Roar Uthaug’s Netflix film, “Troll,” follows a colossal monster that shows up on the face of the earth after a massive drilling explosion in the Dovre Mountains. The creature soon becomes an alarming threat to the government; it tries its best to stop the creature at all costs before it brings about death and destruction. Nora Tidemann, a paleobiologist by profession, is called by the authorities to deal with the situation and the film from hereon explores Nora’s struggles as she tries to understand the origins of the Troll monster in order to stop it. The topic of discussion here is the gigantic creature, the troll, that is the main conflict of Roar Uthaug’s film. So what really is a troll? Are they for real? Do scientists have any clue about a troll’s existence in the past? Well, though there is no scientific evidence to prove their existence, Norse folklore does mention these gigantic creatures. However, this folklore has been passed from generation to generation, so much of the narrative has lost its authenticity and can be deemed utterly fictional. People pass on their own perceptions and experience, and thus we have many accounts of the same narrative. If we go to the roots of folklore, then the last known details about the origin of Trolls and how they waged war against humanity go back to the 8th century. It was the time of the Christianization of Norway when the trolls emerged, as described in folklore. Trolls were believed to be the enemies of Christianity. They tried hard to stop the Norwegian people from converting to Christianity, and to do that; they even attacked the people. But, as the kings started believing in the doctrines of Christianity and rejected the Norse religion once and for all, it was hard for the trolls to do anything about it. So, when the churches were built, the trolls started throwing stones at them to crush their faith. The folklore even stated that the trolls started hunting for Christian blood, and once found, they started eating the humans who changed their faith. But why would they do such a thing? Why did a troll hate Christianity?
The Trolls And The Christianization Of Norway
Before talking about what happened in the 8th century, let’s find out how the trolls lived at that time. Trolls, as described in some folklore, were of two kinds, i.e., Trogre and Troblins. Trogre is trolls that look like giant ogres and have an eternal hatred towards Christians. Troblins were highly respected in Scandinavian folklore. They were not as large as Trogre, but they were still incredibly huge in size. They liked to stay in isolated places with their families. In other folktales, it is believed that the Trogre were the ancestors of Ymin or Jotunns. In the Norse poems, Ymir is often considered to be the enemy of the gods who live in Asgard and also of humanity as well. Ymir is mentioned in “Attack On Titans” as well. We can see the titan form Ymir takes in the anime show is almost an ogre-like structure. Anyway, because Ymir held a grudge against the Asgardian gods and the human race, its ancestor Trogre carried on the family tradition of waging war against gods and humans. This became awfully devastating when Christianization began in Norway. In a way, all these tales justify the troll’s anger against Christianity.
The Story Behind the Troll Skeletons in the Film
As mentioned in the film, in earlier times, it was believed to be good luck to destroy a king’s palace and build the new Royal Palace in that spot. Now, we see Rikard Sinding showing Nora the home of the Troll king. The Royal Palace was built by destroying the Troll King’s home. Not only that, Saint Olaf started removing everything and everyone from the land that was not suitable for the newly established faith, which was Christianity. Olaf also knew that, even for the Trolls, nothing was more important than their families. So, he planned an ambush that led to the complete destruction of the Mountain King, the king of the Trolls. However, the followers of the faith spared the life of one of the Mountain King’s children and took him to the far lands of Dovre, deep into the mountains. They imprisoned the troll in a cavern and left it there to die. So, the skeletons that were shown by Rikard Sinding were the Troll King’s family. It was blind faith that made Olaf take the lives of the innocent Trolls, as shown in the film.
Were There More Trolls Hidden In The Mountains Of Dovre? Did The Growl Mean Something?
In the post-credit scene, we witnessed another troll waking up from the rubble. Well, if we consider Sinding’s words, then the troll we see in the post-credit scene can never be related to the trolls we see throughout the film. As he had mentioned, only one child was taken from the Troll King and hidden in the mountains of Dovre. So, the troll who died in the film was definitely the child of the Troll King, as he was eager to return to his home, the cave under the Royal Palace. So, who was the other troll? Well, there is one single possibility. There were definitely other trolls who had hidden from Olaf’s wrath. As the news of the death of the Troll King traveled fast, they decided to hide in the mountains. Since these Trolls could easily camouflage themselves and were hard to spot, they remained lost to the world for centuries. If this is true, then many can assume the troll in the post-credit scene is the Troll King’s grandson or someone like that. Whatever it is, the main possibility is that the troll we saw dying might have called for the other trolls around the world. Maybe this explains the growling throughout the film. Perhaps the troll was trying to make contact with the other trolls. The final troll we saw was maybe responding to the growl, and now there will definitely be more trolls if there is a sequel.
The Tale Of The 13 Drunk Trolls
The Tale of the 13 drunk Trolls proves the existence of more trolls in the film’s universe. According to the folktale, there was a large troll wedding where 13 drunk trolls lost track of time, and when the sun came up, they all turned into stones and eventually became mountains as centuries passed by. As per the film, a troll is believed to be made of earth and stone. Their hearts were snow-clad, and their bones were made of ice. So, their destruction was only possible if they came in direct contact with the sunlight. Obviously, then, their snowy hearts and icy bones would be melted. That is why they preferred staying in the darkness. Whenever they came into contact with direct sunlight, their body started to perish or, in other words, they turned into piles of stones or mountains. So, if we believe the tale of the 13 drunk Trolls is true, then there should be at least 13 of them still out there somewhere, most likely in the Dovre Mountains. If there is a sequel, we will know whether this theory holds or not. Until then, let’s just assume there aren’t many trolls, as Norway doesn’t see much sunlight.
“Troll” is a 2022 fantasy sci-fi thriller directed by Roar Uthaug.
