They hide under bridges and melt into dark forest shadows. They are ugly, menacing and vaguely though evanescently humanoid. They are the glimmers of shape — human shape? — that you were certain you saw out of the corner of your eye yet are gone when you look more closely.
There are any number of such strange, possibly malign encounters in the mythology of Iceland and neighbouring northern hemisphere countries and the idea of their elusive 'presence' persists despite the 21st century's cold and unspiritual logic seeming to have rendered them impossible simply by robust denial. 'They' are — or some would argue were — trolls.
In Iceland, the most recent 'troll alert' — a warning reporting troll activity especially in remoter districts — was not all that long ago, perhaps 50 years or so, and belief in the mythological troll dies hard: just when the weird and ghostly visitations seem to have become part of an embellished past some new and harrowing manifestation appears attracting the scorn of doubters and cynics and rejuvenating the lore of the troll.
The trouble is that trolls were not only tricky to catch a glimpse of — being under bridges and in dark grottoes etc. — but they also metamorphose across the ages. Sometimes they appear to be very old; other encounters feature beings of amazing physical strength but slow-witted; down the centuries they become at times indistinguishable from 'normal' human beings and on other occasions repugnantly ugly.
Scandinavian trolls were reputedly frightened of lightning, unable to withstand sunlight (which turned them to stone), and intensely intolerant of church bells — an objection that they would frequently express by stoning the churches. A decline in the number of reported troll incidents was at one time attributed to the proliferation of churches and their cacophonous bells in particular districts.
In general, no matter what their varied intrusions in the flux of time, trolls have been regarded as always dangerous, unpredictable, unlikeable at best and — despite some evidence of cunning and calculated deviousness — ignorant.
That there is a modern version of the troll is no surprise given the longevity and resilience of the phenomenon. The modern troll still hides under bridges, but the bridge is the internet, a much more attractive (to the troll at least) hideaway than a mere bridge, ditch or thicket because it affords anonymity.
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