Troll

Origin and myth

The word troll first appears in Old Norse poetry, where it is a loose term for anything monstrous - a giant, a witch, a shape-changer. The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson (c. 1220) preserves a verse in which a troll-woman describes herself as "moon-swallower" and "storm-sun's bane". In the Icelandic sagas trolls are huge, ugly beings of the mountains, close cousins of the jotnar, the giants who war with Thor. Thor himself was called "the bane of trolls", and his hammer was the standard protection against them.

Later Scandinavian folklore, collected in Norway and Sweden in the 19th century by Asbjørnsen and Moe, is where most familiar troll lore comes from: they live inside mountains, hate church bells, can smell Christian blood, steal children and turn to stone when caught by sunlight. The tale of the three billy goats and the troll under the bridge belongs to this collection. Stone formations across Norway are still explained as trolls who stayed out too late. Trolls could be enormous forest giants or, in some regions, small and wizened - the folklore was never consistent about size.

Appearance

The classic Scandinavian troll is a hulking, stooped figure 3–5 m tall with a long crooked nose, small deep-set eyes, large ears, a wide lipless mouth and a tail like a cow's. The body is thick-limbed and pot-bellied, covered in coarse grey or brown hair, with moss, lichen and even small trees growing from the head and shoulders of the oldest individuals. Skin is grey and rough, close to weathered rock, and stony textures on the back and knuckles fit the sunlight-to-stone legend.

Some trolls have multiple heads, three being common in the fairy tales. Hands are large with thick black nails; feet are broad and flat. Clothing, when present, is a rough tunic or animal skin. Props: an uprooted tree as a club, a sack of stolen goods, a bridge plank.

In modern fantasy

Trolls are everywhere in modern fantasy, with wildly different readings. Tolkien's stone trolls that petrify at dawn follow the Norse original; Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder made the troll a lanky regenerating beast weak to fire; Warhammer and Warcraft each have their own take; Scandinavian films and games from Frozen to Trollhunter keep the mossy mountain giant. Tabletop players will usually expect either the "stone giant" or the "regenerating hunter" reading, so decide which you are sculpting.

3D printing notes

A troll is a big humanoid with a stooped posture, which makes it forgiving to print. At 28–32 mm scale the figure stands 50–70 mm and resin gives you the rocky skin texture and moss detail; tilt 25° back with supports under the belly, the jaw, the arms and the tail. The tail is thin and long - consider modelling it pressed against the leg or resting on the ground.

At 75 mm the troll is a good FDM model: print upright, split arms at the shoulder with 4–5 mm pegs, and print the head separately if it has a long nose or multiple heads. For 150 mm and larger, hollow the torso to 3 mm walls, add drain holes under the feet and reinforce the wrist of any raised arm. Stooped poses keep the centre of gravity low and rarely need extra weight in the base.

Pose ideas: crouched under a bridge, mid-step with a tree-club, or turning toward the rising sun with one arm already turned to stone - a wonderful excuse to blend organic and rock textures on one figure.

Painting and display

Grey-green or grey-brown skin with a heavy dark wash and a chalky dry-brush gives the rock-like look. Add lichen with stippled pale green and yellow, and moss with a flock or a thick paint stipple in mid-green. Hair takes a dark brown base and a light grey dry-brush. Eyes are small and bright - a tiny warm yellow dot with a black pupil reads as menacing from tabletop distance.

For a base, a stone bridge with a stream, a pine-forest floor or a rocky slope all suit the myth. A petrification diorama can use pale grey on the stone arm and a cold blue LED as the dawn light; a warm LED inside a mountain cave doorway is the alternative.

Related creatures

The troll's nearest relatives are the other giants of world folklore: the European Ogre, the Greek Cyclops and the mountain-dwelling Yeti. In Scandinavian tales the small, mischievous Goblin often shares the same underground world.

Want a mossy mountain troll or a bridge diorama, printed and painted to your brief? Ask Fantasy Lab 3D for a custom print.