b2dd8fbedd6d98e2-1.html#unique-entry-id-1</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Big rocks near a church had always been thrown by some giant, but the fact that it never hit, supposedly showed the power of the Christian faith.   One giant, Finn, even helped build the cathedral in Lund, Sk&aring;ne, but often these giants tried to cheat their employers, eg. by not finishing the work after being paid.


...Acc. to Norse mythology the giants were the enemies of gods and humans and lived in Jotunheim, a northern part of Utg&aring;rd, at the end of the world.   To the east was the Iron Forest where a giant woman, Hyrrokin,  gave birth to giants in wolf shape, Hate and Skoll, who chased the moon and sun to eat them. ...  The whole world had been created from body parts from the giant Ymer whose flesh became the soil, blood became the sea and lakes, the teeth became the mountains and the hair the forests.


...Many stories exist of giants and trolls throwing enormous stones at each other or at churches - esp. the sound of church bells seemed to annoy them.   Looking at stones like the one below from Denmark, left by the retreating glacier at the end of the last ice age, one understands why people in old days must have speculated about how such stones came to lie in the middle of a forest or a field far from any mountains:
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Elves</title><dc:creator>trollmoon@mac.com</dc:creator><category>Folklore</category><dc:date>2006-02-05T18:56:04+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/ac5cecc084929771220196a46c44b776-0.html#unique-entry-id-0</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.trollmoon.com/TrollBlog/files/ac5cecc084929771220196a46c44b776-0.html#unique-entry-id-0</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The word is related to Norse alfar who can be good or bad.


...If you happen to see them dance or even join them, you risk going mad or get seriously hurt.   In the Middle Ages they were believed to be dead people who had led sinful lives.   They can look like puppetlike figures or smaller animals. ...  As a rule, however, they are invisible and one only hears them speak or sing. ...  Fogbanks early in the morning or late in the evening are often seen as dancing elves. 


...In this painting by Norwegian Einar Gjerssing they are dancing in a cementery:
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