When more than ten thousand years ago people settled in Norway, quickly discovered, that the country was already inhabited. Some strange creatures got there earlier. Dwarfs lived under the mounds and in the houses. Fossegrimen lived in rivers and waterfalls, and in black, The bottomless ponds were ruled by Nokken. But it was in the mountains that the worst of all lived. Unpleasant trolls.
Trolls looked like humans, but they only had four fingers and toes, long noses and cow-like tails. Some trolls were huge, they often had trees or other, moss-like sprouted on the head and in the nose. Others were very small. Two trolls were also seen- and three-headed, and some had only one eye in the center of their forehead. They were all very ancient.
You could only see them at night or at dusk, because trolls hated daylight. If they didn't take refuge in the mountains before sunrise, cracked and turned to stone. Here and there in Norway, you can see many such petrified trolls, for example Trolltindene in Romsdal and Svolvsergeita in Lofoten.
The troll's anger was limitless. That's why it was important, to maintain a peaceful relationship with them. May the gods protect the peasant, who did not show the trolls due respect! He exposed himself and his possessions to plague and destruction. That is why the peasant offered them a full bowl of porridge every Christmas Eve, and the porridge was always eaten.
Trolls weren't just passionate, but also very strong and could throw boulders at churches and other things, which they did not like.
In this way, the trolls left their marks on the ground, which were taken as "evidence" of their existence.
One of the greatest dangers of encountering a troll was being taken deep into the mountain. From kidnapped people, some were held in captivity for only a few minutes or hours, and others never returned. Trolls were evil and dangerous, but people found a certain alleviating quality in them. They were so stupid, that they almost caused pity.
In the drama, a poem by Henryk Ibsen Peer Gynt z 1867 year, we meet the king of trolls, Dovregubben, who, in fact, was not as stupid as the other trolls. Currently, we know trolls mainly from legends, folk legends and ballads, especially from the Norwegian folk tales Norske folkeeventyr z 1844 year, written by AsbjornsenaiMoe.
Troll in Hunderfossen Family Park, which lies in Gudbrandsdalen, north of Lillehammer. These low-profile trolls invite you to the top of the Trollstigen road.
Nature itself provided food for belief in the existence of trolls, which often introduces a magical mood.
Eventually, people were allowed to post troll warning signs along Trollstigen Road! Winter morning in the mountain forest.