Scandinavian Folklore

Scandinavian Folklore is where Trolls originated, this is explored further in the Trolls segment below. However as it was the birth place of the creature that I was basing my concept on I felt it an important culture to explore. Scandinavia is a collection of countries in Europe consisting of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and The Baltics Geographically Finland is a part of Scandinavia, however it culture is very different from the others. This therefore means that the folklores found in this area spread many countries and therefore different cultures and surroundings. Generally the folklore stories from scandinavia are of a similar style and execution and as the sotries as passed on by word of mouth it is almost impossible to tell where the stories originated. 

As Giants and trolls originated I found these descriptons of the creatures in order that I see the defining characteristics in order to understand the qualities that I will need to consider in order to create my own original concept. 

• Giants — In the oldest literature of Scandinavia, we find primordial giants identified with the origin and creation of the world. They are usually cast in the role of enemies of the gods and the human community. With the introduction of Christianity, they became enemies of the church as well. In more recent folk tradition, the giants usually appear as imaginary figures rather than as preternatural beings people actually believed in. They play a major role in fabulats and etiological legends explaining the origin of natural phenomena such as huge rock formations, lakes, and the so-called jættegryter ("giant potholes"). [jätte (Swedish), troll / jotun (Norwegian), jætte (Danish)]

  • trolls — Often this word refers to all the mythical beings, but there really is a distinction. Trolls, which belong to a distant past, are huge and grotesque, may only have a single eye in the middle of their forehead, and very often have three heads. They are terribly strong but are also stupid and are easily tricked by a quick-witted person. They abhor the sounds of churchbells and they have a predilection for eating human flesh. Their homeland was the dark, ice-covered land of Trollebotn, the huge frozen bay which was assumed to connect Greenland to north of Scandinavia. Gyger (or Gjöger) are female trolls, giantesses. (Trimble.S, 1998)

There is a famous story of Grendel the Beas of Hrothgar that originates from Sandinavia depicting the iconic character Beowolf. I found this very inspiring to know the origins of such an impressive story and the well known design of the creature. The story is below:

Grendel, the beast of Hrothgar

Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem set in Scandinavia and cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature of all time.  Dated between the 8th and early 11th century, the epic poem tells the story of Beowulf, a great hero who comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, by defeating a beast known as Grendel who had been terrorising the great mead hall built by Hroðgar and threatening the entire kingdom.   Archaeological research has verified that the great hall commissioned by Hroðgar did indeed exist, and was located in the country’s earliest royal capital, Lejre, 23 miles west of modern Copenhagen. Whether Grendel (meaning quite literarily ‘the destroyer’) originally existed in some less legendary form – perhaps symbolizing a malevolent spirit responsible for disease and death, or a particularly fierce-looking human enemy – is as yet unknown.

These images below show some of these Scandinavian scenery that I thought would create an interesting surrounding for the concept design. The rocky surface with small areas of greenery and moss create a very powerful effect on the viewer making it a great location with endless possiblities for creatures that could fit into these environments.