For centuries, the myths of trolls have fascinated and frightened people young and old. Originating in the time of the Vikings, trolls have been constant figures of mythology since the very first troll story. Their lore has evolved and developed over time, but their representations, especially across Scandinavian culture, have lasted to the present day. This book explains the history of troll lore throughout the ages, examines other troll folktales from around the world, and even explores how the troll persists in today’s society.

Trolls are the fiercest, ugliest, and most feared creatures in Scandinavian mythology. They live under bridges, in mountains, and deep forests--but no matter where they reside, they have always presented a threat to humans who cross their path. Besides learning the history behind troll folklore, readers will hear the most frightening of the old tales and see how new types of trolls are still found in literature, gaming, and movies.

The internationally acclaimed artists & authors are your personal guides to the enchanted world of Trolls in this book of troll tales and culture. Not since Brian Froud’s conceptual design work with Jim Henson on the classic films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth has he created a faerie world with such imagination, dimension, depth, and detail. Trolls opens a new realm in the celebrated faerie worlds of famed artists Brian and Wendy Froud, renowned for their vast and personal knowledge of faeries, goblins, and other folk. Through their art, sculptures, and stories, the Frouds take you on a wonderous adventure into the world of trolls. Trolls live through the telling of tales and the passing on of stories, weaving them together, then letting them flow separately again, as streams, rivers, tree roots, and branches do. Stories, as they are collected, are tied to a troll’s tail: “A tale for the asking, the giving, the keeping.” Trolls includes stories of stone and bone, wood and feather, along with tale fragments, snippets of stories to be told in full down the road or ones that have been lost and are to be remembered again. Interspersed among the stories are troll customs, philosophies, and practices: How many kinds of trolls are there? Where do they live, and what do they like to eat? Why do some trolls father together while others seek solitude? Troll lore is interwoven with a vast treasure of artifacts and symbols of their world, from the wind knot to the Petrified Parsnip Poetry Pen, from the witch’s cursing bundle to the elusive Earthling Gift. Your journey through Trolls will reveal many mysteries, wonder, and enchantments, and there are no better guides for your adventure than Brian and Wendy Froud.

Trolls lurk under bridges waiting to eat children, threaten hobbits in Middle-Earth, and invade the dungeons of Hogwarts. Often they are depicted as stupid, slow, and ugly creatures, but they also appear as comforting characters in some children’s stories or as plastic dolls with bright, fuzzy hair. Today, the name of this fantastic being from Scandinavia has found a wider reach: it is the word for the homeless in California and slang for the antagonizing and sometimes cruel people on the Internet. But how did trolls go from folktales to the World Wide Web? To explain why trolls still hold our interest, John Lindow goes back to their first appearances in Scandinavian folklore, where they were beings in nature living beside a preindustrial society of small-scale farming and fishing. He explores reports of actual encounters with trolls—meetings others found plausible in spite of their better judgment—and follows trolls’ natural transition from folktales to other domains in popular culture. Trolls, Lindow argues, would not continue to appeal to our imaginations today if they had not made the jump to illustrations in Nordic books and Scandinavian literature and drama. From the Moomins to Brothers Grimm and Three Billy Goats Gruff to cartoons, fantasy novels, and social media, Lindow considers the panoply of trolls that surround us and their sometimes troubling connotations in the contemporary world. Taking readers into Norwegian music and film and even Yahoo Finance chat rooms, Trolls is a fun and fascinating book about these strange creatures.

Trolls are often depicted as vile tricksters and enemies of humanity. The authors in this volume move beyond these stereotypes to bring us trolls in a variety of settings and situations. Herein the trolls are good and evil, villain and hero, literal or of the new cyber variety - dark tales with unexpected twists and turns.

'Tis the season for treachery: The Earl of Somerset is throwing a lavish Christmas feast, a revel above all others to celebrate the holiday. But the Dark Powers have chosen this joyous time to launch a massive offensive. An army of land-hungry trolls has laid siege outside the Earl's fortress, while a nest of venomous traitors waits to hatch its deadly plan from the inside. Now Sir James, the brave Dragon Knight, must fight a battle unlike any he has ever known - a battle no man, knight or dragon can win. Not even if he is all three in one.

Explores the characters of fantasy & folklore and places them in historical context.

This internationally acclaimed winner of the Finlandia Award is “a brilliant and dark parable about the fluid boundaries between human and animal” (The Boston Globe). Angel, a young photographer, comes home from a night of carousing to find a group of drunken teenagers in the courtyard of his apartment building, taunting a wounded, helpless young troll. He takes it in, not suspecting the dramatic consequences of this decision. What does one do with a troll in the city? As the troll’s presence influences Angel’s life in ways he could never have predicted, it becomes clear that the creature is the familiar of man’s most forbidden feelings. A novel of sparkling originality, Troll is a wry, beguiling story of nature and man’s relationship to wild things, and of the dark power of the wildness in ourselves. “[An] imaginative and engaging novel of urban fantasy . . . The stuff of ancient legend shadows with rather unnerving precision the course of unloosed postmodern desire.” —Chris Lehmann, The Washington Post Book World

Hilda and William leave for another vacation, some time away. Knowing the witch and her wizardly partner, this will end up in work of course. Tremors, flower witches, dwarves and trolls are only some of the elements that will turn this trip into yet an unforgettable one for the magical couple who will also have a few fun surprises along the way!