108 trolls
Some scholars suggest that trolls were originally
the giants of Jotunheim or perhaps the dwarfs of
the myths but that they evolved in more recent years
into the earthy subhuman creatures that inhabit caves
and woodlands. Giants, like trolls, were described in
the mythology as living in mountains, forests, or the
untamed areas surrounding homesteads and farms.
Like dwarfs, trolls were said to go about at nighttime
and to turn to stone when exposed to daylight.
That the people of the Viking Age would have
recognized trolls as a part of the supernatural world is
clear from the references in the manuscripts. Thor is
referred to in S kaldsaparmal by Snorri Sturluson
as “Adversary and slayer of Giants and Troll-women.”
Since Thor was known to slay giantesses, some
scholars use this phrase to support the suggestion
that at one time the terms giant and troll referred to
the same mythological beings.
T uesday
An illustration of the wolf Fenrir biting off Tyr’s right
hand. From the 18th-century Icelandic manuscript
SÁM 66, in the care of the Árni Magnússon Institute
in Iceland
too weak by the time the Vikings arrived in the late
800s a.d. to have been so influential and that people
quickly began using Thor’s name for places, objects,
and even days of the week. In the Viking Age in Great
Britain, the fifth day of the week became known as
Thuresdaeg and ultimately became Thursday as the
English language continued to change.
trolls Nature spirits, related more closely with
the landvaettir, or land wights, and Norns, than to
the mighty gods of Norse mythology.
Rarely mentioned in the P oetic E dda , the P rose
E dda , or the skaldic poetry, trolls appear more
often in the heroic legends, the family sagas, and
the folklore of Scandinavia than in the more formal
stories of the mythology.
In modern English, the third day of the
week, or the second working day. Tuesday is named
after a Germanic god, Tiwaz, who in the mythology
of Scandinavia became the one-handed war god,
Tyr, and in England became the war god Tiw.
The names Tyr and Tiw translate simply as “god.”
Therefore, Tuesday means “god’s day.”
T yr A god of war and the sky god, the bravest of
all the gods. He was concerned with justice and with
fair treaties. It is thought that at one time Tyr was
even more important than Odin and more ancient.
By the time the Norse myths were written down,
Tyr’s importance had diminished, and not much is
known about him. In some stories, Tyr is the son of
the giant Hymir; in others he is the son of Odin.
Tyr was the only god brave enough and fair-minded
enough to put his hand into the jaws of the terrible
wolf Fenrir. When the other gods broke their word to
Fenrir and tied him up, Fenrir bit off Tyr’s hand. That
is why Tyr is always depicted as the one-handed god.
At Ragnarok, the end of the world, Tyr and
Garm, Hel’s hound, killed each other.
Tuesday was named after Tyr.