"
People come to Northern Norway not only for the auroras and to see its Arctic landscape, but also to hunt for trolls, the mythical creatures rumored to hide in the forests and mountainsides.These "nordmenn" (men of the north) are generally believed to have supernatural powers a..."
People come to Northern Norway not only for the auroras and to see its Arctic landscape, but also to hunt for trolls, the mythical creatures rumored to hide in the forests and mountainsides.These "nordmenn" (men of the north) are generally believed to have supernatural powers and offer good luck. Supposedly, trolls are as blind as a bat and can't see their own hand in front of them. Legend says the worst thing you could do near a troll is to be happy; they hate happiness and things that make people happy. So we have to be careful to not make a troll mad.Trolls can only come out of their hiding-places after sunset and they disappear again beforesunrise.
Most trolls live to be hundreds of years old and there are plenty of rock formations with troll-like features. In fact, legend says trolls hate daylight and if they are caught in the sun, they turn to stone.
Direct exposure to the sun can cause them to crack, turn into stone and possibly burst.
Because of their extremely
shy nature, ability to transform themselves and other supernatural
skills, they continue to fascinate visitors from generation to
generation.
After three days of
traveling from the capital Oslo to Trondheim and passing through
Bergen, also known as the city of fish, we had not seen a troll. But on
the other hand, we could see the spectacular panorama of the fjords. In
Norwegian, the word "fjord" means "bay that penetrates inland." The
North Sea coastline breaks inland ina highly complex manner creating
the landscape.
We took a boat in order to
cross one of fjords we encountered on our way. The colors are very
strong as if they had been painted, and the only sounds we hear are
from gulls that get close enough to eat breadcrumbs from our hands.
Fjords appear to be lakes,
but they are actually a marriage of enormous mountains and ocean that
seem to be waging an eternal battle below.
According to my travel
brochure, "When the sun disappears at the end of November, you can
experience the magical Northern Lights, the spectacular colorful light
show that lasts for hours. Until the sun returns again at the end of
January, you can experience the blue daylight that is unique to North
Norway."
It's not summer, when 24
hours of daylight can be fully exploited foractivities, ......
To continue please sign in with your Hotsposz ID... If you are new to Hotspotsz you can
register a new ID .
Articles similar to "Discovering the Land of Trolls"
The Viking Age was a period of considerable religious change in Scandinavia. Part of the popular image of the Vikings is that they were all pagans, with a hatred of the Christian Church, but this view is very misleading.It is true that almost the entire population of Scandinavia was pagan at the beginning of the Viking Age, but the Vikings had many gods, and it was no problem for them to accept the Christian god alongside their own. Most scholars today believe that Viking attacks on Christian ch...Yggrasil: The world tree
NORSE MYTHOLOGY, pre-Christian religious beliefs of the Norse
people. The Norse legends and myths about ancient heroes, gods, and the creation
and destruction of the universe developed out of the original common mythology
of the Germanic peoples and constitute the primary source of knowledge about
ancient German mythology. Because Norse mythology was transmitted and altered by
medieval Christian historians, the original pagan religious beliefs, attitudes,
and practices cannot be de...The Valkyries
ALTHOUGH WE KNOW a little from observations
made by Tacitus and Caesar, most of what we know of Norse mythology comes from
Christian times, beginning with the Prose
Edda of Snorri Sturluson (c.1179-1241). Not only does this mean the myths
and legends were written after the period when they were believed, but Snorri,
as is to be expected, occasionally intrudes his non-pagan,Christian worldview.
TYPES OF GODS
The Norse gods are divided into two major
groups, the Aesir and Vanir,...Iceland: The land of elves
In the United States, we think of elves as Santa’s little helpers. In Iceland, elves are a bigger deal.Icelandic elves don’t work in Santa’s workshop. They are an independent lot, with magical powers. They aren’t even associated with Iceland’s Santas, which number 13. That’s right: Iceland has 13 Santas, brothers each with a weird name and bad habits. They’re like a crude version of Snow White’s footmen, the Seven Dwarfs.Every culture h...Ragnarok: The Fate of the Gods
Do elves exist? Like many Icelanders, Hildur Hakonardottir considers the question to be more complicated than it appears."This is a very, very, very delicate question," Ms. Hakonardottir, a retired museum director, said. "If you ask people if they believe in elves, they will say yes and no. If they say yes, maybe they don't, and if they say no, maybe they do."Hypothetically speaking, what does she think elves look like?
"Well, my next-door neighbor is an...Ragnarok
By
Shane Dayton
Virtually every western religion or mythos has an
end of the world story, an episode in which all the evil of the world comes
against all the good, and man and god alike often suffer and even die.
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all have an end of the world story, and a
story of restoration afterwards. Greek mythology and Roman mythology both
also contained end of the world stories. The world's end does not set Ragnarok,...Loki: Evil or just Misunderstood
A casual reading of the surviving sources paints a rather unflattering picture of Loki. He is presented as a thief, a liar, a father to monsters and murderer of the Sun god Balder. But he's also the source of many of the items most treasured by the Norse gods: Thor's hammer, Odin's horse, Sif's golden hair.All of these things were brought to Asgard through Loki's efforts. Upon closer consideration, a more nuanced picture of Loki emerges. By exploring Loki's role among the gods and am...
Foldersz is an internal bookmarking system where you can save and organise Hotspotsz content (including this article) into a Folder of your own for later reference.
Paranormal Category List (A-Z)
All our articles are sorted under categories and topics, making it easier to cross reference different subjects. Below are all the different categories the articles are sorted under alphabetically.
84(84/0) 
Viking religion
Yggrasil: The world tree
Norse Mythology
The Valkyries
Iceland: The land of elves
Ragnarok: The Fate of the Gods
Ragnarok
Loki: Evil or just Misunderstood
