Denmark/Sweden

Danish and Swedish trolls are quite similar, but in Denmark trolls are also called bjergfolk (the mountain or hill people) or ellefolk (the shrub people). 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. T. Lundbye:



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.

Danish trolls were also known to create mirages - esp. fake fires.

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'.

Danish trolls were also known to dress in grey - but with a red cap. But not all people could see trolls, it required a certain talent.

To be in good terms with the Danish trolls one could put beer and porridge in the marshy bog or edge of a wood. Then they would leave you alone or even help you. Food sacrifices to nature spirits is well-known from all parts of the world. Notice below that the Finnish word for troll is derived from sacrificial place.

Norway

(Battue for Mountain Troll - by Th. Kittelsen)

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:



Another word for troll in Norwegian is tuss or tusse from Norse þurs og þuss which is related to the Norwegian word for 'rustle', 'move about' (in the bushes). But a tusse can also be a huldre - remember that these words for different creatures change from region to region!
Here is a story in English about The origin of the Huldre Folk: The Huldre Minister where the word tusse occurs.

Here is an interesting article with a more critical look of today's Norwegian troll industry: "Troll Light" by Stephanie Jenssen.

Iceland

Rowdy Icelandic Trolls (artist ???)

The Nordic islands in the North Atlantic, namely Iceland, the Faroes and Shetland, also have a rich troll culture. One particular evil troll woman, Gryla, and her husband Leppaludi (the horrible), who both eat naughty children, have been commemorated here every year at Christmas time since the early Middle Ages . You can read more here. Iceland is also the home of the night troll, a creature that turns into stone if exposed to the sun light and who loves scaring little children. Natural lava formations as the one below may explain this belief:




One rare troll story is told on the northern island of Malmey where no married couple could live for more than twenty years before the wife was stolen. 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. This is how one artist depicts the meeting:



Also, don't miss this page about the "Trows" of the Shetland and Orkney Islands, once settled by Vikings. The Trows are small mischievous creatures who live in mounds or near the sea. They can appear and then disappear for a 100 years.

It is well-known, esp. from Norway, that folklore can be a big business money-machine. Here is an article about how The Shetland Isles plan to exploit the Trows for the sake of enhancing a regional identity.

Finland

The Finnish language has two words for troll - hiisi (e.g. vuorihiisi - mountain troll; metsähiisi - forest troll) and peikko. The origin of the word hiisi relates to a heathen place of sacrifice, but it later came to mean a terrible monster. How it was originally used, we don't know, but early Christians seem to have used it in a negative sense, which almost implies, it was a positive heathen spirit originally.
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. Estonian hiid, Saami sieidde, sieitte, meaning 'mountain camp', 'camp site', while in the remote language Selkup tiid/tiida means a 'small willow tree' or'willow rod' - maybe a magical flute?
I will find out about the origin of peikko.
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! There are also stories of giants, esp. the so-called Jutali Giants who lived in the north long before humans arrived. 'Jutali' is clearly related to the Norse word Jotun, also meaning 'giant'.

Tags: troll, bjergfolk, ellefolk