Trolls: An Unnatural History, by John Lindow
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Trolls: An Unnatural History, by John Lindow
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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: An Unnatural History, by John Lindow- Amazon Sales Rank: #858120 in Books
- Published on: 2015-09-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x .50" w x 5.50" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 160 pages
Review “With the erudition and wit we have come to expect of his scholarship, Professor Lindow takes the reader on a journey into the complex processes that inform literature and lore—and modern commercial culture. Experienced or novice ‘trollologist,’ you are sure to find this an excellent and richly rewarding read.” (Stephen A. Mitchell, Harvard University)“Excellent overview of the history of trolls. . . . Trolls: An Unnatural History weighs in at only 144 pages but never feels too brief. Lindow takes a long view of his subject matter. . . . To follow a thread throughout 1,000 years of history, in several different countries, is not an easy task. In the hands of someone less knowledgeable and less skilled in presenting their arguments, a book can end up as a mess. Here, Lindow avoids all those traps, instead giving us a coherent, insightful, and informed exploration of a fascinating subject that deserves a wider audience.” (Fortean Times)“You likely won’t find another source for such an in-depth look at trolls, internet comment sections notwithstanding.” (Spectrum Culture)“clever little book. . . . Lindow writes with wit and warmth, but this is also a learned and sometimes unsettling study which brings to light some unexpected facets of the troll phenomenon more generally.” (Times Literary Supplement)
About the Author John Lindow is professor of Scandinavian at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs and Medieval Folklore: A Guide to Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs.
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Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Very enjoyable! By C. Good _Trolls: An Unnatural History_ by John Lindow is a very enjoyable and relatively short book to read. It is all about trolls, as they appear in mythology, epic poems, legends, fairy tales, etc.Overall, I liked the book a lot -- so much that I intend to buy some of the author's other books. However, it is a bit difficult to describe in a review, as the tone jumps a bit between chapters. The Introduction is pretty dry in tone, and discusses trolls as the etymology of the word appears in various languages and discusses the differences and similarities between legends and folk beliefs. The next chapter starts by discussing the first recorded encounters with trolls. Then later chapters become a bit drier again as the author moves into later years when trolls appeared in fairy tales, which are meant to be presented as make-believe, while the earlier epic poems and legends were meant to be presented as things that actually happened.I learned a lot of interesting things along the way, not just about trolls.- There are a lot more old Norse and Icelandic poems in existence than I had realized, and some are still in the process of being translated or re-translated.- Trolls are primarily Scandinavian in nature, and are almost always portrayed as opposed to man and man's civilization.- There was a long period of time when Christianity was slowly converting Scandinavia, and there are many stories about trolls coming into conflict with devout Christians.- There are also occasional stories about people being nice to trolls who asked a favor and finding that, when treated well, they can be quite nice neighbors.- Not all trolls turn to stone in sunlight -- some burst!- Trolls appear in all different shapes and sizes, from man-sized to over 100 feet tall.- They usually don't speak much, although at least one troll poet was encountered in the early epic poems.- There are a couple of chapters about how trolls appear in Scandinavian literature, theater, and fairy tales, and some interesting side notes regarding how Scandinavian legends and fairy tales become popular in Victorian England.- As fairy tales started to become more popular, trolls lost some of their danger and became things like the troll under the bridge that the three billy goats gruff have to overcome.- While the internet term "troll" probably originally referred to the method of fishing known as "trolling", people who try to cause trouble on online forums are still referred to as "trolls" and Lindow thinks that fits pretty well with the original meaning of a creature that is inherently destructive.- There's also a discussion of the little troll dolls that were so popular a couple of decades ago.- And some Scandinavian languages use "troll" as part of other words, often to indicate something or someone that bad, enchanted, or a witch.Because trolls have such a long history and are often shapeshifters, and because the term "troll" became a way to denote anything that was unknown, bad, evil, and destructive, this book is not a folklore taxonomy or spotting guide to types of trolls. It is about the history of trolls.The chapters are:- Introduction- 1 The Earliest Trolls- 2 Medieval Trolls- 3 Folklore Trolls- 4 Fairy-tale Trolls and Trolls Illustrated- 5 Trolls in Literature- 6 Trolls, Children Marketing and Whimsy- Epilogue- Sources and Further Reading- Acknowledgements and Photo Acknowledgments- IndexAgain, a very interesting book to read and one I enjoyed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Mostly about Scandinavian trolls in legend, Old Norse poetry, and folk tales. Some readers will like the book, some will not. By lyndonbrecht This is a book that some readers will like and many will not. It is in its way well-written but it is mostly a discussion of Scandinavian folk tales, Old Norse mythology, with some consideration of trolls in literature and recent trolls tacked on. I rather liked it, particularly Chapter 4 "Fairy Tale Trolls and Trolls Illustrated." Almost all of the book's illustrations are in this section, and they are almost all pen and ink style from Scandinavian artists, some of them wonderful.He starts out with a bit of consideration of trolls as in one sense an experience of the "other" but doesn't develop this very much. Chapter 1 looks at trolls in Old Norse poetry and myth; this poetry is amazingly complex. Chapter 2 looks at medieval trolls, mostly Scandinavian. Chapter 3 considers "folklore" trolls--he differentiates between folk tales and legend, with a definition involving believability, but I don't really see much difference. The legends are mostly older and told, the folk tale types seem to be more recent and some are authored by the likes of Hans Christian Anderson. Chapter 4 is about trolls in fairy tales (mostly authored and not "folk" in that sense) and trolls illustrated. Chapter 5 looks at trolls in literature.. Chapter 6 looks at trolls, children, marketing and whimsy, perhaps one could call it defanged trolls--also mentioned is the most common current use of the word to describe the online phenomenon.The writing is good and the information is interesting, but seems to me to be a bit limited. Surely one could look at trolls and troll-like creatures in say Russian or Japanese culture.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Trolls By Bartok Kinski 73% of Swedish believe in Trolls, 52.8% of Norwegians believe in Trolls, Germans believe in nothing and 89.4% of Americans in Democracy. It is startling to note how very little we've come as a civilization. I don't mind the occasional story of fantasy or myth, so this book is a perfect primer for those who want to learn about Trolls.It is also a myth that Trolls throw snot at people.
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