The troll is ancient. A fearsome 3-headed troll is mentioned in one of the earliest poetic texts, the Edda, from about 1220. And Norse mythology is full of jötnar: supernatural troll-like beings. There are several thousand place names in Norway that start with the word Troll, most because of some ancient legend or folk tale that may now be lost. Over 300 valleys are called Trolldal. Rockfalls and groups of huge boulders that no human could have moved – people suspected these inexplicable formations in the mountains to be the work of superhuman arms. Even today, whenever we tremble on a dark path, when something stirs in the gloom of the forest, whenever our insecurity sets our primal instincts at odds with our over-hyped ration – the troll will be just behind us, just out of sight.

EPISODE PHOTO

The Forest Troll, by Theodor Kittelsen (1906).

Public domain.

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