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Draugr: One of the walking dead, a vampire. Dreng: A younger, less experienced warrior, often still in training Elf: Originally the Germanic word for “fae”, it was used by Trolls to identify any Kithain that was not a Troll. Thanks to modern fantasy, in current usage it is a derogatory term for a Sidhe. |
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Futhark: The name of the runic alphabet. The name is derived from the first six letters: Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raido and Kenaz.
Gestir: A “grunt” in a military force, the lowest rank. It is also a derogatory term for a fighter who has progressed above this rank.
Hack Jewelry: Silver rings, armbands and bracelets that are designed to be broken apart. In the Viking Age these pieces were used as currency. Some traditional Trolls favor the gift of hack jewelry to enchant Mundanes.
Hall: A large and easily defendable structure that houses one or more households. The name for a Troll freehold.
Hirdman: A middle ranking fighter in an organized military force.
Household: The basic unit of Troll society, a household is headed by an elder Thegn. It may consist of blood related family members, but also includes Drengs, Thegns and Thralls.
Huscarl: “House Man”, a Huscarl is a warrior who is attached to a household.
Old Norse: The language of the Norse people. It is spoken for ceremonial occasions as well as used as a means for Nordic Trolls of different nationalities to communicate. The closest living language to old Norse is modern Icelandic.
Skraeling: (derogatory) A term for a Native American. Most Trolls know enough not to use it in polite company.
Slakt: An extended family, a clan. Often used to describe unrelated members of Troll households.
Stallari: A general of an organized military force.
Thegn (also Thane): An experienced warrior, one who has completed training. Elder Thegns may be heads of households.
Thing: A gathering of all Trolls in an area to discuss and decide important matters. Traditionally all Trolls may attend, but heads of households are expected and have the most say.
Thrall: In the Viking Age, a slave. In modern usage is refers to a Mundane enchanted in order to perform a task or to be a servant.
Vinland: North America
"In the dawn of time there was a great void in the center of the world. This abyss was Ginnunga-gap, and was cloaked in perpetual twilight. To its north was the realm of the Nifl-heim- the source of mist and darkness, and also an eternal spring from which all other rivers flowed."
-Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson
Humans are physically fragile creatures and need the developments of culture to survive in all but the most mild climates. As humans migrated north through Europe, they relied on their tools, clothes and shelters to keep them safe from the harsh elements they encountered. By 12,000 years ago, the nordic countries had been settled by humans. As they followed the receding glaciers, the settlements always remained near water, needed by all living things in order to survive.
For this reason, great care was given to appease the guardian spirits of the water, both salt and fresh. It was these spirits who manifested all the qualities the humans lacked when dealing with the far north: they had the strength to fight wild animals with their bare hands, they were armed with horns and sharp teeth as natural weapons, and most importantly, they were adapted to survive the hard winters that could kill off a human without mercy. The humans had encountered the Trolls.
"A furore Normannorum libra nos, Domine"
( From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, Oh Lord)
-Early English Prayer, attributed.
From 793 to 1066, Northern Europe was gripped in both fear and awe of the Vikings. To those of the British Isles, they were little more than brutal pagan raiders. To the Slavs in the east, they were the founders of the country that to this day bears their name. For years researchers refused to believe they crossed the Atlantic until archaeological evidence proved that not only did they cross the sea to North America, they did so 500 years before Columbus. Where the Norse went, they took their beliefs with them and so the Trolls ventured out into the world anywhere they were worshipped as guardians of the waters.
"Viking" refers specifically to the seafaring raiders who would descend upon monasteries and rich settlements in the Northern Atlantic. Although they gave their name to the time period, Vikings were Norse or Northmen. The Norse originated in all of the Scandinavian countries, which consist of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and lived in all of the Nordic countries, which also includes Iceland and Finland. The Norse developed a complex civilization with writing and literature while the majority of their energy and time was focused on farming and animal husbandry. They also traded furs, leather, amber and iron. The greatest treasure the Norse possessed, however, were their ships. The best in all of Europe, there were sleek, durable and could travel by both sail or oars. With these ships, the Norse traveled to the Middle East, Rome, Russia and North America.
The Rus
The Viking bands who sailed down the rivers of eastern Europe were called
the Rus. They used these waterways to reach the wealthy Byzantine Empire.
Along the way they were hired as mercenaries known as "Varangians".
In 862, the Rus rulers became the princes of the cities of Kiev and
Novgorod and gave their name to the country of Russia. The Trolls arrived
soon after the Varangians came to power and encountered the Vodyanoi,
who later become known as the Sluagh
The Danelaw
The Vikings had raided and settled in the British Isles since the beginning
of the Viking Age. Sidhe, Boggans and Pooka attempted to drive the human
invaders out of their homeland, only to find the Vikings had powerful
spirits of their own watching over them. In 886, the Anglo-Saxon king,
Alfred the Great, divided England with the Vikings in the Treaty of
Wedmore. The north of England became known as the Danelaw and existed
as a separate kingdom from England. Although many Anglo-Saxons lived
within the Danelaw, their customs and culture adapted to that of the
Norse. The Danelaw returned to Anglo-Saxon rule in 1042, but many place
names and customs have remained in the area to this day.
Vinland
By the 900s, the Vikings were moving westward. Iceland had ben colonized
beginning in 871 and Erik the Red founded a settlement in Greenland
by 985. It was Erik's oldest son, Leif, who landed in Newfoundland in
the year 1000. The small encampment only remained for a decade and had
very few Trolls watching over them. Pressures from hostile Native Americans
as well as the extreme isolation felt by the settlers made decide them
to return home. Unlike in the British Isles, the Trolls with the small
settlement were no match for the many Rock Giants watching over the
Iroquois.
The Beginning
At first, there was only the frigid Ginnungagap and from it emerged
Ymir, the first of the Frost Giants and Audhumla, the first cow. Ymir
lived off of the cow’s milk as she licked the ice of Ginnungagap, which
freed the first god, Buri. Ymir created the other Frost Giants and from
Buri descended the gods. Buri’s grandsons, Odin, Vili and Ve could not
stand the treachery of the evil tyrant Ymir and so slew him and his
children. Only two Frost Giants survived, Bergelmir and his wife, who
found their way to Jotunheim and raised a new generation of Frost Giants,
which the Sidhe call the fomorians. It is for the death of Ymir that
the Frost Giants always wage war against the gods.
The Aesir and the Vanir
The Aesir and the Vanir are two families of gods who for many years
warred with each other. In time they realized the fruitlessness of their
war and made peace. Some of the Vanir left their home in Vanaheim to
live with the Aesir in Asgard and so keep the peace between them. Since
that time, the gods together as called Aesir, that which the Sidhe call
the Tuatha de Danaan.
The Aesir
There are many gods, but the ones who have the greatest significance
to the Trolls follow:
Odin (The High One, All Father, Woden, the Wanderer):
He is the chief of the Aesir, the lord of battle and wisdom. It was
Odin who discovered the Runes and who sacrificed his eye to drink from
the well of wisdom. Ravens are sacred to Odin.
Huginn & Muninn (Thought & Memory):
Odin’s two ravens, who travel all of the Nine Worlds and return each
day to inform Odin of all they have witnessed.
Frigg:
The mother goddess and wife of Odin, she shares her husband’s wisdom
in that she knows the fate of everyone and everything, but she will
not reveal it.
Thor:
Odin’s son, Thor is a fiery and headstrong god of thunder known for
his quick temper. With his hammer Mjollnir, he is one of Asgard's great
warriors.
Balder:
Odin and Frigg’s son, Balder is a gentle god who was killed when Loki
tricked his blind brother into throwing a spear of mistletoe at him,
for mistletoe was the only plant who had not sworn to never harm the
god. After Ragnarok, Balder will return with the new spring.
Tyr:
Also a son of Odin and Frigg, Tyr holds a special place of significance
as the creator of the Trolls. Tyr is the god of war and justice who
was the only one of the Aesir willing to care for Fenrir, the wolf child
of Loki. When Fenrir was chained by the gods, Tyr lost his right hand
in payment for the Aesir tricking the beast.
Njord:
One of the Vanir, this gentle god of the sea lives in Asgard with his
twin children, Freya and Frey.
Freya:
The goddess of love and fertility, Freya awaits the return of her lost
husband Odur. When she weeps for him, her golden tears fall to the earth
as amber. Cats are sacred to Freya.
Frey:
Freya’s twin brother is also a god a fertility as well as the god of
peace and sunlight. He rules in Alfheim.
Loki:
The trickster god, Loki becomes more evil as Ragnarok draws closer.
He has three children with the giantess Angreboda; Hel, Fenrir and Jormungand.
Fenrir:
Fenrir is the devouring wolf, the beast of Ragnarok. He was raised in
Asgard in an attempt to keep him under control. When this failed he
was bound, but only at the cost of Tyr’s right hand.
Jormungand:
The serpent child of Loki, Odin threw him into the sea and he grew so
large he encircles the entire world and is also known as the Midgard
Serpent.
Hel:
Loki’s daughter, Hel rules the land of the dead in Niflheim.
The Norns:
The goddesses of destiny, they weave the fate of every being in the
Nine Worlds from their home at the base of Yggdrasil. Urd is
the oldest Norn, she is the Norn of the past and the keeper of the Well
of Urd, which is also called the Well of Wyrd, from which the Trolls
emerged. Verandi is the Norn of the Present and Skuld
is the Norn of the Future.
Yggdrasil:
The World Tree, Yggdrasil supports the Nine Worlds. At its base is the
Well of Wyrd where the three Norns keep watch over the tree. The dragon
Nidhogg gnaws at the roots of the tree and sends insulting messages
to the eagle at its highest point by way of the squirrel Ratatosk.
Ragnarok:
The end of the world. Ragnarok is preceded by the Fimbul Winter,
during which Fenrir breaks free and Loki joins with the Frost Giants
to fight the Aesir. Many of the gods will die in the final battle of
Ragnarok and almost all life on earth is extinguished. There are those
who will survive however, and will live in the world that is reborn
with the spring that follows the Fimbul Winter.
100-800 Finnish tribes emigrate from Estonia
793 Lindisfarne monastery in England is looted by Norse raiders. The Viking Age Begins
850 Vikings locate Iceland
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862 Rus Vikings become Princes of Novgorod and Kiev 871 Colonization of Iceland 886 Danelaw created in England 930 First meeting of the Althing in Iceland 982 Greenland settlements founded by Erik the Red |
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1000 Newfoundland settlement founded by Leif Eriksson
1042 Danelaw returns to Anglo Saxon rule in England
1100 The end of the Viking Age
1262 The Althing of Iceland recognizes the king of Norway as Iceland's monarch
1300-1809 Finland belongs to Sweden
1347-1351 The Black Death sweeps through Europe, the Shattering forces Trolls to possess the humans who once revered them as spirit guardians.
1380 Danish-Norwegian Union
1389-1521 The Kalmar Union (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Union)
late 1500s Protestant Reformation in Scandinavia
1563-1570 The Seven Years' War between Sweden and Denmark
1618-1648 Thirty Years' War, Sweden emerges as the leading Lutheran power
1695-1697 Famine in Finland results in the death of 1/4 of the population
1700-1721 The Great Northern War
1783-1785 1/5 of Iceland's population dies due to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and plague
1809 Sweden loses Finland to Russia
1814-1905 Swedish-Norwegian Union
1914-1918 World War I
1917 Finland proclaims independent republic
1940-1945 Germany occupies Norway and Denmark in World War II, Finland goes to war against Russia, Sweden remains neutral
1944 Iceland declares independence
1949 Denmark and Iceland join NATO
1970 Oil is discovered in Norway
1972 Norway votes not to join the European Community
1973 Denmark joins the European Community (later the European Union)
1995 Sweden and Finland join the European Union
© 1999 White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
No challenge to their copyright is intended with this page. See Author's
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