Finnish vs Norse trolls - Trolls in Finnish and Scandinavian folklore

#finnishmythology #trolls
Trolls or similar creatures appear in Folklore across Northern Europe. Of these creatures, the Norse trolls are probably the best known. Finnish mythology, however, is not without its trolls either. Let's examine how the Finnish trolls are, and how they differ from their Scandinavian cousins.
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[@end0skeleton778]

This was awesome and I hope we get to see Issue 2 of Trolled!

[@Anttimation]

Thank you! It's in the making! Will take some time though as the style of drawing is slower than death, and I have some "real" eg bill-paying work to do too. Hopefully early next year!

[@end0skeleton778]

@@Anttimation Yes the type of art you do in the comic is definitely time consuming I'm sure. I will patiently be waiting! I love what you do. Kiitos paljon!

[@Anttimation]

@@end0skeleton778 Thanks man!

[@ACrowingCockatrice]

Absolutely take this with a pinch of salt, but I recall a proposed reason behind the widespread use of iron as a warding material in (primarily European) folklore. Meteoric iron. Iron ore was rather hard to come by or mine, so the earliest usable sources were meteorites. Having fallen from space, or the heavens, early civilizations assigned a great importance to it, potentially influencing the birth of these legends, which probably spread and survived due to people's easy access to iron in later time periods.

[@Anttimation]

Interesting! That could be the case especially if that part of the lore is very old. I don't know of another explanation at the moment.

[@Anttimation]

Just reading Risto Pulkkinen's book, he takes it for granted that iron was such a revolutionary discovery that it was consequently thought to have magical powers (väki).

[@ACrowingCockatrice]

@@Anttimation That is also an interesting possibility.

[@RedOkamiDev]

as a foreigner living in finland, this is by far my favorite Finnish content creator, I wish you nothing but success man.

[@Anttimation]

Thanks so much, that's really great to hear! Success is on its way slowly but surely...

[@nordmann9414]

Interesting, never thought about Finnish trolls before

[@Anttimation]

"do you have a moment to talk about trolls?" 🙏

[@kattikoskinen9122]

I think it's interesting that most of the scandinavian words for using magic are derived from the same origin as the word "troll". I happen to have a local folklore book from the Turku archipelago area where and encounter with trolls is described. These trolls are flying in through windows or whatever and using magic or "trolling" to make cows sick. I mean... They're literally trolling the people so that's kind of funny, but also it's really interesting and very different from the popularized description of trolls.

[@Anttimation]

That is super interesting. I have also heard of sagas describing Finn-trolls (meaning witches) but haven't found the texts anywhere.

[@mirjamenny]

Kiitos for this channel, Antti. I found it last night and am partway through the process of binging your content. You mused in one of the videos as to why you were producing content in English, and I can provide you with an excellent reason, beyond the amusement of foreigners. My mother's family lost their ancestral home in Terijoki during the Winter War, then moved to Canada in the early 50s for "a better life" after several years of post-war depression living in Järvenpää. There were four daughters in the family; they all married to men of colonial Scottish or English background. All eight of Mummu's grandchildren (including myself) have fully Anglo-Celtic names now, although we are genetically half Finnish. My post-secondary degree is in English, which is a process of colonial indoctrination unto itself. Our generation has already lost our matriarchal language, and we are at high risk of losing our culture soon; I am the only one who can make traditional foods like pulla and piirakka. Hallowe'en was always my sacred holiday, which I attributed to my pagan Celtic roots, until recently discovering Kekri (there's a suggestion for you - I would love to see your thoughts and prayers about Kekri, haha). So were it not for bilingual Suomalainen like yourself who put in the effort to translating this knowledge to your distant cousins of the Karelian diaspora, we would be without access to our culture and history, and for that gift I am grateful to you beyond words. I wish you every success and happiness in life💝

[@Anttimation]

Thank you so much for the kind words and thorough watching of the videos! Keep the tradition alive, pulla is awesome :D I will do a video with kekri traditions for Yule, as the most of the xmas traditions come from kekri which is a much older celebration. Yule landed here from Scandinavia and was possibly first celebrated by the rich but was slowly adopted by the entire society.

[@mirjamenny]

@@Anttimation Kiitos again, you have a traditional meal waiting for you in Calgary if ever you travel this way and get homesick for Finnish food (my venison lihapiirakka is great comfort food, maybe on par with Zetor). When people from other cultures ask me about our ancestral diet I have to admit the closest thing to a Nordic restaurant in this city of 1.3 million is the IKEA cafeteria, I think only hungover Nordic people or children crave the blandness. 😂 I'm excited at the prospect of learning more about Kekri as the old traditions come back. This was my first year of Kekri observance; afterward, one of my aunts reminded me about melting metal into snow or water for fortune-telling, so it's in my goal to revive that ritual as well.

[@Anttimation]

@@mirjamenny amazing, thank you! :) I don't think I've ever tried Ikea food tbh, haha. Well Nordic food is best homemade anyway. The tin melting is still very common on New year's Eve!

[@jessecambly4012]

I'm a Canadian who's 3/8 finnish, I've always been into Greek mythology but after learning about my ancestory I've been looking into finnish a lot more and trying to celebrate that side of myself. KZbin videos like these are amazing, a great introduction, I've downloaded the English translated kalevala on audible and have been slowly working through it I'd love to learn some tradition finnish meals to be able to cook for my family during holidays

[@Anttimation]

@@jessecambly4012 I don't plan to expand to the food side of KZbin now, but have been thinking to do a video or two about some ancient foods that are still eaten today as modern versions

[@yerabbit6333]

Ironically the first Finnish metal band I can think of is Finntroll. (Wait, that's not ironic.) Anyway, your art and video style is great. You have a new subscriber, looking forward to more.

[@Anttimation]

Thank you! Glad to have you on board. Finntroll are great. About time for me to see them again.

[@illo312]

Kiitos näistä videoista!

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos kun katsot 💪

[@larsnordstrom364]

as a Swde, I love learning about Finnish folklore. It is so similar and yet different. Kitos

[@Anttimation]

Thanks! Yeah in a way a lot like Swedish and Finnish cultures too.

[@deepwaters7242]

Great video, I liked and saved for future review and references. I like how many times the trolls shout Perkele in the graphics 😂

[@Anttimation]

Thank you. It's a very trollish expression!

[@angelsmagick]

I've been waiting for this! Loved it!

[@Anttimation]

Thanks Maggie!

[@britta-alrikobrien-nikkola9818]

Great video and love your dry humor.

[@Anttimation]

Thank you!

[@andreasatlars4281]

A lot of the poetry in the Silmarillion serm to use the same meter as the English translation of the Kaleval too.

[@Anttimation]

Yeah! It's been pointed out to me many times but something I didn't notice while reading, haha.

[@IrishinFinland]

Loved this 🤟🏻 excellent work

[@Anttimation]

Cheers mate! There must be if not trolls per se (perse, haha), some similar creatures in Ireland?

[@benhurula201]

Hey, just wanted to say, this is great! I've watched a few of your vids here and there. You did indeed turn yourself into a troll, it was a good topic, and the bit at the end was unexpected, made me laugh. Keep it up, you're good.

[@Anttimation]

Thanks so much! That is good to hear.

[@Zeledonom]

darn, you can say that he *trolled us* there

[@anon456938]

Very interesting videos and neat animation. The history series was very nice since we didn't cover much of that in school. Perhaps you could make one about the whole wild ior bock legends and lemminkäisen temppeli?

[@Anttimation]

Nah, it's just nonsense which I don't want to focus on.

[@Timpe40]

Well earned sub from me. Great stuff, thank you!

[@Anttimation]

Thanks! Welcome aboard 😎

[@oh2mp]

Kiitos! Tämä oli odotettu video.

[@Anttimation]

Mukava kuulla!

[@JulianGem]

Very informative

[@Anttimation]

Thank you. That's the goal of these.

[@Oeslian]

The Estonian word Peigmees shows that Estonians have been trolls for a very long time. Also in typical Estonian fashion it sounds like something naughty in English.

[@RyanRyzzo]

SINEP is different in the upside-down world! 🤭

[@kissalanpojat]

Mahtava video jälleen.

[@Anttimation]

Suurkiitokset!

[@Hrotiberhtaz]

An interesting observation I've made regarding Ukko and Thor resemblance, Thor was often called Åku-Tor which means "Thor the rider" and refer to him riding his chariot. This is probably the cognate of the Swedish word Åska (Thunder) just like Ukko and ukkonen are. In Sami mythology we have this character Ajeke that is a hammer wielding god of thunder that some Sami people calls Thoron, Horagalles, or Thora Galles. There's quit some crossover here.

[@Anttimation]

Ha! Interesting!

[@fatehdebbah]

We call them Jinn.

[@heikkijhautanen4576]

Hyvä Suomalaiset ja Norjaiset peikot!!!!

[@avacornthelastponybender8583]

So the difference between Scandinavian trolls and Finnish trolls is that the latter can be good sometimes, they live underground upside down and they are good at herding cattle

[@Anttimation]

Good summary!

[@senseiAR]

When you mentioned mountains i thought about the Pyhävuori in Lappajärvi. It even has its own book about it's troll. The book tells the troll's story about something but i don't remember much about it. Also Pyhävuori's history is interesting. So there's this big giant rock where people burned kids alive for a sacrifice

[@Anttimation]

Damn! That's interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[@thatwhitewolf5222]

Mabey the troll mythology pre Christian Finland, depicted trolls as Nether Good or bad. But more like a spieces with its own set of Morals and emotions. Like IF you where on Good terms with a finnish trolls, they could Help you and even live in Harmony with humans. But IF you Pisses Them off, you get "That Naibour" that ruins your Backyard.

[@Anttimation]

That's actually the case 100% with elves (or gnomes). Every house has its own elves that you need to treat well, leave them food and the last saua shift etc, otherwise misfortune will fall upon you.

[@jhtsurvival]

My theory on "trolls" are that they were either other homo species that survived along with us rather isolated or that they were hybrids

[@thatwhitewolf5222]

@@jhtsurvival Well there is a Story among Historians the last Cavemen did go extinct somewhere in Finland. Or was it todays Karelia, dont remember.

[@JaxonGarvin]

That thing reminds me of Troll 2

[@Anttimation]

Hahaha I take that as a compliment 😆

[@fallenknight3016]

i saw trolls serving a god queen

[@WMfin]

Do Finn trolls speak in swedish like Finntroll? I'll see myself out!

[@Anttimation]

Probably they know some basics but are native Trollish speakers!

[@Valmentaja]

🤣😂

[@end0skeleton778]

In a Finnish group, on Facebook. There was someone who said they'll stick to speaking Swedish in Finland. I replied with a gif of a guy drawing a troll, with the caption, yup it's a troll. He was in good spirits about it. I wish I could share a screenshot here, I just looked at his reply to my gif to get his words right, but he replied. "Yup, just like all ethnic Swedes in Finland." 🤣🤣🤣

[@whatdays8462]

thoughts and prayers 🙏

[@Anttimation]

They've been heard.

[@therham]

Awesome

[@Anttimation]

Cheers!

[@j.s.c.4355]

Trolls and sidhe are allergic to iron.

[@hiddenwoodsben]

that blackmetal-parabel is only half correct, though. between maybe 2005 and maybe 2010, we in germany all liked us some finntroll from time to time.

[@Anttimation]

Golden age of folk metal maybe?

[@tekoveriveljet]

Hyvä kanava ❤️❤️

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos paljon! Oon seuraillut sun tehostehommia Instagramissa ym. ja repeillyt dubbauksille 🤣

[@tekoveriveljet]

@@Anttimation 😆😆😃😃👍👍

[@Peter-ri9ie]

What’s the music in the background?

[@Anttimation]

Uni by Karneh, a Finnish pagan folk artist: open.spotify.com/artist/4oDI4sOmjaGEbYDp5ijudk?si=nZWDWlNKSgGq1ftRLfFzOA&nd=1&dlsi=802e4ffe62984127

[@Peter-ri9ie]

@@Anttimation Checking it out at once. Thanks! 🙏🏻

[@P4nzerk93]

Varmaan paras suomalainen kanava. Vähän jäistä, täynnä meemejä ja ammattimaisesti tuotetta, 5/5 muumipeikkoa. Pitkään tullu seurattua ja niin jatkossakin. Ei suomen historiaa koulussa vaan liikaa ollu paitsi mitä tulee Ruotsiin ja Venäjään...

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos paljon! Joo, ja siitäkään moni tuskin muistaa paljoa, ellei myöhemmin kiinnostu lukemaan lisää...

[@levithomas1430]

2:03 bro tell me why the troll women look like they are down bad?

[@Anttimation]

They are not happy with what they heard! It's a panel from my comic Trolled: www.amazon.de/-/en/Antti-Palosaari/dp/952698210X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

[@stavolis]

3:50 Vaihdokas?

[@Anttimation]

Vaihdokas hyvinkin.

[@michaelbyrd-tw1wp]

So iron is the bane of all the fey, the old ones they used stone, copper, lead, silver and gold tin, iron is the tool that man used to tame the fey and inherit the world

[@Anttimation]

That's a way to look at it!

[@michaelbyrd-tw1wp]

@@Anttimation I really enjoyed your video it filled in some gaps

[@Anttimation]

Glad to hear! @@michaelbyrd-tw1wp

[@brucehunter6915]

I'm not sure what to think about trolls.

[@Anttimation]

Complex creatures, aren't they? 😂

[@ronaldpagar6513]

What country are you from?

[@Anttimation]

Finland.

[@ronaldpagar6513]

@@Anttimation that explains your accent

[@Anttimation]

@@ronaldpagar6513 explains much of the content of the channel too if you have a look around. ;)

[@dubuyajay9964]

Mustakrakish?

[@Anttimation]

I believe that is not a part of ancient mythology 😅

[@dubuyajay9964]

@Anttimation But it's in Finland tho. kzbin.info/www/bejne/apC2f6B9ZtWSeMk

[@tomkatt8274]

trolls are real and are out tehre. tehy are proud of their civilization that is millions of years older than humanity. they lived in the nordic countries before humans and are angry at us for stealing their land.

[@Anttimation]

They have every right to be angry.

[@tomkatt8274]

@@Anttimation they are a species millions of years older than us. they have every right to be angry at the human colonists.

[@ShadesApeDJansu]

Christian Finnish Frostiis cool troll :P Ok Satan being a troll is new one to me and i am a christian :O i do believe Satan is a living creature, i think he lives in Hel-sinki rather than forest though :P I do believe actually he lives on earth, not being bound to hell. Ok my Tube is about spiritualism mostly and i've been a occultist at the age of 18 y and i played Shaman drum mostly and did cast 3 spells, turned christian after that. I made a vid about it a few months ago, my grandpa died that day and i got the call so i stopped the vid and had to redo it.

[@studentstudent5044]

First off, Norse does not mean norwegian. Second of all, Sweden had all the troll stories too

[@Anttimation]

Norse, as in Old Norse, the predecessor of modern Norwegian/Swedish/Danish/Icelandic etc

[@thelordofgifts5343]

We do a little trolling 🐸

[@XxGreatestyouknoWxX]

Very interesting video

[@Anttimation]

Thank you!

[@annyeongh8rs815]

Finnish trolls #1