As mentioned in a previous post, the Kardtects catalog of cards has been increased to include some special rare designs, which take some basic designs and enhancing them with unique features. Some of these are slight architectural changes or adding a relic, but some include princesses, animals, and monsters!

One of the designs proving to be a favorite is the Troll under the Bridge. Possibly because of its fun and subtle addition it makes to be building a bridge for a Kardtects card castle.

The actual origin of the word, and concept of Trolls, comes Old Norse, which was a generic word for a demon, fiend or, even, a werewolf. The Scandinavian influence of the word, which can be seen in literature from the 9th century, appears to have been adopted into an early form of the German language, called ‘Middle High German’, which does seem to highlight a more defined understanding of the term.

Although, the more global appreciation of the word ‘Troll’, didn’t really come into the English Language until the middle of the 19th century, when the Norwegian legends really began to be translated and widely read by a wider European audience. Yet it is the work of Sir George Webbe Dasent, who really compiled these texts, which included the famous story of the ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff’, which has the famous story, of three goats, of three different sizes, walk over a bridge, under which lives a grumpy Troll, that made the word ‘Troll’ as a household word, not just in Europe but also North America.

Perhaps the reason that the stories of Trolls, especially those that live under bridges, have remained within the cultural scene, with appearing in book like J. R. R. Tolkien’s ‘Hobbit’ and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories, is because we just can’t let go of that little sense of fear of the dark, such as in the shadows of under a bridge, or under your bed – boo!