Monday, April 23, 2012

T is for Troll

Trolls come from Norse and Scandanavian folklore. In some regions, they were said to look just like humans, while others claimed they were ugly, dull-witted, and could turn to stone in the sun. Tolkien, of course, used trolls in The Hobbit, while other writers like J.K. Rowling and Nancy Farmer have used trolls as monsters (in very different ways).

8 comments:

  1. Trolls! I love trolls! I remember hearing a story when I was very young about trolls that lived under a bridge, and if I remember correctly, it was called "Three Billy Goats Gruff." I remember that it terrified me and I would hide my head under the pillow, but I would ask to hear it over and over again!

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    1. I love the "Three Billy Goats Gruff," although I haven't told it to my children yet...of course, my older son would be the troll!

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  2. Remember those Troll dolls, with the frizzy hair? They came in all sorts of colors. I never really liked them, they kind of creeped me out.

    To this day, trolls of any kind tend to creep me out. But then, when you say "Troll", I automatically picture either those freaky dolls or that thing in Stephen King's "Cat's Eye" that steals children's breath. I'm drawing a blank on any "good" trolls I might know...

    ~Lynn
    http://www.acommonsea.com

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    1. Nancy Farmer has some good ones, if I recall right. And they're the ones who look more monstrous. Those dolls were creepy, though!

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  3. One of my favorite lines in LOTR (the movies) is in the mines of Moria, the resigned way Aragorn says "They have a cave troll".

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    1. I love the way he says that, too. I need to re-watch those!

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