Who created the Norway's Trolls? A short introduction to Kittelsen and Werenskiold.

The art of Theodor Kittelsen and Erik Werenskiold gave a visual look to Norways fairy tales, when they illustrated the editions of Asbjørnen & Moe's Folkeeventyr (folk tales) in the late 1800's. Their art has become a part of the Norwegian identity, especially their trolls, influencing the likes of John Bauer, and their presence is still felt in artists like Brian Froud and David Thierree ‪@davidthierree5199‬ Follow David at IG at / davidthierree
This video is a brief introduction to the art of Norwegian trolls and fairy tales, from a personal viewpoint as an artist.
A couple of notes: At one point in the video I mention that Erik Werenskiold didn't have drawing the trolls as his calling. I don't mean to underestimate his contribution by this statement, as he took illustrating the fairy tales extremely seriously, and dedicated years of his life to researching and traveling the country to find the essence of the tales for his illustrations. But unlike Kittelsen, it never became his primary artistic identity.
The work of labeling every piece of art in the video was something I tried, but ended up not having time for. So all the artists are introduced in text once, and then it's generally indicated by the context who's art we're looking at.
When researching this video, I also found that despite Kittelsen and Werenskiolds art being long in the public domain, it's surprisingly hard to find hi-res copies of their art. A few different websites promised hi-res images beyond a paywall, essentially making this vital part of history only available for those with the funds to pay for it. These images were also claimed to be Copyright protected, which I can only assume means that the sites claim they own the photographs of the art, not the art itself. This is essentially the attempted murder of the idea of a Public Domain.
Because of this, I chose to use low-quality images whenever I couldn't find anything else. Sorry about that.
Anyhow... it's more important than ever to release art in a form that is free for all, for all time. That's why I release my art under a Creative Commons Attribution license. If you think this is cool, please consider supporting my free art, either by using it for free, by buying art and merch from me, or supporting on Patreon.
Music by the marvelous Leiv Reed. Follow him @LeivReed
THE TOOLS I USE:
All these tools are things I use myself. That being said, there’s so many great brands, big and small, that produce amazing alternatives, and you can also get them from other stores than Amazon. However, if you use the affiliate links below, I get a small cut.
All of the sets recommended below will include color or brush variations that might be superfluous. I tend to buy both sets and individual items, because I like the flexibility. But on a budget, just get the one item you need.
Daler-Rowney Aquafine Synthetic Brush Set: amzn.to/4a7WLyb
(Round Brush size 4 most important)
Manuscript Chinese Calligraphy Goat Hair Brush set:amzn.to/4bT5QfD
Pentel Color Brush Black: amzn.to/48slfk9
Pentel Color Brush Set: amzn.to/42TRVBX
Pentel Color Brush Black Refill: amzn.to/3uNuvl9
Talens Indian Ink: amzn.to/49pf1D0
Talens Ecoline Liquid Water Color Set: amzn.to/49ryG5l
Dr. Ph Martin’s Radiant Liquid Watercolor Set: amzn.to/49ss8n6
Golden High Flow Acrylics Black: amzn.to/48tY9cZ
Golden Fluid Acrylic White: amzn.to/49PDSzD
Golden Fluid Acrylic Set: amzn.to/49LEFBJ
Fabriano Sketching paper, can hold some ink: amzn.to/49ryT8D
Fabriano Hot-Press Watercolor paper: amzn.to/431Huws
Fabriano Cold-Press Watercolor paper: amzn.to/3wwUQo8
Faber-Castell B3 Graphite Pencil: amzn.to/3IdCYkH
BOOKS & INSPIRATION:
I’ve learned to draw from a lot of books, most of them on drawing and penciling comics. But the two most important for my own artistic journey were probably:
How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way: amzn.to/3IghYtS
Bridgman’s Complete guide To Drawing From Life: amzn.to/3IeUd5f
(I’m not satisfied with the print, but great book still)
None of them have to do with inking directly with a brush, but they lay the groundwork for most of what I do.

[@kapayoshi4903]

You inspire me soo much as an artist. The way you present stories of Norvegian folklore motivates me to look into my own Slavic myths, gods and fairytales, to try and bring them to life in my own creative way. Thank you very much for this content mr. Holm and make more awesome videos like this.

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

If you come across some good books or sources about Slavic myth and folklore in English, do share.

[@kapayoshi4903]

@@DenUngeHerrHolm Will do kind sir, will do.

[@iolairmuinnmalachybromham3103]

@@kapayoshi4903 I too would love to read some Slavic folklore if you find any English-language resources

[@kapayoshi4903]

@@iolairmuinnmalachybromham3103 Alright, was actually thinking on researching it all, then doing my own sort of encyclopedia of all the different giants, faries, gods and monsters, all drawn in my style.

[@iolairmuinnmalachybromham3103]

@@kapayoshi4903 Oh that would be so awesome! And well worth the time it takes

[@anomictm]

i knew nothing about Norwegian folklore. this was a great introduction. truly fascinating!

[@Kasmodamous]

It can definitely get real weird at times that's for sure, but such is it with cultural folklore.

[@TheGermanFabian]

Loved the video, thank you! As someone who grew up with German fairy tales, I never really explored fairy tales from other regions of the world. Always amazing seeing art from artists with different backgrounds and each having their own unique take on a given theme. As always, the art's amazing.

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

I'll be doing some German takes some day as well.

[@TheGermanFabian]

@@DenUngeHerrHolm I'd love that!

[@HATTEGJENGENstudios]

​@@DenUngeHerrHolmyayyyyy

[@MrCarrotbadger]

Thank you for a great video! Being a swede I mostly know (and love) Bauer and his trolls so it’s always a delight to learn about more and similar fairytale artists! Tack igen!

[@midnighthourpoems]

Hello!! I've been a fan of your art for quite some time, and you've been both a huge help and a huge inspiration, i love fairy tales and fairy stories and grew up with them as well!! (Albeit i grew up with grimm, not abjornsen and moe) and i love Norwegian folklore! Well, fairytales as a whole, but thank you for all your beautiful art, beautiful storytelling, all of it. You change the world with it, and utmost congratulations on having your art on display!! I wish i could go see it, but it is far away from where i live, unfortunately. you deserve to have your art up there with john bauer!!

[@floramew]

I love learning about folklore, and have a special interest in late 19th century depictions of legends/etc, so it was especially gratifying to listen to you talk about all this, esp since it gives me a window into less well known lore that I might look into more myself later. Thanks as always for sharing! 👍

[@wendymartinez7366]

Love your art and showing how you create. I am on my Norwegian history journey, visiting in August 2024 to Oslo and Trondheim.

[@MissingRaptor]

Congratulations on being included in the exhibition! I'd love to go see it (if only finances didn't stand in the way). Also, thank you for teaching us some of the history of trolls as part of the Norwegian tradition and oral storytelling as well as the emergence of the familiar troll art! Last of all, it took me waaaay too long to realize that the troll self portrait was you 😅 now I can't unsee it.

[@sanovice]

i am just getting into your videos, and am really enjoying the level of detail and passion you have to the topics. The cadence and softness of your voice makes these videos great for unwinding of an evening. as a long term lover of European mythology, the stories of the trolls fascinate me.

[@wowKitch]

Thoroughly enjoyed this overview, so much I never knew... Thank you for sharing!

[@ivanprime93]

Good & informative video to watch before bed. Now I want to draw trolls & see to do some Drekavac pieces.

[@sophaloph1129]

I learned so much from this video! Congrats on being part of an exhibit!!

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

Thank you!

[@felixtrismegistus7489]

Would love to see your take on a Vogon from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy!

[@SamuraiMujuru]

New Vaesen book pre-order goes live, new video about the artistic depictions of trolls? What a lovely way to start the day!

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

I need to check out Vaesen some day.

[@sjiva7061]

This was so interesting! Thank you so much! I love fairy tales. I'm reading a book on West African folktales at the moment. I think I have to look into Norwegian tales next!

[@samankucher5117]

didn't catch the live stream didn't catch the premier but am glad i still watched both thanks for the story.

[@refoliation]

Thanks for the beautiful video. You had mentioned Jewish folktales in regards to minority folklore communities in Norway. Now I want to see you dybbuk. Love from the diaspora in Minnesota. ✌️

[@levisimpson516]

David Thierree is such a fantastic artist, I love his work. I've been making my own trolls as of late, not truly based on anything, I call them Tree Trolls as they are made of of bits of Trees and plant life, often times having horns made from branches or even full sized logs jutting out from them. I enjoy making them. :)

[@alisontheanimal4009]

This was such an informative video. It’s really interesting to learn about where the images of mythical and fantasy creatures come from, especially when you find out that they aren’t static and that they move through time.

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

I should do a video on pre-Kittelsen troll art, because some of it is hilarious! Unfortunately hard to find quality images.

[@alisontheanimal4009]

@@DenUngeHerrHolm even without quality images it would be interesting!

[@nineteen-sixty-sevenfordmu9454]

Somehow this video appeared on my feed, and it was the vest thing I've seen all week!

[@SassyRamen117]

Interesting fact: the US military is slowly turning towards Norse Paganism. As a veteran, I wanna say that your art and stories help spread such things. Not sure if that's your plan, but good work, I could listen to you all day.

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

Congratulations, you win the prestigious "Troll of the Day" award! And just for the record, fuck US Imperialism and militarism, and if my stories can sow even just a bit of doubt in someone's head, it's worth it.

[@Alex-cq1zr]

This is actually a bit scary, cause any military is suceptible to far right (fascist and such) people worming their way in to eventually abuse power. And, as far right likes to pervert things from other cultures... they've historically perverted paganism to see as some weird religious justification of their evil. And, overall, far right likes trying to corrupt paganism.

[@user-gv4mi9cd2y]

​@@DenUngeHerrHolmit's sad to see nazis taking over Norse paganism. It also happens with Irish and Scottish cultures. I feel quite angry whenever I see nazis using Celtics knots or Norse runes, but as an American I suppose it's not my place to fight that fight.

[@BananaMike780]

​@@user-gv4mi9cd2y yeah neo nazis like to latch on to anything they might recognize as european culture, it's super weird and annoying. and I disagree, as an american fighting nazis should be ingrained into your DNA. we may have many if our own problems but we can still take a stand. Be the american we always pretended we are.

[@staruletto9194]

I love this! Lots of Norwegian history I have yet to learn as someone who immigrated to Norway a few years ago. I'd love it if you did some videos in Norwegian!

[@VelvetWxtch]

my aunts/grandma used to have these tiny troll statues in her house as decoration. i recently looked them up and they are creepy!

[@Eyeolair]

Found your video through the shorts ❤ im from Sweden and Ive never been bored of trolls. My reference for drawings is John Bauer.

[@HatteBan]

Omg its a troll

[@HATTEGJENGENstudios]

Yes Trolls are the point of the video So of course there are trolls

[@HatteBan]

@@HATTEGJENGENstudios ik

[@Bobert_here]

No way!!

[@Bobert_here]

TIS A DAMN TROLL!!!

[@HatteBan]

@@Bobert_here HELL YEAH!

[@brianedwards7142]

Like number 1000!!! I borrowed some academic collections of fairy tales from the public library in the 70s. Sadly the library has been remodelled and actual books have been "rationalised" with other libraries so that there is no more than a few copies of each book in the whole bloody state and you have to order it ahead of time.

[@honestgoblinproductions5663]

Thank you, I've been recently drawing my own trolls because i love the design, mostly i do more tiny boggin style. Its just good to learn more about them so i can add more of their origin culture and the artist that spawned the look of them. Thank you

[@quindecim3315]

Awesome video!!

[@Joevic225]

Awesome video man, thank

[@maxpolzonetti6209]

I'm not Norwegian but I LOVE the Norwegian trolls. Your videos are so artistically inspiring and interesting. I've never heard of Vandenshaul or Kittleson (I'm really sorry if I spelled those wrong) up until now and I will deffinately check out their art.

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

Kittelsen and Werenskiold.

[@ishtiaqhussain]

Started following you recently, love your videos and narrations. Can you tell what does the circle you make in many of your video somethies you cover with with paint other don't

[@MartnCFdk]

You reignited my love for art, mythology and literature.

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

That's so good to hear.

[@Ceolskog]

I live on the other side of the planet, but I have had a bit of a thing for Norwegian trolls ever since I saw Trolljegeren back in 2011. Når trollmor har lagt sine elleve små troll... even though that song is originally Swedish.

[@The-great-googly-moogly]

I love the designs of trolls in the show Hilda. They are always stone, just becoming inanimate during the day. They also have long noses, glowing eyes, and moss and vines growing on them.

[@jhilamadhikary5551]

Thank you! I'm going to get this book now!

[@miagifodder5599]

The wood's at 11mins looks amazing

[@SleepySloth2705]

9:54 I had the honor of getting Jőrmungandr tattooed on my arm by Jannicke in her iconic woodcarving-artstyle 😁🤘

[@loganjones6273]

I was having a bad day until I found this video and now it's gotten better thx to your lovely trolls

[@OneSlavBoi]

This is awesome

[@HATTEGJENGENstudios]

You told me to watch this video. And this video was very good!

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

Glad you liked it!

[@someuser4166]

I'm from Sweden and I often saw trolls as humans with tails, large noses and mushrooms growing on top of them.

[@bepivisintainer2975]

captivating))))

[@svenningen]

Enorm video!

[@BanaBiohazard]

Amazing

[@Theloserguy_312]

I knew you were norwegian! Yeah!!! love it (:

[@FelixKrankenkilledmykids1980]

Love this guy

[@tinnagigja3723]

I think it's pretty obvious where Brian Pilkington got the inspiration from when creating his trolls. Incidentally, have you visited or heard of Troll Park in Fossatún, Iceland?

[@Rat-tea]

❤

[@spacestormgirl2657]

A dumb question but do you like Guillermo's Trollhunters?

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

No, I didn't like that. I usually like Guillermo Del Toro, and like a lot of kids shows, but that one didn't grab me.

[@spacestormgirl2657]

@@DenUngeHerrHolm alrighty, thank you for your answer

[@Ceolskog]

@@spacestormgirl2657 You should check out the Norwegian film Trolljegeren, which translates to "The Troll Hunter," you might enjoy it.

[@EldionLazi-fs7wq]

You are very inspiring too me as a noob artist :>

[@EmilyFPC]

❤️‍🔥💘💞

[@pixiekawai]

Hei Kim! Si ifra om du er nedi hovedstaden en dag, ville vært en ære å dele en øl og litt tegning med deg c:

[@ScipioAmericanus__]

Where can I buy illustrated English version?

[@kongvinter33]

we Norwegians are a fantastic peoples, we knew what the internet troll would look like long before the interwebs were created.

[@sketchified8064]

Hey Kim can you pls do an ink monster of a drawing of Shrek by telling the story of true ogres . Fun fact - Shrek is not an ogre in the norweigian dub of Shrek . Instead hes a troll .

[@ObserversOfHumanity]

Dont forget about swedish trolls as well! They have been in all of scandinavia until they got turned into stone most of them.

[@jonathanrynjah]

I guess Trolls have never left our culture, They just evolves into something else.

[@kubix1877]

Now i know why Netflix "Troll" look like that. Movie itself is like 5/10 but the troll is animated pretty good.

[@O.PunPun]

The song cover is just too vibrant for the content displayed

[@spacestormgirl2657]

Did you ever meet a Saami?

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

That's a weird question. I've know people of Sami culture or descent.

[@spacestormgirl2657]

@@DenUngeHerrHolm for someone who can only dream of going to Norway it's a normal question. After all, I can't tell from videos what are these people like so I hoped for some experience from someone actually having a chance.....

[@Monkeylover23]

Hi

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

Hi.

[@mohamadelnhas486]

@@DenUngeHerrHolm Hi

[@Bildgesmythe]

Well take that Disney!

[@guitarrachiconj]

Hhaaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha bro i got sick n started vibin with the ones missing their eyes only able to speak in an accent cause mmy vocal chords were shot dude ye is a goood day si we goin yas 2 da other way cuz we can not see nythn lol is that how they built english?

[@theredqueen2283]

Tusser

[@amask99]

I'm wondering, have you ever considered that the Catholic faith might be the true one. If you do one day, there are some KZbin channels such as Breaking in Teh Habit, Thomistic Institute, Ascension Presents, Catholic Answers which explain it. It's better to know the way of salvation than be sorry afterwards, right?

[@stephenboerner251]

Ah love it. The main reason I use the internet is for shit like this. This part of your life that is so ingrained and everyday for your culture and here I am, 24, just hearing about the grand tradition of Norway's trolls. Sweet art, I think I have some new tattoo ideas haha

[@hijodelsepulcro]

Eres un gran artista y un poeta de la tinta. Gracias

[@DenUngeHerrHolm]

Muchas gracias. Tú palabras me hace feliz.