@mithril From what I've read, swedish trolls were very similar to humans. They had similar lifestyles and habits, however since they were magic users and not a part of the swedish church they were feared by humans. Although apparently there were some places were humans and trolls lived in peace, trading goods with each other and such. It really depended how you treated them really. They reward generosity and kindness and punish those who are greedy and selfish, similarly to many other mythical beings. However trolls were seen as monsters in most places and there are countless stories of them kidnapping people and stealing newborns. It should also be mentioned that swedish trolls often were depicted as shape-shifters. They would often appear as black cats (sometimes even posing as peoples pets) but also in a more human like form. In fact, troll maidens were said to be outstandingly beautiful and would sometimes visit human villages to partake in celebrations.
So, yeah. If you treated them well you could be given riches and get lucky with your hunting trips but if you were rude or somehow insulted them they could go into your barn and switch places of the tail and the head of all your animals (there's a story where that actually happens).
Basically they're chaotic neutral shape shifters who run around in the woods and sometimes kidnap people.
*whew* this was a lot longer than it needed to be :T
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@mithril From what I've read, swedish trolls were very similar to humans. They had similar lifestyles and habits, however since they were magic users and not a part of the swedish church they were feared by humans. Although apparently there were some places were humans and trolls lived in peace, trading goods with each other and such. It really depended how you treated them really. They reward generosity and kindness and punish those who are greedy and selfish, similarly to many other mythical beings. However trolls were seen as monsters in most places and there are countless stories of them kidnapping people and stealing newborns. It should also be mentioned that swedish trolls often were depicted as shape-shifters. They would often appear as black cats (sometimes even posing as peoples pets) but also in a more human like form. In fact, troll maidens were said to be outstandingly beautiful and would sometimes visit human villages to partake in celebrations.
So, yeah. If you treated them well you could be given riches and get lucky with your hunting trips but if you were rude or somehow insulted them they could go into your barn and switch places of the tail and the head of all your animals (there's a story where that actually happens).
Basically they're chaotic neutral shape shifters who run around in the woods and sometimes kidnap people.
*whew* this was a lot longer than it needed to be :T