{"id":1683,"date":"2025-12-02T00:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T23:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/?p=1683"},"modified":"2025-12-02T00:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T23:38:07","slug":"er-trollene-dumme-og-onde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/er-trollene-dumme-og-onde\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the trolls stupid \u2013 and evil?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Kittelsen:<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The trolls in folklore originate from the jotnar. The jotnar were in conflict with the Aesir. They were the arch-enemies, and it was the jotnar who caused all the disasters in connection with Ragnarok. Yet, the jotnar were feared, but also respected.
When Christianity made its entrance, they tried with all their might to 'eradicate both the Aesir, Vanir, and Jotnar.' But the Jotnar and dwarves, who in many ways can be said to represent the forces of nature, lived on in folklore, now as trolls and dwarves. The trolls had become evil and stupid, and the dwarves had become small and lived inside the mountains.
The giants were not stupid and evil in the first place. Odin, the chief god, was half of giant descent. His father, Bor, was the son of the primeval god Bure, who was licked out of the salt stones in Ginnungagap by the primeval cow Audhumla. The saga does not mention anything about Bor's mother, but he was at least married to the giantess Bestla, daughter of the giant Bolthorn. She was then the mother of the trio Odin, V\u00e9, and Vili.
Loki, Odin's friend and blood brother, was of Jotun descent. That is to say, his father, F\u00e1rbauti, was undoubtedly of Jotun lineage, while there are those who claim that his mother, Laufey, was an Aesir. In any case, Loki is considered to be of Jotun descent, yet still respected as an Aesir, and he resides in Asgard. He is Odin's blood brother and Thor's best friend. His relationship with Freyja and Heimdall can probably be said to be a bit more variable.
Another jotunn who resided in \u00c5sg\u00e5rd was M\u00edmir. He was the wisest of all, \u00c6sir, Vanir, and jotnar alike. He was the guardian of the well of wisdom, M\u00edmisbrunnr. Whoever drank from the well gained wisdom. Odin was allowed to drink from the well in exchange for pledging an eye, which was placed in the well. Nevertheless, he had to consult M\u00edmir, later M\u00edmir's head, when important decisions were to be made. M\u00edmir met a somewhat unfortunate fate. War was, as it is now, not an unfamiliar phenomenon. The \u00c6sir and Vanir fought and waged war among themselves. But in the end, they realized that nothing good would come from this fighting. They made peace and sent hostages to each other.
H\u00f8ne and Mime were sent to the Vanir, while Njord and Frey were sent to the Aesir. The Vanir were not entirely satisfied with the exchange. They felt that they had sent more significant hostages to the Aesir than what they had received in return. They cut off Mime's head and sent it back. Odin took care of it, prepared it, and could still speak with it and receive advice. Another Jotun, who perhaps does not exactly live in Asgard since his hall is under the sea, but who is highly respected and frequents good company, is the j\u00f6tunn \u00c6gir, ruler of the sea. He is married to Ran, a personification of the sea. It is not clear whether she is an Aesir or a j\u00f6tunn, but as a personification of the sea, she is probably a j\u00f6tunn as well.
Among other Jotuns, those who lived in Jotunheimen, can be mentioned Trym, the one who stole Thor's hammer and demanded Freya in exchange. Quite a crude guy, but still not particularly intelligent. His morals could probably be described as questionable. Utg\u00e5rdsloke could probably be described as a trickster. A big trickster. When Thor and his companions were on their way to Trym, they found a cave where they spent the night. The cave had two rooms, one large and one small. When they got up the next morning, they saw that the cave was actually a mitten. Utg\u00e5rdsloke\u2019s mitten. He tricked Thor into breaking backs with Elle, the personification of old age, drinking from the sea in a drinking contest, and trying to lift the Midgard Serpent, believing it was a cat. The Jotun Tjaste tried to kidnap Idunn, but it went badly for him. He was burned by Odin and killed by Thor. Then we have the giant Rugne. Not particularly intelligent, but considered the strongest of all the Jotuns. His buddy, Mokkurkalv, large and incredibly strong, is by some considered a Jotun. He was as dumb as a loaf of bread and besides, cowardly and easily frightened, but was, after all, an artificial figure, built by the giants to participate in a duel against Thor and Thjalve. Unfortunately, they had made the mistake of giving him a mare's heart. When he saw Thor, he was utterly terrified. He was then killed by an arrow from Thjalve. By the way, it can be mentioned that Thjalve and his sister Roskva were neither Aesir, Vanir, nor giants. They were humans.
The giant Vavtrudne was considered very wise and knowledgeable. Odin was anxious that Vavtrudne might turn out to be wiser than himself. He therefore disguised himself, called himself the Wanderer, and went to Vavtrudne to try to trap him in a contest of knowledge. But Vavtrudne matched him freely and was equal in knowledge. Finally, the Wanderer asked, 'What words did Odin whisper in the ear of the dead Bragi as he lay on the funeral pyre?' Then Vavtrudne had to give up and answered, 'No one knows what your son said in your ear in ancient times.' With this, he admitted defeat, but also revealed that he had seen through Odin's disguise.
As one can see, the trolls were neither evil nor stupid. Some were, but the same was true for the \u00c6sir (we probably can't exclude humans from that either). There was a mutual respect between the races. There was extensive interaction between the clans. That lasted all the way until Ragnarok, that is. And Ragnarok, we are still waiting for.
It is only when Christianity makes its entrance that the trolls become evil. Partly, the \u00c6sir are also counted among the wicked and fought against with harsh clerical hands. The ancient Norwegians were not particularly literary. It was the oral storytelling tradition that prevailed. They had the runes, but these were not particularly suitable for writing history or long explanations. They were mostly used to carve witty sayings into stone or wood.
Most of the Norse mythology as we know it was written down from the 1100s onwards. With Christian pens. Snorri Sturluson, who is perhaps the greatest contributor to what we now know, was a Christian. This has naturally had an influence. Even though Snorri might be considered a dedicated historian, some Christian bias probably shines through in his writings.
Otherwise, the priests did what they could to eradicate both jotnar, \u00c6sir, trolls, Vanir, both overworldly and underworldly beings. There was supposed to be only one god, Christ, who mattered. By the way, that was why the Christians were unpopular in ancient Rome. It wasn\u2019t because of the one god. The Romans already believed in many gods, and one more \u2013 well, they could probably tolerate that. But when all the old gods were to be exterminated and the new god was to be in charge \u2013 not just in charge, but the one and only. Yes, that was unbearable. And furthermore, a god who demanded submission and asceticism and threatened eternal suffering, in contrast to the Romans\u2019 more human-like gods with their flaws, their jealousy, their appetite for relationships with humans, and their sense of festivity and celebration.
The old royal candidates, the Olavs, Tryggvason and Haraldsson, probably considered Christianity as a suitable tool to subdue the old Norwegians. Both farmers and fishermen and Vikings. They had probably learned from the emperor in Byzantium. Constantine the Great who quietly introduced Christianity to the Roman Empire and used it to patch together a crumbling Roman Empire and to consolidate power with the emperor. It was Constantine who convened the Church Council in Nicaea (in the year 325) where they fairly agreeably decided what they were supposed to believe. At a later church council in Carthage in the year 397, it was agreed which books should be included in the Bible. Well, this is perhaps somewhat disputed whether it really was in Carthage, some believe it was earlier, but for now, we\u2019ll stick with Carthage.
Christianity in the Nordic countries was introduced with a heavy hand and with a sword in hand. Or an axe. Many were given the choice of either being baptized or losing their farm, land, and life. And their descendants. Only the most powerful could resist for a while longer. And those who lived far away, like Erik the Red in Greenland. His son, Leif the Lucky, the Vinland Explorer, paid a visit to Norway and there he had to be baptized.
Since then, it followed blow after blow, with tithes, witch burnings, and all the way up to our times with various ignoble actions with Christian intent and corresponding approval, against the population in the northernmost parts of the country, the Sami.
The old Norwegians were tough and brutal. So were their gods. But, like the gods of both the Romans and Greeks, they were more human, had flaws, were jealous and vengeful. They were perhaps not as eager to mate with humans as the more hot-blooded Mediterranean gods. It is possible that the j\u00f6tunn women were more interesting in that regard.
One cannot help but wonder, would we not have been just as well taken care of by trolls and giants, gods and dwarves as by Christianity. Not to be understood as wishing for the old times, nor for Norse paganism, to return. Surely no one with most of their wits about them does. The world has moved on. We have different norms for human relationships, we can explain lightning and thunder without having to resort to thunder gods.
But the strange thing is: many, among them presumably intelligent people, firmly believe that Jesus will come back, that he will judge both the living and the dead. Not based on their deeds, but on whether they have prayed enough for forgiveness, whether they have shown enough gratitude. Almost something Trumpish about it all (couldn't help myself). In addition, they believe that we, in order to appease their deity, should implement the same laws and rules of conduct that applied in the regions of the eastern Mediterranean over 2000 years ago.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trollene i folketroen stammer fra jotnene. Jotnene l\u00e5 i kamp med \u00c6sene. De var erkefienden og det var jotnene som for\u00e5rsaket alle ulykkene i forbindelse med Ragnarok. Men likevel, jotnene var fryktet, men likevel respektert.Da kristendommen gjorde sitt inntog fors\u00f8kte … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-livet-og-alt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1685,"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683\/revisions\/1685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bjorngrande.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}