"There is a god called Tyr. He is the boldest and most courageous, and has power over victory in battle; it is good for brave men to invoke him. It is a proverbial saying that he who surpasses others and does not waver is ‘Tyr-valiant’. He is also so well informed that a very knowledgeable man is said to be ‘Tyr-wise’."
-The Prose Edda
"So it was that Odin learned of the coming of Ragnarok from the Norns. He returned to Asgard, his face dark and his mood somber. He told the Aesir what he had learned and began to gather the dead to make an army for the final battle. At this Tyr was troubled to see his father despair. He traveled to the Well of Wyrd at the root of the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Tyr took the strength of the frost giant, the courage of a wild ox, the pulse of the waters and put these all into the Well. Then he drew his own sword across his flesh, letting his blood flow into the Well. As his blood fell, the Trolls emerged from the Well, to fight at Tyr’s side in the battle of Ragnarok."
-The Troll Edda
The Mythic Age
In the time after the Trolls came into being, there were no humans in
Scandinavia. The Trolls lived as demigods and served Tyr on Midgard.
In that time they also had the power to travel to all of the Nine Worlds
and had great magic of their own. Slowly things began to change. It
became more and more difficult to travel to the other worlds and while
the Aesir remained in their homes, the Trolls remained on Midgard, as
Tyr instructed them. Unknown to them, the Sundering had begun.
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The Sundering Christianity did not take a strong hold in Scandinavia until the end of the first millennia. Slowly it replaced the old beliefs. However, even when the northern people were converted to Christianity, they kept many of the same practices as good luck charms and wards against evil. Flowers and trinkets would be left by certain rivers and lakes to ensure luck, even if the humans did not realize the origin of their practices. |
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The Shattering
The Black Death that swept across Europe in the middle of the 14th century
created a breakdown of society. The secular lords and Church both proved
powerless against the tide of death. In a final act of desperation,
some northern families prayed to the old gods for salvation, but too
much time had passed and they remained silent. The Trolls became weaker
and weaker during this time.
Priests exorcised the sacred waters after punishing parishioners for leaving gifts for the “demons”. In their own desperation the Trolls turned to those humans who had their own blood flowing in their veins. In a collective act of cruelty they would bear the weight of for all time, the Trolls began possessing the bodies of humans as a means to survive.
Autumn
In time, the Trolls learned the Changeling Way, as did the others who
remained on earth. Even though the Trolls had lost many of their powers
and memories of the time before the Shattering, they still knew from
their extensive travels that there were others like them in the world
and they would now be trapped as they were.
In time the Trolls met the other changelings in Europe. The powerful Northerners made natural leaders in the violent age as nation states emerged in Europe. The age of Reformation brought more war to the north, which also brought the age of reason and new scientific thought on its heels. The world moved closer and closer to Winter.
The Trolls remained primarily in the north for many centuries, but by the 19th century, Europe’s soil was strained to the breaking point. Without land to farm, many families from Scandinavia went west to the place they had left eight centuries earlier; North America. As they had before, the Trolls accompanied their families and compatriots as well as carried with them their culture and traditions. The Scandinavians eventually settled all over North America, but a great number of them settled in the open land by the western Great Lakes, which in time would become Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Century of War
"There was raised a great noise, the ravens wheeled,
the eagle was eager for corpses, there was clamor on earth."
-"The Battle of Maldon", early English poem
In the 20th century Europe and America found themselves embroiled in conflict. Of all the kiths, it was the Trolls who experienced the slaughter in the World Wars. Trolls even faced each other on the battlefield, something that caused more than one to succomb to the Winter. As Europe began the daunting task of rebuilding after the wars, America found itself again at war in Asia.
The Resurgence
The turmoil of the 1960s created a new wave of Glamour, formed both
of Dreams and Nightmares. Individuals began making an impact on the
world around them. Social norms that had suppressed the rights of minorities
were called into question and began to change. The decade was also a
time of fear and confusion. Political assassinations in the United States
shook an entire generation, the Cuban Missile Crisis gripped the nation
in fear and more and more soldiers were sent to Vietnam.
In Europe, liberal protests were crushed and the Berlin Wall served as the barrier that divided the continent for forty years. In a bright moment in that tumultuous time, humans walked on the Moon. Millions watched as the collective dream became reality and for that moment, the Dreaming and the Autumn World became one, as it had been in the time before human memory. For the second time, the world of the Trolls changed forever. For those Trolls who only saw the wave of Glamour pass overhead from a war torn jungle, they would return home to find themselves in a new war.
The Accordance War
Of all the kiths, it is the Trolls who are remembered the most for their
part in the Accordance War. The Sidhe atrocity on the Night of Iron
Knives was a sin against Tyr, the nobles had broken their word and proved
their true nature. The wrath of Trolls made even some of the bravest
Sidhe knights blanch, for they were beings made for war. For five years
the war raged, and thousands fell. The losses were heavy on both sides
but finally the Sidhe named David Ardry called for a meeting, to possibly
end the bloodshed. Ardry sought out the Trolls, he knew they were the
key to the Commoner war machine. What he said to them, no graybeard
has ever revealed, but there are numerous speculations. Some say he
reminded them of their true purpose, to fight Winter at Ragnarok, not
those of the Dreaming. Others believe the Trolls had been given their
word to the Sidhe long ago in the time before the Shattering and were
now called on to uphold their honor. Those who know are not willing
to tell even the young Trolls what occurred at that meeting, but the
result was that the warriors laid down their arms and ended the war.
The Return of Peace
After the end of the Accordance War, there was a time of relative peace
in which Commoner and Nobles warily learned to live with each other.
The Trolls are given a respect by all kiths, even if grudging, for their
sheer physical prowess alone. The Sidhe generally regard them as simple
minded thugs, something that has served the Trolls well in a number
of cases. Even fellow commoners are likely to mistake Troll silence
as stupidity, something that hurts them more than they would ever reveal.
Now that High King David has vanished, some Trolls wonder if the nobles
will continue to rule with the same enlightened manner. For their part,
the nobles know very well that incurring the wrath of the Trolls again
could mean their downfall. They would prefer knowing more about Trolls
society and organization in an attempt to control it, but like all the
other kiths, their knowledge is superficial at best.
The Hearth
The heart of Troll society is the household. The Troll household is
led by an Elder Thegn, who, with her own family if she has one, commands
Thegns loyal to her and oversees the training of Drengs. Altogether
Thegn, Huscarls, dependents and Thralls have been known to number up
to one hundred, but average households are from fifteen to thirty individuals.
Halls consist of several households. Larger halls can have over a hundred
members, but most have from thirty to ninety people. True halls are
constructed off the beaten path, usually in the woods, with enough land
around them to allow for both privacy and training grounds. In these
isolated places, Trolls are able to preserve the traditions they have
kept since the Viking age.
Dreng
Trolls are always very concerned about the instruction of their traditions,
many preserved from the time before the Shattering. Because of this,
they watch over kinain children for signs of the Chrysalis and are insistent
that newly emerged Trolls be given over to their care. When in a Troll
hall, all newly emerged childlings and wilders are taken into a household.
If they are blood related to any Trolls in the hall, they join the same
household. In the case that there is no blood relations, an Elder Thegn
who heads a household takes in the young Troll. Once a member of a household,
the Saining is performed. With the Saining, the young Troll becomes
a Dreng. All the Drengs of a hall train and are educated together by
the Thengs and Elder Thegns. In this way they establish a peer group
and learn to work as a unit.
Being a Dreng is not easy. They are expected to keep up with their mundane school work and family obligations, on top of their physical training and education in Troll culture and history. Drengs must obey all of the Thengs as well as perform menial tasks, including cleaning, helping in the kitchen and running dishes to the tables during meals. If the hall is attacked, Drengs are expected to defend it alongside their household as a unit.
Thegn
When a Dreng has completed his course of training, they are made Thegns
and considered full members of the household and hall. Thegns oversee
the training of Drengs, but eventually leave the hall where they have
grown up and explore the world. Many hire themselves out as mercenaries,
guard freeholds or serve in an organized military force. This is the
time for a Thegn to make a name for himself and earn the status and
rank that will carry him through the rest of this life. Trolls strive
to live according their values in both aspects of their lives. In their
mundane careers, Trolls are often police officers, firefighters, rescue
workers, serve in the armed forces or in the merchant marine. They also
can be found as construction workers, farmers, miners, fishermen, bouncers,
athletes and in a number of other physically demanding professions.
Because of the extreme dangers a Thegn faces at this point in his life,
he very well might not survive to be an Elder.
Elder Thegn
If they have survived into their Grump years, Trolls will eventually
retire from campaigning. At this point they return to the hall they
were raised in, or find another to call home. Most found their own household,
finding the training and educating of the young keeps the chill of Winter
away. All Elder Thegns receive a great amount of respect for their great
amount of experience and wisdom. Still, as seasoned veterans who are
even more powerful than many younger Thegns, an Elder Thegn will take
to the battlefield without hesitation when need be. When they do, they
are an awesomely destructive force.
The Return
Very few Trolls outlive their fae souls. If a Troll survives to be an
elder, they maintain themselves in halls to shield themselves from Winter.
When a Trolls dies, her household mourns the loss of a teacher and a
friend, but they know she has returned to Asgard and will be reborn
from the Well of the Wyrd and so return to Midgard. Her funeral feast
is filled with stories and remembrances from her most recent life. Even
those Trolls who die violent deaths at a young age are mourned by their
kith mates for only a short time. Murder will most assuredly be avenged
and the loss of a young life carries with it more pain, but Trolls know
they return lifetime after lifetime. It is this knowledge that each
Troll carries that makes her more willing to risk her life for her mundane
comrades. As Trolls in wartime know, they will be going home regardless.
Asgard
"The end is all
Even now
High on the headland
Hel stands and waits,
Life fades, I must fall
And face my own end
Not in misery and mourning
But with a man’s heart."
-Egil Skallagrimson
Even the most skeptical Troll holds some belief in Asgard deep in her heart. While others may talk of an ill-defined “Arcadia”, Trolls believe their souls return to Asgard when they come to the end of each life. Upon their return to the great Hall of the Aesir, each soul is greeted by hundreds of loved ones from a succession of lifetimes. Reunited with those once lost, the time in Asgard is seen as a repose. Unlike the honored dead of Valhalla, the Trolls’ battlefield is on Midgard, to which they eventually return, parting from those they love, if only for a short time.
In the time before the Shattering it was known that the Trolls would sometimes require humans to provide a young man or woman for them during the long northern winter. The offerings became commonly known as Winter Brides, although men were also offered. At the first snowfall, the young person being offered was left by the body of water sacred to the Troll and left there. The human would return to his or her settlement in the spring and it was not uncommon for the women to be pregnant.
At first only the beautiful were offered, in hopes that they would appease the Trolls. As time wore on however, the humans would choose the ugly, crippled or unwanted to be left at the water’s edge. The Trolls did not appear to make any distinction , as the humans noticed that the Winter Bride was always gone the next day; one less mouth to feed during the long winter. What the humans did not intend was that it in fact became a point of pride for many of these social outcasts to be taken. The children who resulted in these unions, Trollmen, were stronger, heartier and had more magical gifts than other humans. In a society in which physical and mental prowess gained rank, the Trollmen rose up quickly and in turn elevated their once outcast mothers.
"There was a man called Ulf Bjalfason. His mother
was Hallbera, daughter of Ulf the Fearless,
and she was the sister of Hallbjorn Half-Troll of Hrafnista, father
of Ketil Trout".
-Egil's Saga
Trolls are known for being reincarnated within the same extended family over generations. Every time a Troll is born into a particular family, the bond between the changeling and kinain is strengthened, especially if the Troll directly carries on the family line. There is no definitive reason known for why Trolls of all the kiths remain within a family. Some believe that deserving mundanes are chosen to bear children with Trolls souls. Others contend that they must atone for the original crime of possessing the body of that one human at the time of the Shattering, before they had learned the Changeling Way. To do this, they must watch over the descendants of that first human whose soul the Troll tore from his or her flesh. This claim is supported by the overwhelming number of Trolls who are born into families of Scandinavian origin.
Whatever the reason for remaining within families, Trolls are fiercely protective of them. Many kinain are raised in halls alongside their Troll siblings or parents. Although they are well loved and looked after, most begin to feel out of place as they get older. The Dreaming is part of their heritage as well, but they do not have the physical strength ot the magical abilities they see in their loved ones. The nature of Trolls to be protective of their families often causes them to order kinain to stay in the hall, for their own safety. This can cause pain and feelings of rejection, even when the Trolls do their best to make the kinain feel part of their world. Despite this, Troll kinain are valued members of their household and there are frequent romantic matches between Trolls and kinain.
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