Trolls, America and ‘Getting Around’

On a recent trip this winter a number of Trolls were spotted in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. There have also been sightings in Mesa Verda, Arizona and in and around the Grand Canyon. These sightings, along with other evidence has lead Trollologists to the conclusion that there are more Trolls on the American Continent than anyone previously suspected.

This fact should come as no surprise to those interested in Trolls and Trolldom for several reasons. First it is a well documented fact that Trolls, by their very natures, are curious wanderers who take great pleasure in going places they have never been before and in revisiting places they once enjoyed. Secondly, wherever people from Scandinavia, especially Norway, settle Trolls seem to naturally gravitate toward the area. There is actually a large contingent of people and their descendants from all the Scandinavian countries scattered in Arizona, Utah and other Rocky Mountain states so it there weren’t any Trolls around them it would be unnatural. Some of these Trolls, like our House Troll Maas, followed ‘their families’ here while others slipped in unnoticed over the years in a variety of ways. Others were born here and that leads to the third point. Trolls have known of the Americas long before the first of the Europeans arrived.

The Norseman would have you believe that the first Troll to arrive in Greenland came with Eric (Erik) the Red as a servant and status symbol. (Few, if any, could ever afford to have such a luxury as a Troll in such a capacity and far fewer could befriend a Troll but Eric, born Eric Thorvaldson, is reputed to have been such a leader.) His son Lief the Lucky (Lief Ericson) visited the New World, calling it Vinland, several years later and some say that same Troll went with him and stayed behind when they returned to Greenland possibly gaining his freedom as a reward for some great feat or heroic action. This claim, by the Norseman however, is put into some question by many of the artifacts found in North, Central and South America among the ruins of the several great civilizations found there. If one looks closely at some of the masks, statues and other artifacts found there one can easily wonder if they are not ‘Troll inspired”.

How Trolls got to the American Continents is anybodies guess though it is possible some may have crossed over the Bearing Straights or perhaps one of the ancient ‘mountain sized’ Trolls carried smaller ones across the waters to Iceland and on to Greenland (using the current names for them) and beyond. There is even a remote chance that they traveled over the Arctic Wastes to explore the ‘new world’. I suppose it really does not matter how or even when they arrived because the point remains that there are and were Trolls in the Hemisphere of the Americas for as long as can be remembered. Personally, I like to think , that ever since their creation Trolls have ranged throughout the world and have thus influenced nature and civilization in unknown ways. I even heard once that one of the great peaks in the Rocky Mountains was actually a Troll at one time but there is nothing to prove formally that this is true.

This migration of Trolls was not without risks. With the ever growing expansion of Humans, Trolls found it harder and harder to find th privacy and isolation they desire. To avoid unnecessary and usually unwanted contacts, most Trolls moved deeper into the hills and underground or further into the uncharted/uninhabited regions of the planet. Here they built a few villages and set up homes hidden away from mankind. Those who moved underground dug tunnels and passages linking many natural fissures and caves hidden deep below the surface. Clever Troll artisans took great pains to conceal hidden doors and other entrance ways in order to prevent the inquisitive risk taking humans from intruding to far into their world.

This retreat from humankind brought with it one unforeseen problem and that was the limitation of travel to and from the New World. The discover made by Columbus verified Viking tales foretelling further complications that over the next century would further split the two ‘worlds’ apart. The Trolls became aware of this and began to discuss possible solutions. Some were for driving the ‘human menace’ away by what ever means necessary. Many Trolls perished vain attempts to stop the human onslaught. Other Trolls decided that they would ‘hide in plain sight’ where they could somehow strike a balance between the two groups. Among these were the Tusselader (Nuisance Trolls), Nissen, Long Tails, Tann-Verk-Trollet (Tooth Ache Trolls) and the Nokken. The Huldra, because of their special abilities, chose to live on the fringes of humankind in order to work their special kind of trouble to unsuspecting humans. For other Trolls the prospect of eventually bringing the two divergent groups together into one great Family on Earth. These would, from time to time, mingle with humans providing information that Trollologists now use to help Humans understand Trolls. These are often the house Trolls and others who bring humans into their world.

Since that time Trolls have slowly faded into legend and myth as historical stories are altered to become tales used to teach children to be obedient or to scare them away from misbehavior. Sightings became fewer and fewer and after a time most people no longer worried about Trolls until they met one in the woods. This suited the Trolls just fine and they did all they could to preserve their privacy. It was only when a Troll went berserk, did something reprehensible, or did something extremely stupid or foolhardy did Trolls enter the thoughts of their human neighbors.

Another complication that developed was the restriction in travel and exploration opportunities. This was especially true when it came to communications between the two hemispheres and for a time it appeared that the Americas would be cut off from Europe and Scandinavia. This was totally unacceptable to the Trolls so they began to look for a solution starting in the early 1600s. What they decided is only now being reported because some of those Trolls who spend their time near and around Humans felt it was time to discuss the topic.

Most of this information comes from the question I asked Maas. I had noted years ago in my Grandfather Bernt’s surviving writings the mention of the start of a great tunnel project that would link the two hemispheres by a tunnel ‘under the great waters’ by which I believed was the Atlantic Ocean. I also noted that he had promised not to tell so I had kept the idea to myself. I was very surprised because he indicated that he had been taken to the site by Zeka, the Phantom Troll. I could not imagine why the Trolls would do such a thing, namely letting a human in on their most secret project but then I realized that it was the job of the Phantom Troll to keep the bridge open between the two races. Zeka and Bernt had a relationship that few of their kind ever had so I suppose that if anyone ever was told about the tunnel it would be him.

A few months back I finally got the nerve up to discuss this concept with those here at the ‘story place’ and to my surprise others had heard of the tunnel and had also kept it secret. In fact one of our number used the tunnel regularly to send Trolls and Troll information to America. He explained that because of his work at the Trollshop, from time to time, he has to deliver items to Trolls who live in America. In so doing he had accidentally learned of the tunnel from one of his ‘agents’ about five years ago. When I asked him for more details Anders simply replied that he did not know the exact location of the tunnel. He also explained that he had been asked not to tell anyone, a point that we all took as an excellent reason for keeping a secret, especially since the request came directly from a Troll. Besides, we all had reacted the same way for a variety of reasons.

When I finally approached my friend, Maas, our family house troll, he was reluctant to talk about this tunnel but when I told him what we already knew he decided that it would be safer to let out some of the facts rather than endanger Humans and Trolls by creating unnecessary confusion.

Maas told me that in the early 1600s the Trolls gathered together to plan a way to avoid humans and to continue their contact with the Trolls in the New World. To accomplish this they turned to the one skill all Trolls seem to share, they are tunnelers. They decided to did a tunnel from an area in ‘Norway’ to America.

The first problem was where they would start and where they would end. At the time the American Colonies were growing and there was still plenty of open space. Several Trolls were dispatched to contact those in the new world and it took them many months to traverse the Iceland, Greenland, Vinland route. When they finally met they took several more months to decide the exit location which I will not divulge except to say it is somewhere in one of the Carolinas. The starting point is located in an area full of natural caves near an area called Mo-I-Rana. Here there are hundreds of kilometers of limestone caves which provide a natural camouflage to such a humongous task. Today it is a major focal point cavers (spelunkers) from all over the world including those who like to explore caves under water. No one would or will suspect what lies deep below the lowest point of those caves.

Construction/digging was all under the direction of Thoog the Bold who was assigned by the Council of Elders to oversee the project. He lead the project for the first 125 years when unexpectedly he was caught in the open at dawn and turned to stone. Vorg Blackhair took over and for the next 98 years oversaw the digging until they reached the point when they had to start digging upward. The final phase was directed by Gprog who was the first Troll to step out onto American soil. It was he who created the outer door that to date no human has ever found.

All through this time the Americas had grown. A Revolutionary War had been fought as had a second war with England in 1812. Westward expansion had begun and a great Civil War was about to happen. To the Trolls the project was progressing rapidly by Troll standards. Shoring and support both of stone and of wood had been included. Caverns had been delved out for rest and support. Points where they could seal off the tunnel to stop flooding were built in and so much more. The project kept the Trolls out of sight and for the most part out of the collective mind of the human race and with the exception of those mentioned earlier Trolls faded into myth. The tunnel was finished in the Spring of 1892.

I tried to press Maas for details like how they circulated air and what they used equalize the pressure and I had a hundred other questions about how they had accomplished this phenomenal undertaking. He looked at me and smiled before turning to vanish into the shadows.

“Magic.” he said over his shoulder. “Troll Magic.”

So that is how the Trolls now ‘getting around’ to America. The trip takes several weeks for most Trolls but it is safe and secure and has never been compromised. Maas did indicate that Trollkind still use the tunnel regularly but he also said that it has become kind of a destination in and of itself and that it has been enhanced and expanded over the years. He said that a four meter tall Troll can walk upright in it and that it is at least four meters wide. The edges are rounded and it is as comfortable as any hole/cave can be. I am going to do some more research into what my Grandfather Bernt knew and perhaps I will incorporate it all into a story. In the meantime keep an eye open for Trolls because you never know where or when you will see a Troll.