What is a Troll? Flashcards
Today trolls come in many different shapes and sizes. Think small, cute, and colourful vs. big, grey, and ugly. What does this indicate?
The wide range is a first indication that the troll was never a clearly identifiable being -> not a specific race or species
There is a bit of a contraction, around trolls. They are how exclusive and inclusive. How?
Unlike other beginnings, trolls are most exclusively Norse. Yet, they represent a very open and vague category. They come in various shapes and sizes.
What are trolls?
Trolls aren’t a race or species, rather they seem to embody a way people behave, a state of mind. Actions define a troll more so than any innate nature.
What specific behaviours were trolls associated with?
Trolls were associated with destructive behaviour as well as witchcraft. Another “trollish” behaviour was the deceased not staying dead, not following basic rules around life and death.
Trolls are frequently associated with magic, sorcery and witchcraft, through they are sometimes (confusingly) both the subject and object of witchcraft.
The word troll can refer to witches or sorcerers or their action. Similar to how Frankenstein now relates to both the Doctor and monster, “troll” can indicate both a magic user and a being created by magic.
Where do you often find trolls and why is this important?
Trolls are found lurking between boundaries (boundary between two realms, between life and death, between human and animal). By straddling these boundaries, they are violating basic and fundamental social contracts, hence they are trolls.
Why are the undead seen as trolls?
The dead are depicted as beings that are very conscious of their possessions. There is an understanding that once you die, you vacate this world. By staying, the undead are violating a fundamental boundary, thus they are exhibiting troll-like behaviour. The undead are beings who want too much → they’re not scary, they just don’t know their place.
How were trolls constructed after Christian conversion?
Trolls were defined as anti-Christian beings that resisted Christianization and withdrew into the wilderness. They were given very specific weaknesses: sunlight and holy sound (church bells).
Trolls, like giants or elves, were given a more specific appearance and identity through the development of taxonomy.
Individual stories about trolls in the 19th century further cemented the particular identity of trolls. Illustrations by artists like Erik Werenskiold locked in this iconography.
