#trylla

*deep sigh* I keep getting asked this. So like. She's a really controversial character in the fandom. My own opinion is that I don't hate her, I want to like her, even, but I don't think she was written well. Especially in the way the movie adapted her. Hilda and Johanna have a rockier relationship in the graphic novels and Hilda has less friends and attachments to Trolberg. Trylla picks up on this, and the changeling spell is sort of a 'what do you mean you don't want what you said you wanted' device for Hilda. There are even a few scenes in the middle where Hilda seems to genuinely enjoy being a troll- for the exact reasons Trylla perceived. We see that the emotions here are complicated. The format of a graphic novel also has a looser pacing and leaves more things up to interpretation (such as tone) so it's easier to read between the lines. In this version, I read Trylla as an interesting character that had good intentions, but that made a huge mistake by meddling and heavily regretted it. The problem is, In the animated version of Stone Forest, Johanna and Hilda pretty much make up by the point they even meet Trylla, and even more-so by the end of the episode. And over the course of Mountain King movie, Hilda repeatedly expresses that she misses home and her friends, interspersed with scenes of everyone looking for her. Which makes the changeling situation extremely sad, and Trylla's observations that lead her to do the spell in the first place (that Hilda doesn't get along with her mother, and doesn't quite fit in in Trolberg) flat-out incorrect. Overall in this version, Trylla's actions seem unreasonable, and her viewpoint becomes hard to sympathize with- Leading lots of people to hate her.

Trylla (Baba's mum):

"The implication here is that in the beginning Ögmundr was human, but under-went some kind of ritual or at least procedure, referred to as trolling (“trylla”) but never more clearly explained, that seems to have shifted him from one state of being to another.

There is no mention of him dying in the process, but some such transformation seems nevertheless to have taken place since the saga indicates that he cannot be consid-ered a human any longer, and also that he cannot die. Ög-mundr himself later admits that he has become inhuman,“nú em ek eigi síðr andi en maðr” (now I am no less a spirit than a man), and also states “ek væra dauðr ef ek hefði øðlitil þess” (I would be dead if it were in my nature). Ögmundr is said to be “svartr ok blár” (black and blue), a description used of many Icelandic ghosts, but he is never directly described using the words scholars commonly associate with ghosts in the sagas, although there is mention of “jǫtnar,” “fjandr,” and “troll” (giants, devils, and trolls) inthe different versions of this saga. Even though Ögmundris referred to as a spirit (“andi”) but not a ghost, there is strong evidence which suggests he should be counted amongst the undead. Something of a medieval Frankenstein creature, having been re-animated like a revenant,it is stated that Ögmundr can no longer die — perhaps precisely because he can no longer be counted among the living. It is left up to the audience of Örvar-Odds saga to choose how they would like to refer to Ögmundr: as a devil,demon, troll, spirit, or ghost or perhaps all of the above in chorus. Providing evidence of the common indeterminacy of medieval terminology, this example also demonstrates that, when it comes to the paranormal, the more difficult it becomes to classify or name a monster, the greater is the power that it might wield." - The Troll Inside You: Paranormal Activity in the Medieval North, by Ármann Jakobsson.

Compare:

The Old Man

What difference is there ’twixt trolls and men?

Peer

No difference at all, as it seems to me. Big trolls would roast you and small trolls would claw you; — with us it were likewise, if only they dared.

The Old Man

True enough; in that and in more we’re alike. Yet morning is morning, and even is even, and there is a difference all the same. — Now let me tell you wherein it lies: Out yonder, under the shining vault, among men the saying goes: “Man, be thyself!” At home here with us, ’mid the tribe of the trolls, the saying goes: “Troll, to thyself be — enough!”

The Troll-courtier[to PEER GYNT]

Can you fathom the depth?

Peer

It strikes me as misty.

The Old Man

My son, that “Enough,” that most potent and sundering word, must be graven upon your escutcheon.

[...]

The Old Man

This same human nature’s a singular thing; it sticks to people so strangely long. If it gets a gash in the fight with us, it heals up at once, though a scar may remain. My son-in-law, now, is as pliant as any; he’s willingly thrown off his Christian-man’s garb, he’s willingly drunk from our chalice of mead, he’s willingly tied on the tail to his back — so willing, in short, did we find him in all things, I thought to myself the old Adam, for certain, had for good and all been kicked out of doors; but lo! in two shakes he’s atop again! Ay ay, my son, we must treat you, I see, to cure this pestilent human nature.

Peer

What will you do?

The Old Man

In your left eye, first, I’ll scratch you a bit, till you see awry; but all that you see will seem fine and brave. And then I’ll just cut your right window-pane out —

Peer

Are you drunk?

The Old Man[lays a number of sharp instruments on the table]

See, here are the glazier’s tools. Blinkers you’ll wear, like a raging bull. Then you’ll recognise that your bride is lovely — and ne’er will your vision be troubled, as now, with bell-cows harping and sows that dance.

Peer

This is madman’s talk!

The Oldest Courtier

It’s the Dovre–King speaking; it’s he that is wise, and it’s you that are crazy!

The Old Man

Just think how much worry and mortification you’ll thus escape from, year out, year in. You must remember, your eyes are the fountain of the bitter and searing lye of tears.

Peer

That’s true; and it says in our sermon-book: If thine eye offend thee, then pluck it out. But tell me, when will my sight heal up into human sight?

The Old Man