Family Life and Government
Family Life
Trolls live in harmony with extended families. To the outside eye, their
environment may look disheveled and in discord but, to trolls, the life
is quite pleasant. They are protectors of the natural environment but
their own environment can be either littered or lavishly decorated with
gold, silver and jewels that have been molded into beautiful pieces
of furniture, utensils or ornaments.
Most trolls are bachelors although many marry. The wives are as ugly
as the husbands but because of the splinters in trolls’ eyes,
they see each other as beautiful and handsome.Troll wives are called
troll hags and tend to be a bit smarter and somewhat smaller than their
husbands.
Babies tend to be very difficult to deal with during the day because
often they will cry throughout the day when troll hags are trying to
sleep. Occasionally, the mothers will take their children to a human’s
house and exchange them for a human baby because human babies cry at
night. The only way a human mom can retrieve her child is by putting
the troll baby outside the barn. The troll mom, hearing the wails of
her child, often takes pity on its child and returns the human child
to collect her own.(D'Aulaires 1972)
Troll children are rowdy. Young trolls throw things and are general
nuisances to people.(McKenzie 1994) They scream, fight and yell. Breaking
toys is common as well as yanking things away from others. Filthy, dirty
and weepy are adjectives that describe the children. (LeGuin 1992)
Cooking is a favorite activity for troll hags. They have long crooked
noses that are sometimes used to stir soup and porridge. Trolls can
go for long periods without eating but they enjoy having goats, oxen,
cows, and other animals for their meals.(18802 1998) Pig snouts, bear
tails and sour cream pudding are other favorites.(D'Aulaires 1972) When
a group of trolls sits down for a meal, the old troll always chooses
his food first while the others wait until he is finished.
Pets are common in a troll household. Large black troll cats with gleaming
eyes can be found as well as troll-cocks with green and purple feathers
that crow when the sun sets. Troll Steeds are huge animals with nostrils
that spurt flames. Running with great speed and agility, they can often
catch most horses used by humans to escape from trolls.
Government
Troll kings are the richest of the trolls. They sit on thrones made
of gold and silver and have their couriers around them. Trolls tie bows
and knots in their tails to raise their status in the group as the more
knots present in a tail, the higher the rank of the troll. Ribbons raise
their standing as well.(Davis 1997)
Bibliography
18802, T. t. (1998). "Special Symbols-Trolls." 2.
D'Aulaires (1972). D'Aulaires' Trolls. Garden City, New York, Doubleday
and Company, Inc.
Davis, G. (1997). Norse Trolls--Montrous Foes for Viking Adventure,
The GURPS Newsletter.
LeGuin, U. K. (1992). A Ride on the Red Mare's Back. New York, Orchard
Books.
McKenzie, E. K. (1994). Under the Bridge. New York, Henry Holt and Company,
Inc.
