Coming in at the number 8 spot for our Mythical Creatures List, is one of the most widely portrayed creatures: The Troll.
The Troll is probably the one creature on any list of mythical creatures that has the greatest diversity in its appearance. It comes in a multitude of sizes, shapes, and colors, though universally it is deemed to have a grotesque appearance of various sorts. They may appear as the early Norse described them, with similar features to man and often mountain dwelling in isolation, or as large hulking creatures that are turned into stone when exposed to sunlight. In their more modern appearance, appearing as a forest dwelling creature, Trolls are not necessarily grotesque, but more wild and savage looking, in the form of an untamed man not keen on malicious intentions, but acting as a creature striving for survival.
The Troll is generally agreed to have originated from early Norse myths, with early appearances in folk lore such as Beowulf. According to the story of Beowulf, which is believed to be over a thousand years old, it marks the Troll as one of the oldest creatures on our mythical creatures list. The Troll was also a term used to describe actual human beings, who chose to live in isolation within mountain caves. It is from this, one can speculate how man can exaggerate monster like features and behaviors to something that may have been the norm in a society at some point.
In Beowulf, The infamous troll known as Grendel resembles the most popular representation of a Troll, very human like, yet, deformed with an unaesthetic appeal and cannibalistic appetite. The Troll was also mildly displayed in Lord of the Rings as a Mountain Troll, which turns to stone when exposed to sunlight and is much larger and aggressive than a typical Trolls. In the Warcraft story, the image of Trolls portrayed has become one of the most popular on any mythical creature list, appearing as wild Forest Trolls, who live in tribes and practice voodoo; These Trolls appear more as wild human beings, with distinct physical features such as camouflaging skin color to match their surrounding, tusks, very large noses and ears. The Forest Trolls in Warcraft have a key distinction, in the form of forming communities and tribes, and living together and being social within their community.
No mythical creature list is complete without a Troll somewhere in the top rankings, as it is one of the oldest mythical creatures ever mentioned in time, has a vast variety of portrayals, and is still a huge icon on modern day media, whether in films, video games, or literature. That being said, many would agree the Troll is one to stand the tests of time on any official list of mythical creatures, and that it will always consistently be a popular name, if not image, on even the most popular mythical creatures list today.
