{"id":5864,"date":"2020-03-20T12:49:20","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T16:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/?p=5864"},"modified":"2020-12-02T20:05:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T01:05:34","slug":"medieval-trolls-monsters-from-scandinavian-myth-and-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/2020\/03\/20\/medieval-trolls-monsters-from-scandinavian-myth-and-legend\/","title":{"rendered":"Medieval Trolls: Monsters from Scandinavian Myth and Legend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Scott Gustafson, ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ (2020).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trolls<\/a> have a deep and murky literary history. Trolls<\/a> haunt protagonists in Old Norse-Icelandic sagas. Trolls<\/a> snatch gruff billygoats crossing bridges in grim fairy tales. In modern novels, trolls<\/a> capture (and intend to eat) wandering dwarves and hobbits, and trolls<\/a> sulk about in wizard\u2019s dungeons, leaving a terrible stench wherever they go. Let us not forget, of course, trolls<\/a> are also fluorescent-haired dolls<\/a> with gems for bellybuttons.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Trolls dolls created by Thomas Dam in 1959, image of treasure trolls from ‘Troll Dolls’ (2009).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Acknowledging exceptions like the popular dolls<\/a> (which were recently adapted into DreamWorks Animation movies<\/a> and a television<\/a> series), trolls<\/a> in the modern imagination are generally represented as resembling a giant, but less human and more monstrous. Trolls<\/a> are often racialized, depicted as pale, grey or green-skinned and regarded as ugly, with dim intelligence and a tendency towards evil.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gustaf Tenggren’s book cover for his ‘Grimm’s Fairy Tales’ (1923).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This stereotypical representation of trolls features in cult classic films such as Troll<\/em><\/a>\u00a0directed by John Carl Buechler<\/a> (1986), Troll 2<\/em><\/a>\u00a0directed by Claudio Fragasso<\/a> and originally called Goblins<\/em><\/a> (1990), and more recently Trollhunter<\/em><\/a> (Trolljegeren<\/em>)\u00a0directed by Andr\u00e9 \u00d8vredal<\/a> (2010).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Troll from Claudio Fragasso’s ‘Troll 2’ \u00a0(1990).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These modern representations of trolls<\/a> are based on medieval literary models<\/a>, especially swamp-dwelling giant-like monsters<\/a>, similar to the Old Norse-Icelandic \u00feurs<\/em> \u201cgiant\u201d which also appears in Old English literature [\u00feyrs<\/em>]. In the Old English poem Beowulf<\/em><\/a>, the Grendelkin have traditionally been identified as trolls by modern critics, and Grendel<\/a> is himself described as a \u00feyrs<\/em> \u201cswamp giant\u201d by Beowulf (426). We learn from the Old English Maxims II<\/a> <\/em>that a \u00feyrs <\/em>is a lurking swamp creature: \u00feyrs sceal on fenne gewunian\/\u00a0ana innan lande <\/em>\u201ca giant shall dwell in a fen, alone within the land\u201d (42-43).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Grendl (Phil Deguara) in James Dormer’s ‘Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands’ (2016).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This description aligns directly with descriptions of Grendel<\/a>, who\u00a0sinnihte heold\/ mistige moras <\/em>\u201cruled the misty marshes in the perpetual night\u201d (161-62) as angenga<\/em> \u201ca lone-wanderer\u201d (449). Indeed the monster is characterized as a \u00feyrs <\/em>when the narrator first names him: W\u00e6s se grimma g\u00e6st Grendel haten,\/ m\u00e6re mearcstapa, se \u00fee moras heold,\/ fen ond f\u00e6sten; fifelcynnes eard<\/em> \u201cThe grim ghast was called Grendel, the famous mark-stepper<\/a>, he who ruled the marshes, the fens and strongholds, the realm of monsterkind\u201d (102-04).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Stone Trolls: William, Tom and Bert (performed by Peter Hambleton, Mark Hadlow & William Kircher) in the Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit: And Unexpected Journey’ (2012).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Grendelkin<\/a> are named giants elsewhere in Beowulf<\/em><\/a>, marked with Old English terms such as eoten<\/em><\/a> (112, 761, 1558, 1679), a relative cognate with the Old Norse j\u01ebtunn <\/em><\/a>[Icelandic j\u00f6tunn<\/em>] \u201cgiant\u201d (commonly featured in Old Norse-Icelandic poetry and sagas<\/a>), and the anglicized gigant<\/em><\/a> \u201cgiant\u201d (113, 1562, 1690), derived from the Latin gigans<\/em> \u201cgiant\u201d (notably used in the Latin Vulgate Bible<\/a> (Genesis 6:4<\/a>, Numbers 13:30\u201333<\/a>, Deuteronomy 3:11<\/a>, 2 Samuel 21:19<\/a>). Despite the more than one hundred varying descriptions of Grendel and his mother, these Beowulf<\/em>-monsters are undoubtedly giant in stature.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
John Bauer, \u201cThe Princess and the Troll Sons’ (1915).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the medieval tradition, the troll<\/a> [Old Norse tr\u01ebll<\/em>, Icelandic tr\u00f6ll<\/em>, Middle High German trolle<\/em>] \u00a0<\/em>is a creature from Scandinavian myth<\/a> and legend which features prominently in eddiac poetry<\/a> and saga literature<\/a>. Grettis saga<\/em><\/a>, one of the sagas which most famously contains trolls, including both the \u00feurs <\/em>(two references) and tr\u01ebll <\/em>(twelve references). <\/em>There are multiple references to trolls as nocturnal predators (ch. 16 & 33) and a general menace (ch. 57 & 64). After Grettir encounters and outwits a \u00feurs <\/em><\/a>\u201cgiant\u201d called \u00deorir (ch. 61-62), he later turns his attention toward slaying a family of trolls (ch. 64-66). In Grettis saga<\/em>, the tr\u01ebllkona<\/a> mikil<\/em> \u201cgreat troll-woman\u201d (also simply called tr\u01ebll<\/em>) attacks the hall first prompting Grettir to hunt her down in her cave (ch. 65).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
John Vernon Lord, \u2018Grettir\u2019s Fight with the She-Troll\u2019 from the \u2018Grettir\u2019s Saga\u2019 in Icelandic Sagas v.2, The Folio Society (2002).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is only when Grettir ventures deeper into their troll-den that he encounters a j\u01ebtunn<\/em>, who is of course her troll companion, but never explicitly named such (ch. 66). The giant-troll<\/a> family that Grettir slays looms largest in the modern imagination. However, even here the categorical ambiguity between j\u01ebtunn <\/em>and tr\u01ebll <\/em>highlights something fundamental about trolls in the Old Norse-Icelandic saga tradition<\/a>. The range of monstrous creatures to which tr\u01ebll <\/em>can apply is vast, and Sandra Alvarez notes that tr\u01ebll<\/em> \u201ccould also be used to describe troublesome people, animals and even giants\u201d in her blog \u201cTrolls in the Middle Ages<\/a>.\u201d In Grettis saga<\/em>, the term tr\u01ebll <\/em><\/a>refers to the cave-dwelling monsters threatening the hall of Sandhaug and the human society within (ch. 64), but Grettir himself is earlier mistaken for a tr\u01ebll <\/em>(ch. 33).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Troll (Michael Q. Schmidt) in the Dungeon in Chris Columbus’s ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ (2001).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moreover, in addition to tr\u01ebll\u00a0<\/a><\/em>referring to giant, <\/em>the term can also indicate a witch, sorcerer, conjurer or any magic-user. Two Old Norse-Icelandic words for witchcraft, <\/span>tr\u01eblld\u00f3mr <\/em><\/a>and <\/span>tr\u01ebllskap <\/em><\/a>attest to the longstanding association between <\/span>tr\u01ebll <\/em>and magic. Moreover, in <\/span>Hr\u00f3lfs saga kraka <\/em><\/a>the cowardly H\u01ebttr describes a flying monster, something akin to a dragon, as<\/span> mesta<\/em> tr\u01ebll <\/em>\u201cgreatest troll\u201d (ch. 35), and this creature terrorizes Hr\u00f3lfr\u2019s realm until B\u01eb\u00f0var Bjarki slays the beast<\/span>. <\/em>Considering the semantic range for <\/span>tr\u01ebll<\/em>, the term appears to broadly refer to creatures monstrous, magical or both in the Old Norse-Icelandic literature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jared KrichevskyI, ‘I, Frankenstein designs,’ the Aaron Sims Company (2014).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trolls can be giants. Trolls can be dragons. Trolls can be witches and warlocks. Above all, trolls<\/a> are monsters. Despite this semantic ambiguity, e<\/span>ach iteration of tr\u01ebll<\/em> in Old Norse-Icelandic sagas <\/span>emphasizes one major commonality\u2014the wonder and monstrosity associated with anything or anyone deemed a troll<\/a> in the extant literature from medieval Scandinavia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Giant Troll called Isak Heartstone, created by Thomas Dambo. Photo by Jenise Jensen, Breckenridge Creative Arts (2018).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Return in a few weeks for further discussion of the evolution of tr\u01ebll<\/em> in modern English, specifically in the context of the online monsters commonly known as internet trolls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Richard Fahey
\nPhD in English (2020)
\nUniversity of Notre Dame<\/p>\n

Texts & Translations<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Byock, Jesse. Grettir’s Saga<\/em><\/a>. Oxford University Press (2009).<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>. The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki<\/em><\/a>. Penguins Classics (1999).<\/p>\n

Grimm, Jakob, and Wilhelm Grimm. Grimm’s Household Tales<\/em><\/a>, translation by Margaret Hunt (1884).<\/p>\n

Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation<\/em><\/a>. W. W. Norton & Company (2001).<\/p>\n

Hostetter, Aaron K. Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry Project<\/a>.<\/em> Rutgers University (2007).<\/p>\n

Kiernan, Kevin. The Electronic Beowulf<\/em><\/a>. University of Kentucky (2015).<\/p>\n

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again<\/em><\/a>. Allen & Unwin (1937).<\/p>\n

Treharne, Elaine, and Jean Abbot. Beowulf By All<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0Stanford University (2016).<\/p>\n

\u00de\u00f3r\u00f0arson, Sveinbj\u00f6rn. Icelandic Saga Database<\/em> <\/a>(2007).<\/p>\n

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone<\/em><\/a>. Bloomsbury (1997).<\/p>\n


\nFurther Reading<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Alvarez, Sandra.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>Trolls in the Middle Ages<\/a>.\u201d Medievalist.net<\/em><\/a> (2015).<\/span><\/p>\n

Fahey, Richard. “Mearcstapan: Monsters Across the Border<\/a>.” Medieval Studies Research Blog<\/em><\/a>. University of Notre Dame (2018).<\/p>\n

Firth, Matt. “Monsters and the Monstrous in the Sagas – the Saga of Grettir the Strong<\/a>.” The Postgrad Chronicles<\/em><\/a> (2017).<\/p>\n

Fjalldal, Magn\u00fas. “Beowulf<\/em> and the Old Norse Two-Troll Analogues<\/a>.” Neophilologus<\/em> 97 (2013): 541\u2013553.<\/p>\n

Jakobsson, \u00c1rmann. The Troll Inside You: Paranormal Activity in the Medieval North<\/em><\/a>. Punctum Books (2017).<\/p>\n

Lindow, John. Trolls: An Unnatural History<\/a>.<\/em> Reaktion Books (2015).<\/p>\n

Shippey, Thomas A. The Shadow-Walkers : Jacob Grimm’s Mythology of the Monstrous<\/em><\/a>. Brepols (2005).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trolls have a deep and murky literary history. Trolls haunt protagonists in Old Norse-Icelandic sagas. Trolls snatch gruff billygoats crossing bridges in grim fairy tales. In modern novels, trolls capture (and intend to eat) wandering dwarves and hobbits, and trolls sulk about in wizard\u2019s dungeons, leaving a terrible stench wherever they go. Let us not … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Medieval Trolls: Monsters from Scandinavian Myth and Legend”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56012,264206,483881,73957],"tags":[73920,324827,73644,324814,264347,264321,324821,67703,324826,324823,324825,324673,246728,324813,44160,324824,324812],"class_list":["post-5864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","category-history-disciplines","category-monsters-wonders","category-north-seas","tag-beowulf","tag-dolls","tag-fairy-tales","tag-giants","tag-grendel","tag-grettis-saga","tag-grimm-brothers","tag-harry-potter","tag-hobbit","tag-hrolfs-saga-kraka","tag-jtunn","tag-medievalism","tag-monsters","tag-old-norse-literature","tag-tolkien","tag-trll","tag-trolls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5864"}],"version-history":[{"count":58,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6642,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5864\/revisions\/6642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}