Troll: A supernatural creature of Scandinavian folklore, often described as living in caves or under bridges.
Nordic Mythology: Trolls have a special place in Scandinavian history and culture, even today they have a visible presence which can be spotted in countries like Norway, Iceland, and Sweden. From the written work of H.A. Guerber, Myths of the Norsemen, From the Eddas and Sagas, provided is the story of a troll who was put to work to erect a church;
The Legend of Kallundborg
Healva, daughter of the Lord of Nesveck, was loved by Esberne Snare, whose suit, however, was rejected by the proud father with the scornful words: "When thou shalt built at Kallundborg a stately church, then will I give thee Helva to wife."
Now Esbern, although of low estate, was proud of heart, even as the lord, and he determined, come what might, to find a way to win his coveted bride. So off he strode to a troll in Ullshoi Hill, and effected a bargain, whereby the troll undertook to build a fine church, on completion of which Esbern was to tell the builder's name or forfeit his eyes and heart.
Night and day the troll wrought on, and as the building took shape, sadder grew Esbern Snare. He listened at the of the hill by night; he watched during the day; he wore to a shadow by an anxious thought; he besought the elves to aid him. All to no purpose. Not a sound did he hear, not a thing did he see, to suggest the name of the builder.
Meantime, rumour was busy, and the fair Helva, hearing of the evil compact, prayed for the soul of the unhappy man. Time passed until one day the church lacked only one pillar, and worn out by black despair, Esbern sank exhausted upon a bank, whence he heard the troll hammering the last stone in the quarry underground. "Fool that I am," he said bitterly, "I have built my tomb."
Just then, he heard a light footstep, and looking up, he beheld his beloved. "Would that I might die in thy stead," she said, through her tears, and with that Esbern confessed how that for love of her he had imperilled eyes and soul.
Then fast as the troll hammered underground, Helva prayed beside her lover, and the prayers of the maiden prevailed over the spell of the troll, for suddenly Esbern caught the sound of a troll-wife singing to her infant, bidding it to be comforted, for that, on the morrow, Father Fine would return bringing a mortal's eyes and heart.
Sure of his victim, the troll hurried to Kallundborg with the last stone. "Too late, Fine!" quoth Esbern, and at the word, the troll vanished with his stone, and it is said that the peasants heard at night the sobbing of a woman underground, and the voice of the troll loud with blame.
Guerber also writes of stony mountain tops in Norway, where two groups of trolls were engaged in a fight, known as the Peaks of the Trolls;
"Naturally, traditions of the little folk abound everywhere throughout the North, and many places are associated with their memory. The well-known Peaks of the Trolls (Trold-Tindterne) in Norway are said to be the scene of a conflict between two bands of trolls, who in the eagerness of combat omitted to note the approach of sunrise, with the result that they were changed into the small points of rock which stand up noticeably upon the crests of the mountain."
Sweden: In the written work by Alexander Porteous, The Forest in Folklore and Mythology, he writes of the myth of the Trollman;
"A Swedish superstition says that in the case of the theft, the victim appealed to a Trollman, or a cunning man, who carved a figure on a young tree. He then muttered potent spells to invoke the aid of the Devil, and finally drove a sharp instrument into the eye of the figure, the belief being that at the same moment, a corresponding injury would befall the eye of the thief."
Porteous writes of a clan of female trolls;
"Mr. S. Baring-Gould gives a similar Norse legend relating to one Helgi, who when exploring a forest came upon a party of red-dressed women riding upon red horses. These ladies were beautiful, but were Trolls. Helgi lived with them for three days, and then went home. After a time he was again featched away one winter night, and for many years, resided with the Trolls in the mysterious abode of Gloesisvellir. By aid of the prayers of King Olaf he was finally released, but was blind."
Ralph Waldo Emerson said the following about Trolls;
"The Scandinavian fancied himself surrounded by Trolls-a kind of goblin men with vast power of work and skilfull production-divine stevedores, carpenters, reapers, smiths and masons, swift to reward every kindness done to them, with gifts of gold and silver. In all English history this dream comes to pass. Certain Trolls or working brains, under the names of Alfred, Bede, Caxton, Bracton, Camden, Drake, Selden, Dugdale, Newton, Gibbon, Brindley, Watt, Wedgwood, dwell in the troll-mounts of Britain and turn the sweat of their face to power and renown."
In The Golden Bough by James Frazer, he writes of another Swedish reference which involved a Troll and a group of ploughman;
"A Norwegian story relates how once upon a time a Troll so bewitched some men who were ploughing in a field that they could not drive a straight furrow; only one of the ploughmen was able to resist the enchantment because by good luck, his plough was made out of a 'flying rowan.' In Sweden, too, the flying-rowan is used to make the divining rod, which discovers hidden treasures."
Frazer also writes of the Mid-summer fires in Sweden that were burnt in order to expel Trolls and other evil spirits.
"In parts of Norrland, on St John's Eve the bonfires are lit at the cross-roads. The fuel consists of nine different sorts of wood, and the spectators cast into the flames of a kind of toad-stool (Baran) in order to counteract the power of the Trolls and other evil spirits, who are believed to be abroad that night; for that mystic season the mountains open and from their cavernous depths the uncanny crew pours forth to dance and disport themselves for a time. The peasants believe that should any of the Trolls be in the vicinity they will shew themselves; and if an animal, for example, a he or she-goat happens to be seen near the blazing, crackling pile, the peasants are firmly persuaded that it is no other than the Evil Eye in person."