D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls Book

Originally published in 1972, and reprinted in 2006 by the New York Review Children's Collection, this charming introduction to the world of Norwegian trolls is not as extensive as the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths , nor D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths (also known as D'Aulaires' Norse Gods & Giants ), but it is still a delightful exploration of the legends surrounding these mythological creatures. It happens also to be a book I remember with great fondness from my own childhood, and I have happy memories of poring over the illustrations, and reading and rereading the tales of the many-headed mountain trolls, beautiful hulder-maidens, and hard-working gnomes contained within.

Like the authors' other mythological works, this is less one continuous narrative, than it is a series of expository passages, together with a number of different tales. Here is the story of the brave young man who defeats a twelve-headed mountain troll, rescuing the twelve daughters of the king held captive by him; and here too is the tale of the very first trolls, known as frost giants. The reader quickly gets a sense, from the diversity of tales and trolls, of the importance of these creatures in the Norwegian folk tradition.

Rereading this as an adult, I was particularly fascinated by the tales concerning the hulder-maidens, and what they might reveal about old Norse ideas of exogamy. (I imagine that stories in which Irish men marry fairies could be examined from a similar perspective). It's instructive to note that in those cases in which marriage with a hulder-maiden resulted in the man being absorbed by his wife's people, the outcome was seen as negative: he is lost to his people, goes to live underground, and eventually loses his soul. By contrast, when the hulder-maiden is absorbed by the human community, the outcome is seen as positive: the maiden's cow-tail falls off, following the marriage ceremony, she gains a soul through her husband (Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid springs to mind here), and the couple experience good fortune, provided the husband treats his wife well.

Of course, those readers less interested in the anthropological interpretation of folklore - like children - can still appreciate this collection of tales, but it was a great pleasure to reread D'Aulaires' Trolls as a more mature reader! I'm not sure why the New York Review Children's Collection reprinted it as D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls (perhaps they wanted the title to read like their more famous work on Greek myths?), but I am certainly glad that this wonderful book is available to readers again. Highly recommended to any D'Aulaire fan who has not yet had the pleasure of reading it, as well as anyone interested in Norwegian folklore and Norse mythology.