Three Ravens Bestiary #15: Trolls

For this week's Bonus Episode, we're wandering wild places to explore the history and folklore of Trolls, which, though they sound pretty ancient, are a surprisingly modern folkloric creation!

We start off chatting about the modern perception of Trolls, including the quite sinister online iteration we all know as the "Internet Troll" and the mass-produced toys, invented in the 1950s, now an animated film franchise more associated with pop music than pagan fiendishness.

Then though, we wind back the clock, discussing how Trolls first appear on record, in scant scraps of Old Norse, and start to discover a problem: that Trolls were not 'one thing' but actually a whole class of kinds of things, the word used interchangeable with several others, with associations ranging from incest to kidnapping to the moving of mountains.

Thankfully, as we track across time, we explain how and why Trolls came into clearer focus, particularly as a counterpoint to Christian Scandinavians.

From the formation of nations such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden through to the Enlightenment era, during which Trolls almost become a kind a ghost, through to the 19th and 20th centuries, it emerges that Trolls have become a symbols capable of representing very different ideas over time.

So, is a Troll the same thing as a werewolf? At some points, yes! How about a form of Giant? Absolutely, but not always.

With answers to these questions and many others, including the links between Trolls and street walkers, their associations with barrow tombs, and the reasons why they're so scared of church bells, it's a stranger episode of the Three Ravens Bestiary than most.

Nonetheless, we hope you really enjoy it, and as the spring sun starts to shine, know that you're safe from Troll-kind so long as you stay well out of dark and savage places...

The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?

Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

Three Ravens is a myth and folklore podcast hosted by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux.

In each Monday episode we explore a historic county, digging into heritage, folklore and traditions, then we tell a new version of a legend from that county. Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays and Saturdays.

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