How's troll lifestyle, economy and governance affected by the inability to go in the sun? How do trolls grow food? How do they interact with other cultures? What do trolls trade, and when? What do they do with all the inevitable statues popping around every morning?
Trolls don't trade, they hoard gold. And when they do offer gold to humans, the gold turns out to be an illusion.
And in folklore, it seems they're predators, and thus don't farm.
>>43805019
Than where do they keep the troll cows and sheep?
>>43805031
Ah, I forgot about Norway, I was going after Swedish folklore. The thing is, in Sweden, there's a distinction between trolls and giants. Giants tend to be much more like humans, and have cattle and stuff. Trolls are magical, tricky creatures, kinda similar to the Faerie, living underground and messing with people's minds.
In Norway, trolls and giants are kind of the same thing. Bigger and dumber, less tricky.
>>43805059
The Scandinavians called "troll" everything that wasn't human or elf.
>>43805088
Not really, we have a bunch of other supernatural creatures. Vättar, pysslingar, tomtar (all different kinds of gnomes), dwarves, huldra, merfolk, Näcken and so on.
Trolls have tails, that's the easiest way to tell them from other creatures (although the huldra also has a tail).
>>43805121
And there's serious confusion between huldra and troll women.
>>43805130
It doesn't help that there's a lot of local variations. Myths, especially when they're oral traditions, tend to vary a lot from place to place. Sometimes the huldra has a cow's tail, sometimes she has a fox's tail, sometimes the tail is striped etc.
>>43805156
The huldra remain me to the Lamiaks from the Basque country, comely girls with animals traits (like eagle feet or cow tails) than can be good or bad or both if you mess with them.
>>43805175
It's your basic sexy temptress that leads men to their doom entity, really.
>>43805197
Well, Lamiaks tend to be more bening, not in the level of the Xanas tough, only rarely going berserk like when they have they gold hairbrush stolen or after the husband/lover break a geas, they are mostly seductress from the pagan times and christian women hated them.
>>43805197
They're more benevolent than the usual example, at least potentially. Consider the lilim of Jewish folklore. Ain't no reasoning or waifuing these ones, they'll kill you and all of your children, and that's it.
>>43804993
>Trolls are magical, tricky creatures, kinda similar to the Faerie
This pretty much nails my personal take on it. Trolls aren't human and thus don't have a totally human-like society. I wouldn't think of them in terms of a civilization because that's not what trolls are typically about.
They are supernatural creatures, much like fairies and spirits. They might get by without eating, or perhaps they can eat something weird like rocks or wood.
In any event, lets assume their lives are quite simple and they have the ability to be entirely self sufficient, living for long periods of time without contact with much outside their own kin. Trolls are said to live far from human habitation, after all.
They deal with their inability to step into direct sunlight by ranging near sufficiently dark areas like large cave systems or deep forests with sufficient canopy.
They don't have anything so complex as an economy or standard currency. If they do trade, I'd assume it'd be a simple barter system.
Who would they trade with? Other trolls and fairy creatures and the occasional human (that perhaps manages to trick the troll in a very clever way that would make for a fun story).
As for what they would trade; what do trolls value? If they're mischievous and attack humans they come across, they may collect items that humans value and squirrel them away. Or they could demand some form of tribute for the privilege of passing through their territory unmolested.
Then they might use whatever odds and ends they've gathered to trade with other types of fairies for random knick knacks like seven league boots or a cloak that makes them invisible under a full moon or magical beer from the sacred tree. Shit like that.
When a troll gets turned to stone by the sun, I don't think they necessarily look like a perfectly formed statue. They look more like very vaguely human shaped boulders that just sort of become part of the scenery near places where trolls reside.
>>43805342
>They might get by without eating, or perhaps they can eat something weird like rocks or wood.
Just to be clear, this doesn't mean they can't or don't eat things like livestock or people, just that I would assume they don't necessarily have to. They're pretty much magic so they may not have to eat at all, but just do anyway.
>>43805342
>perhaps they can eat something weird like rocks or wood.
Like the Gloranthan trolls, the Uz then?
>>43805121
What are skovtroldes?
>>43805342
>trolls eat rocks
>trolls are the reason diamonds are scarce instead of a Dutch trade consortium
This makes perfect sense.
Do Nordics distinguish between so-called stone trolls, moss trolls, forest trolls, mushroom trolls, etc.?
I imagine, and this is me, you could have trolls take on the characteristics of their diet.
Rock trolls- regenerate slowly but are very hardy, I. E. NIGGA they are actually stone people.
Moss trolls- same shit.
Those weird angry fleshy trolls with greenish skin that attack adventurers are shit- probably started eating people, Das why they're fleshy.
I imagine a situation where instead of shunning your child for their sexuality or their career path you have trolls being like, " DO I SEE SOME FLUFF ON YOU? ARE YOU EATING RABBIT AGAIN KGRUU'NGASH? YOU WERE ALWAYS SUCH A GOOD BOY."
>>43804993
>What do they do with all the inevitable statues popping around every morning?
Keep them around the house and talk to them like they were alive. Sometimes stone trolls turn back, so they treat it like being in a coma.
I'd post it if I had it, but I'm surprised no one's posted that screencap of each troll being skilled in one very specific skill.
![Msvcw[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/b2cAcwT.jpg "Msvcw[1].jpg")
>>43804993
>How's troll lifestyle, economy and governance affected by the inability to go in the sun?
Not that much to be entirely frank with you, Anon. (I mean, this is how I've been doing it at least and I still actually abide by the sunlight thingy)
So, Trolls can normal regenerate to an almost crazy degree: entire portions of them can grow back as long as their head is still connected to their body (and even then the body can still function until it starves to death), but their flesh and hair especially are all highly flammable! Any part of a troll exposed to sunlight will combust when exposed to direct sunlight.
You'd think this would be a problem, but Trolls are so mutated and horribly varied due to their regenerative abilities that Trolls usually want very little to do with one another in terms of social interaction. Trolls usually always have: tusks, little tails, long noses, bushy manes and long ears.. but they can also have horns, multiple heads, multiple arms, and adapt very quickly to environments (producing forest, river, cave, mountain and even desert trolls!)
The long short of it is Trolls don't make societies because there's not enough consistency in their genetics for them to really desire companionship from their own kind and this really kills sexual selection for them.
Trolls in their natural habitat either get lucky and find themselves a cave or they make an enclosed shelter. Trolls have a predilection for cold climates with shorter days, so they can give themselves more time to go out and hunt for food undisturbed. Trolls aren't stupid though- the older ones can be found building complex structures like bridges, lodges with basements, dug in halfling-like homes or even windmills. In the case of windmills or bridges, trolls can actually become quite successful as they charge people the use of their facilities... or even from eating and looting intruders who don't pay!
