D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls

by Ingri d'Aulaire, Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

In this spectacular follow-up to their beloved Book of Norse Myths, the husband-and-wife team of Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire explore the uncanny reaches of Norse mythology, an enchanted night-world populated by trolls of all kinds—mountain trolls, forest trolls, trolls who live underwater and trolls who live under bridges, uncouth, unkempt, unbreakable, unforgettable, and invariably unbelievably ugly trolls—who work their wiles and carry on in the most bizarre and entertaining fashions.

With their matchless talent as storytellers and illustrators, the d’Aulaires bring to life the weird and wonderful world of Norse mythology.

Genres: Childrens, Mythology, Picture Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Art

76 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1972

About the author

Ingri d'Aulaire (1904-1980) was an American children's artist and illustrator, who worked in collaboration with her husband and fellow artist, Edgar Parin d'Aulaire. Born Ingri Mortenson in Kongsburg, Norway, she studied art in Norway, Germany and France, and met Edgar Parin d'Aulaire when she was a student in Munich. They married in 1925, and immigrated to the USA shortly thereafter, settling in Brooklyn in 1929. After pursuing separate careers initially, the couple turned to illustrating children's books together, releasing their first collaborative effort, The Magic Rug, in 1931. They settled in Wilton, Connecticut in 1941, and lived there until their deaths in the 1980s. Awarded the 1940 Caldecott Medal for their picture-book biography of Abraham Lincoln, the d'Aulaires published other children's biographies, as well as some notable works on Greek and Norse mythology. (source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this from the library. The D'Aulaires did several books about myth and I want to read them all now. I had no idea about this book. It's obviously about Trools and it's so good. They make the trolls gross and kinda scary. There are times when people come into the story to outsmart a troll.

It's about troll culture and all the many different types of trolls. Trolls are so strange. One of their favorite things is getting a pretty maiden to scratch their heads while they sleep. There are all sorts of cool and bizarre things like that in this story. I Adore the artwork.. It whips your imagination into these old world ideas.

The girl trolls have long noses and they stir their stews with them. That was funny. I think there is a lot of funny stuff and I'm going to try and get the Nephew, who I think will love this, to read it. I don't know if I can, but I will try.

Library book.

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in 1972, and reprinted in 2006 by the New York Review Children's Collection, this charming introduction to the world of Norwegian trolls is not as extensive as the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths , nor D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths (also known as D'Aulaires' Norse Gods & Giants ), but it is still a delightful exploration of the legends surrounding these mythological creatures. It happens also to be a book I remember with great fondness from my own childhood, and I have happy memories of poring over the illustrations, and reading and rereading the tales of the many-headed mountain trolls, beautiful hulder-maidens, and hard-working gnomes contained within.

Like the authors' other mythological works, this is less one continuous narrative, than it is a series of expository passages, together with a number of different tales. Here is the story of the brave young man who defeats a twelve-headed mountain troll, rescuing the twelve daughters of the king held captive by him; and here too is the tale of the very first trolls, known as frost giants. The reader quickly gets a sense, from the diversity of tales and trolls, of the importance of these creatures in the Norwegian folk tradition.

Rereading this as an adult, I was particularly fascinated by the tales concerning the hulder-maidens, and what they might reveal about old Norse ideas of exogamy. (I imagine that stories in which Irish men marry fairies could be examined from a similar perspective). It's instructive to note that in those cases in which marriage with a hulder-maiden resulted in the man being absorbed by his wife's people, the outcome was seen as negative: he is lost to his people, goes to live underground, and eventually loses his soul. By contrast, when the hulder-maiden is absorbed by the human community, the outcome is seen as positive: the maiden's cow-tail falls off, following the marriage ceremony, she gains a soul through her husband (Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid springs to mind here), and the couple experience good fortune, provided the husband treats his wife well.

Of course, those readers less interested in the anthropological interpretation of folklore - like children - can still appreciate this collection of tales, but it was a great pleasure to reread D'Aulaires' Trolls as a more mature reader! I'm not sure why the New York Review Children's Collection reprinted it as D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls (perhaps they wanted the title to read like their more famous work on Greek myths?), but I am certainly glad that this wonderful book is available to readers again. Highly recommended to any D'Aulaire fan who has not yet had the pleasure of reading it, as well as anyone interested in Norwegian folklore and Norse mythology.

[Ajeje Brazov · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐1/2

Ne "Il libro dei troll" ci viene narrata la storia dei, appunto, troll, da dove vengono, cosa fanno, le avventure che si sono susseguite nel tempo e cosa hanno determinato la loro aura di esseri malvagi, oscuri e che tingono le storie di paura.
La caratteristica che più mi ha entusiasmasto di questo libricino sono le illustrazioni: molto particolari, disegni a matita, alcune a colori ed altre in bianco e nero che s'intrecciano a formare la storia per immagini. Accostate ad esse vi sono parti scritte, ma davvero risicate che hanno reso la lettura poco approfondita. Mi sarebbe piaciuto immergermi di più nelle avventure/disavventure di queste misteriose creature uscite dalla nostra mente e che spadroneggiano nelle leggende ed nel folklore, nordico principalmente.
Però il finale mi ha spiazzato davvero, perchè gli autori hanno lanciato un messaggio per nulla scontato e che mi ha colto di sorpresa, una piacevole sorpresa, anche perchè nella parte centrale incominciavo un po' ad annoiarmi.
Da rivalutare!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is some nice humor in this book about trolls. The D'Aulaires draw somewhat from Norse myth, though there are no stories of Norse gods. It is funny because you can just see Biblo going what, as you read it.

[Seizure Romero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do loves me some folklore and mythology, but the sub-text is occasionally confusing:

When an enterprising young man saves a king's twelve princess daughters by killing the troll king (who liked having all twelve of his heads scratched by human princesses), he is rewarded by the king with "half the kingdom and the youngest and prettiest of his daughters for a bride."

However, water trolls also like to have their heads scratched:
"When a pretty girl came walking along they beseeched her to comb their ugly heads, all covered in seaweed, crabs and jellyfish. If she were kind enough to do so, she would be richly rewarded: thereafter, gold would drip from her hair whenever she combed it. But if she were cross and snapped, 'Troll, scratch yourself,' frogs and toads would jump from her mouth whenever she spoke."

So, sometimes pretty girls need to be saved from creepy gross things so they can be given away as rewards. Other times, pretty girls should be nice to creepy gross things so they get paid themselves (and go unpunished for not putting up with bullshit from creepy gross things).

Maybe it's not so confusing. Maybe it simply extols the practical virtues of being an independent contractor.

Oh, and if you're not a pretty girl, no worries. This isn't about you.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just watched Trollhunter, I thought this would be a great place to start my troll "research." Hee! After all, it seems to me that folklore is frequently distilled down to a pretty basic level (ok, so as an adult I'm inclined to call it stereotypical) for children to consume.

Which is just what I got in this book: all the delightful basics of mountain trolls, forest trolls, trolls with a dozen heads, not to mention the trolls with 500 heads. Heh. Nicely illustrated and filled in with a quick legend or three.

Got the troll fundamentals covered!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written, wonderfully illustrated description of each of the types of Norwegian trolls. The descriptions flow together into one long story, ranging from large mountain trolls to the beautiful hulder-maidens. My kids really got into it, and it made a great read aloud.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

D’Aulaires’ Book of Trolls is a companion book to D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths. Both books have the same dimensions (12" x 9"), which I greatly appreciate for vain shelf placement aesthetics. In this book, we see the nighttime side of Norse mythology, for everyone knows that trolls only come out when the sun goes down. There aren't many specific tales about trolls in this book, but it is more a guide to what trolls are, what they look like, customs, etc.

Some of the things I learned in this book is that the more heads a troll had, the harder it was for him to eat because all the heads were hungry and greedy. I also learned that the number of knots a troll could tie in his tail indicated his rank among trolls. Trolls are also very rich, because they own the gold and silver under the mountains. Lastly, trolls turn to stone and shatter in the sun. Most/all of the trolls probably turned to stone, and this is why you don't see them anymore. As an adult, I enjoyed learning and reading about trolls. From a child's perspective, I could see how it might be a little frustrating to have few clear stories and instead be presented with a FAQ on Trolls. It is still engaging and full of great illustrations, so if you buy D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths, you will definitely want to pair this book with it.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

D’Aulaire’s Book of Trolls is a fun romp through the traditional stories of Nordic Trolls, suitable for children and adults.

The illustrations are a delight and are filled with enough details to engage a child’s curiosity and help them to remember specifics from the stories.

The stories themselves are quite varied and cover a wide range of Troll folklore. There are some details I would disagree with, but overall quite accurate and at a good comprehension level for my children (aged 7 with a 4th grade reading level).

Probably the biggest problem with this book is that it includes a lot of exposition. There’s a lot of cultural knowledge you have to possess to understand Trolls, so in places it feels more like a bunch of explanation with stories as examples. But, even that exposition is engaging, so it’s not a big problem.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is looking for fun folklore stories to read to their children, have their children read on their own (3rd grade level, probably), or want a quick read on folklore for themselves.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a dark book of troll tales, and one tale rolled right into another. I think it could be scary, but some of the illustrations were delightful, and all were interesting. They were done with a stone lithography technique, a early method of reproduction where every four-colour illustration use four slabs of Bavarian limestone that could weigh up to 200 pounds each. In the 1960s, this method was replaced with acetate sheets which closely replicated the briliant colours and the textures of the stones, but at a fraction of the cost and far less difficulty. An interesting sidebar.

Inspite of the dark side of the troll stories, a shown was also the ridiculous side of things and the humour of the tales came through.

Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire both died in the 1980s, but I think children today might still enjoy the book.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned some stuff about trolls. The more heads, the wilder and more fierce they are. They like having these heads scratched by princesses. There are troll variants (?) called hulder maidens that have tails. Don't be caught by these beautiful maidens' wiles and follow them into the hulder kingdom - instead, marry them in a church and their tails will fall off. Then they will help your fortunes by getting the gnomes to steal hay from the neighbors.

Since they depicted trolls instead of the Greek gods and goddesses I read about in the D'Aulaires' book I got in my elementary school library, the drawings were somewhat homely, but I liked the comical mustachioed gentleman who was turned into a kitty, and the posture of the gnome hiding in the hayloft.

[Anjali Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This D'Aulaires' book is not a long collection of stories but rather a narrative description of the different types of trolls. I especially liked the concept of "troll-splinters," which distort trolls' vision of themselves and the world, and perhaps now, they suggest, explain "people everywhere today who see things askew. What is bad looks good to them and what is wrong looks right. They do not know that they have troll-splinters in their eyes and you cannot see them. But you can be very sure that the troll-splinters are there." That could explain a lot ;-). Trevor gave the book 3.5 stars, and I would agree.

[Gillian Barto · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. None
2. Third grade
3. This book has Norse folklore inside. The main point of the book however, is the world of trolls that is shown in Norse folklore. The illustrations make it so the trolls aren’t too scary for children.
4. Norse folklore is very different from folklore that I’ve known about. It is a very quirky book and how they describe trolls in tales from the folklore is interesting. I especially like how the stories might not be ideal for children, the illustrations make them a bit friendlier.
5. The children can make their own trolls and stories behind them. This can also be read during a week of folktales.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book doesn’t hold a candle to the other two D’Aulaires books i read this year. That is likely because Greek and Norse mythologies are more orderly, and the authors only had to put the main stories on paper. This book didn’t seem to have either a cohesive plot line or a series of unrelated stories. It just had some random information organized in a rather haphazard way. It would have helped if i had learned where the information came from. I did like the message at the end of the book though.

[Jonathan Ehrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

The d'Aulaires' myth books (Book of Trolls, Book of Norse Myths, Book of Greek Myths) are some of my fondest childhood memories. I remember reading and rereading these books over and over again, to the extent that these versions of the tales are still the canonical ones in my heads, and any time I picture a god or a troll I picture the d'Aulaires' drawings. They are all full of fantastic art, stories well told, and perfect for sparking a child's or adult's imagination.

[Vida · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a couple of movies coming out this month about Trolls so I wanted to be up to speed on my Trolldom. The edition I read is from 1972 which is not the one pictured above. Trolls are very complex, varied and dangerous. Beware! This is a charming book because of the illustrations and the stories with are interspersed with wit.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book of troll stories from Norway. We borrowed this from our local library as part of a kit with an audiocassette and a small paperback book. The book is rather plain, but we enjoyed listening to Tom Carlin narrate the story.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about Norwegian trolls... think "Hall of the Mountain King"

[Loki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loki loved this one. He's really into mythology!

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book. It has stuck in my memory since it was read to me by the elementary school librarian.

[Andrea Labonte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was the most amazing book about trolls that I have read.

[Hilarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to the kiddies. They enjoyed it a great deal, especially the illustrations.

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, not as strong as Greek myth or Norse myth but still a great title for kids.

[Amber Schley Iragui · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as kid's books about myths go, you cannot find better than the D'Aulaires. Just the illustrations alone are worth it, but the myths are told well and keep small minds engaged.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids (K & 1st grade) loved this book. Big beautiful stylistic illustrations that fit perfectly with the stories of the scruffy rough world of the Trolls. Easily read in one sitting with the kids.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun and whimsical book about trolls from Norwegian folktales. I love the D’Aulaires!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Leo was confused.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not realize that this was a follow up to the Norse Myths. It is one of the books that I should have read years ago. I liked this, although it is a tiny bit dated. It seems that hulder-maiden get a soul if they marry a mortal man above ground and she lives with them. However if a guy goes to a hulder-maiden and lives with her until he dies, he loses his soul. But I think this would make a good read aloud for older kids, and a great puppet show.

[Toni Tawes · Rating 5 out of 5]

"D' Aulaires Book Trolls is a folklore book that is intended for children ages 5-9. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The illustrations were colorful and even the black and white illustrations were amazing. The book is very adventurous and magical and I think that is what makes this book stand out from other troll stories. It is filled with unusual excitement for all to enjoy. I think this is another book that is good to sit and read as a family. A must read!

[Juli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book, fun illustrations.