trǫll

Forms

trǫll n^[1] The manuscripts mostly write troll, the older form;^[2][3] trǫll and modern Icelandic tröll have a rounded vowel that Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon puts down to analogy, perhaps first in the plural.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *truzlą (“supernatural being, fiend”),^[1] with a cognate in Middle High German trolle (“spook, monster, lout”).^[2][3][4] Its origin is unclear.^[2]

Sievers derived it from a form *trudlą made to troða (“to tread”), so “the one who treads”;^[3][5] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon finds this hardly possible.^[2] Torp and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon prefer the form with *-zl-, comparing the dialect words Swedish trösale (“small sprites”) and Norwegian Nynorsk trusal (“fool”), and Frisian and German dialect words for staggering and rolling;^[4][2] Elgqvist's idea of a ball of fire is reported by de Vries.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is in the Codex Regius of the Eddic poems, GKS 2365 4to, of 1250–1300, in Vǫluspá: tungls tjúgari í trolls hami “the snatcher of the moon in a troll's shape”.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The word covers giants and giantesses, monsters and beings full of magic power, and it is used of people with such traits.^[2][8] It is common in curses, as troll hafi þik! “trolls take you!”,^[9] and e-m sýnask trǫll fyrir durum “trolls seem to stand before the door” means to be afraid.^[8] In poetry it appears in kennings, as for Þórr's hammer.^[10]

It continues as Icelandic tröll, Faroese trøll, Norwegian Nynorsk troll, Swedish troll and Danish trold;^[2] the English word troll is from Scandinavian, and Orkney trow from the Norse word.^[3]

Timeline

• 1250–1300 – trolls hami in Vǫluspá in GKS 2365 4to.^[6]
• 1250–1300 – troll and trolla in Holm perg 6 fol.^[11]
• 1300–1350 – the spelling trǫll in NRA norr fragm 62.^[12]
• 1310 – tröll in Grettis saga, by IcePaHC's dating.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. a troll, giant, fiend or monster; a being with magic power.^[8][10]
2. a person with the looks or ways of such a being.^[8][1]

Word family

• trǫllkona
• trǫllsligr
• trǫllagangr

Descendants

• Icelandic tröll^[1]
• Faroese trøll^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk troll^[1]
• Swedish troll^[5]
• Danish trold^[1]
• English troll^[3]

Related words

• trylla

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. tröll
3. ^ a b c d e f g de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 598
4. ^ a b Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 172
5. ^ a b Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. troll
6. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. GKS 2365 4to
7. ^ Gering, Hugo (1903), Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda, Halle: Waisenhaus, p. col. 1045
8. ^ a b c d Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 663
9. ^ Möbius, Theodor (1866), Altnordisches Glossar, Leipzig: Teubner, p. 441
10. ^ a b Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. trǫll
11. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. Holm perg 6 fol
12. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 62
13. ^ Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9