@mithril: The tomter or nisser aren't trolls. Originally they are believed to have been a kind of ancestral spirits; to quote from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomte:
>> The tomte was in ancient times believed to be the "soul" of the first inhabitor of the farm; he who cleared the tomt (house lot).
"Tomte" is probably the oldest name.
"Nisse" is used in Denmark and Norway and is a nickname for "Niels" (also used for humans) which in turn is short for "Nicolaus". The overlap with Saint Nicolas (Santa Claus) is a coincidence.
A tomte/nisse likes the farm animals far better than the human inhabitants of a farm. He is often depicted with a cat at his feet.
If the animals are treated badly, or if he doesn't receive offerings (in form of food), he will get annoyed and eventually angry with the human inhabitants of the farm. He will first do pranks and eventually he may burn down the farm (after releasing the animals of course).
As a child I offered porridge to nissen (the nisse) at our loft. Lo and behold! The next day the porridge was gone! (eaten by our cats or mice I suspect ;-) )
In modern time the nisser have evolved into less dangerous beings, and now they are mostly associated with and celebrated at Christmas.
After Santa Claus has become popular the nisser have begun to leave our country.
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@mithril: The tomter or nisser aren't trolls. Originally they are believed to have been a kind of ancestral spirits; to quote from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomte:
>> The tomte was in ancient times believed to be the "soul" of the first inhabitor of the farm; he who cleared the tomt (house lot).
"Tomte" is probably the oldest name.
"Nisse" is used in Denmark and Norway and is a nickname for "Niels" (also used for humans) which in turn is short for "Nicolaus". The overlap with Saint Nicolas (Santa Claus) is a coincidence.
A tomte/nisse likes the farm animals far better than the human inhabitants of a farm. He is often depicted with a cat at his feet.
If the animals are treated badly, or if he doesn't receive offerings (in form of food), he will get annoyed and eventually angry with the human inhabitants of the farm. He will first do pranks and eventually he may burn down the farm (after releasing the animals of course).
As a child I offered porridge to nissen (the nisse) at our loft. Lo and behold! The next day the porridge was gone! (eaten by our cats or mice I suspect ;-) )
In modern time the nisser have evolved into less dangerous beings, and now they are mostly associated with and celebrated at Christmas.
After Santa Claus has become popular the nisser have begun to leave our country.