This encyclopaedia tells the adventurous reader about the different monsters and mythical beings that are supposedly roaming the earth. From weaknesses to historical backgrounds, this book tells you everything you need to know about these creatures!
Large, small, smelly, vicious or kind, Norse trolls are one of the most identifiable creatures from mythology and folklore. They frequently appear in the Sagas, although its specific attributes are not always clear.
Origin of Norse Trolls:
It seems complicated to provide a definitive definition for a Norse "troll". In fact, the term troll appears to be interchangeable in Old Icelandic Sagas. Sometimes the Norse troll is denoted as a Jotunn, sometimes as a Risinn, and these names even change when they're referring to the same individual, as if they were synonyms. We don't even know what the word "troll" means, although different proposals have been made by linguists, such as: "tread", "to rush away angrily", "roll", "enchant" or a "stout person."
In Snorri Sturlusson's Edda, the best source we have today for Norse mythology, (and the first recorded encounter with one of these mischievous creatures) the fact does not become entirely clear. In this occurrence, we follow Bragi the Old, who finds a female troll (trollkona) while travelling through a forest, and before he proceeds to present himself as a poet, she merely says:
"They call me Troll; Gnawer of the Moon, Giant of the Gale-blasts, Curse of the rain-hall, Companion of the Sibyl, Night-roaming hag, Swallower of the loaf of heaven. What is a Troll but that?" —Skáldskaparmál
Which does not seem to shed light on the issue. It should be first stated that the complex metaphors of the verses are called kennings, a rhetorical figure and a poetic resource from Old Norse tradition. According to Snorri Sturlusson: "Kennings at their simplest are phrases composed of a base noun qualified by a possessive noun. In the kenning 'icicle of blood', meaning sword, 'icicle' is the base noun and 'of blood' is the qualifier in the possessive. Other examples are 'horse of the sea' for ship, and 'moons of the forehead' for eyes. The raven became 'swan of blood' because it ate the battlefield dead." So, to understand a kenning, it is indispensable a very good knowledge of Old Norse myths and stories, and even then some of its meaning may have been obscured by time and lost to us.
In this case, we find out that perhaps the troll-woman is in good relations with witches, and maybe with the dead and the giants, and that she is not in so good terms with the sun. But we can only wonder about these things.
Rất tiếc! Hình ảnh này không tuân theo hướng dẫn nội dung. Để tiếp tục đăng tải, vui lòng xóa hoặc tải lên một hình ảnh khác.
The Gylfaginning offers a bit more information about trolls. This part of the Edda tells the story of King Gylfi, who dresses as a wanderer named Gangleri to visit the Aesir and question them to find out the source of their power.
When he asks who or what is chasing at the sun, they reply that there are two wolves, the one named Skoll is in pursuit of the sun, and the one named Hati Hrodvitnisson goes in front of them trying to catch the moon.
Gylfi then proceeds to ask what is the origin of these wolves, and so they answer him that there is an old ogress in a forest to the East of Midgard which has many giant sons which resemble wolves, and they come from them.
