Troll, Elves & Giants

**Marzipan** · 10-23-2016, 05:19 PM

I would like to dedicate this thread to everything Troll, Elves, and Giants. My intention is to have this thread to be interactive. Posts can be poems, stories, drawings, videos, even articles and newspaper clippings, landmarks and anything I have forgotten to mention.

Ok, I will begin:

From Norway

The Old Troll And The Handshake

There was once a man who went up on Skorve - a big mountain - to look for his horse, but he db could not find it. Then, all at once, a thick fog surrounded him, so he could not seehis hand in front of his face. But suddenly, as he was walking, he came out into a green field. He thought this was strange because he knew his way around the mountain well, and he had never seen anything but rockpiles and boggy hollows there before. A little farther on, he came to a farm with many buildings, just like any other farm. Outside he saw an old man, who was down on his knees, cutting and chopping wood. Our man went over to him and asked if he had seen anything about a horse.

"Ask my father, " said the old fellow. "He's sitting inside by the hearth."

The man went in, and there he saw a very old fellow who sat in front of the hearth, cooking bacon on a stick. His head jerked to and fro, and his hands shook, and he looked like a dry fir tree full of lichens. The man asked about his horse which was gone. But he replied, "Ask my father, he's hanging in the horn on the wall." The man looked over at the wall, and there hung a mighty big horn, and in the horn was a man who was so old that he could neither see nor walk.

"Oh, poor you, " said the man in the horn, "you're looking for your horse. We had to take it and shut it in, for it got into our field; but it hasn't suffered any harm. But where are you from? "

"From Seljord," said the man.

"Are folk from Seljord just as strong now as they were in the old days. Give me your hand so I can see if there's still marrow in your fingers, " said the old one in the horn. But the one that was sitting by the hearth said that if the Seljord man wanted his hand back in one piece afterward he should hand the old fellow in the horn an iron bar that was standing there. He did so, and the old fellow squeezed the iron bar so hard that water oozed out of it.

"Ha!" he said. "There's nothing but ewe's milk in the fingers of folk from Seljord nowadays. It was different in the old days. Haven't you ever heard of me? I'm called Skaane, and I'm the one who built Seljord Church for St. Olav. I was living in Bringsaas then, but when the big bell came in the church, I had to move. I was strong, but St. Olav was stronger than me."

When the Seljord man was leaving, they warned him not to look behind him but hurry back the same way he had come. His horse had become so fat and fine that it fairly shone. "Thanks for the loan," said the old fellow. "Thanks yourself, " said the man, and seating himself on the horse he said, "Now, in God's name then." But, when he turned to look around, he saw nothing but the big mountain, and it was as black and grey as it always had been.

**Marzipan** · 11-02-2016, 10:49 PM

**Marzipan** · 11-06-2016, 08:10 PM

From Denmark

The Girl And The Elf King

In the woods of Bogø, everybody's livestock grazed on the common. The dairymaids went together to milk the cows, and when they were done, they always walked back together.

But one day when they were on their way home, they discovered that one of the girls was missing. She did not answer, no matter how much they called. They finally found her, sitting alone and bewildered by Elves' Moor. They had barely gotten her home, when she told them that she had met a handsome man. He had asked her to be his sweetheart, and she had been charmed by him and could not get away. He had told her not to answer when the other girls called.

After that she had to go to Elves' Moor every day. But someone gave her the advice that when the elf king came, she should say three times:

"Turn around so that I can see whether you are the same in the back as in front."

At their next meeting she did that, and then she saw that he was hollow in the back, and shouted:

"No, for shame, you are hollow like a baking trough."

Then the elf king walked away and left her in peace.

**~~AphroditeWorshiper~~** · 11-11-2016, 12:18 AM

I like the Elf look from Elder Scrolls

the new God of War is based in Norse mythology, I like the Troll/Giant look

**Norse** · 11-11-2016, 12:20 AM

**Neon Knight** · 11-11-2016, 12:36 AM

**Marzipan** · 11-17-2016, 08:30 PM

From Sweden (it is believed to be originated from Germany)

Where Are You Going, Killkrack?

Källmo is the name of a farm in the southern part of our parish. Once, a woman gave birth there. It was customary to place steel in the cradle of the newborn child, but this time they forgot.

Well, the mother was alone in her bed and the child in its cradle. All the others were gone. A beautiful woman appeared, and she took the child and put another in its place. It was a boy, big, and coarse. They said it was a changeling because it never learned to talk.

A wise man advised them to take the changeling to the church and have the minister baptize it. On their way to the church, they crossed over Klippkrön, which is a nearby hill. Then they heard someone shouting from Kummel-Hill, a little ways off:

"Where are you going, Killkrack?"

"I'm going to church to become a better person," answered the changeling, who had never talked before.

Then they turned around, and they never did bring it to the church.

A Finn woman told them to put the changeling on the floor and sweep three Thursday nights in a row. The third Thursday they were to take the changeling and the sweepings and place them out on the garbage heap. They did this, and after a short while, the beautiful woman reappeared, holding their child. She put it in the cradle and took her own back.

"Here is your baby," she said, "I never treated it as badly as you've treated mine."

**Kazimiera** · 11-23-2016, 08:49 PM

Source: http://www.messagetoeagle.com/the-re...w26U5.facebook

Be careful and watch your steps when you enter the realms of Jötunheimr, the home of the fearful giants in Norse mythology. You might think twice before undertaking a journey to this dark, inhospitable place surrounded by dark forests and mountain peaks. Even the most courageous Norse Gods feared this place where winter never sleeps.

Jötunheimr was the dwelling place of the giants, (Old Norse Jötnar). It was one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology. It was also know as also known as Utgard which means “Beyond the Fence.”

According to ancient myths and legends, the first living being that walked the Earth was a Jotun called Ymir and it was from him the world was created.

Since there was no fertile land where Jötunheimr was located, the giants lived from the the fish in the water, and the animals from the dense forests.

The superhuman fearful giants living in Jötunheimr were enemies of the Aesir gods and goddesses and there were frequent battles between the two races. Nonetheless, three Jotun giants did enter the Aasgard, the realm of the Norse gods and they were accepted. These giants three were Aegit, Loki, also know as the Trickster God and Karl.

Norse myths and legends tell that Asgard was separated by the river Irving which never freezes, but is always flowing. This world is located in the snowy regions of the furthest shores of the ocean. The well of wisdom, Mimir, is located beneath the Midgard root of the Tree of Life. It’s the well of Jötunheimr.

The old presence of the Old Norse Gods, goddess and giants can still be felt throughout entire Scandinavia. Many places are named after places and beings that played a vital role in myths and legends.

Jotun Mountains, Norway

In Norway, there is a mountain called Jotunheimen (the home of the giants). Jøtunheimen was the name given to this mountain area by the Norwegian author Aasmund Olavsson Vinje in 1862, under the inspiration of the wild landscape and Norse mythology. The Jotuns — trolls — have their home here. Jøtunheimen later became Jotunheimen, which is the name still used for this magnificent mountain area.