page_title: Trollhunter
section_title: Cultural references
hierarchical_section_title: Trollhunter / Cultural references
caption_attribution_description: "Look at them," troll mother said. "Look at my sons! You won't find more beautiful trolls on this side of the moon."
context_page_description: Trollhunter is a 2010 Norwegian dark fantasy film, made as a "found footage" mockumentary. It is written and directed by André Øvredal and features a mixed cast of relatively unknown actors and well-known Norwegian comedians, including Otto Jespersen. Trollhunter received positive reviews from Norwegian critics. It opened on 10 June 2011 in the US to a mostly positive critical reception.
context_section_description: Trollhunter contains many references to Norwegian culture and Norwegian folktales in particular. Among those are the belief that there are different species of trolls, such as the woodland and mountain trolls, which can be further categorised into subspecies as in the film. The most well-known is probably the Mountain King, which is mentioned in the play Peer Gynt and its music by Edvard Grieg. The Norwegian name for Mountain King, Dovregubbe, is a compound word whose first part is used in the name for the mountain range Dovrefjell where the characters meet the final troll.
  Other common troll descriptions from the Norwegian folklore which are used in the film include trolls having a tail, multiple heads, the ability to smell a Christian's blood, eating rocks, but loving meat and sometimes being man-eaters. The trolls are also described as big, old, strong, but slow and dim-witted, turning to stone when exposed to sunlight. The latter is a point emphasised in the film, as Hans uses UV light to kill the trolls. However, he also states that not everything from the tales is true.
  The film also has several specific references to fairy tales. For example The Boy Who Had an Eating Match with a Troll when the camera man asks about an eating contest, and the Three Billy Goats Gruff when Hans attempts to lure a troll from under a bridge using three goats. The fairy tale Soria Moria Castle is one of the tales that tells about trolls being able to smell a Christian man's blood. A painting by Theodor Kittelsen based on the same fairy tale is also used as a backdrop on one of the trips they do in the film (Thomas stands in the same pose and asks his friends "Do I look like that famous painting?"). The look of the trolls in the film is also influenced by painters like Theodor Kittelsen and John Bauer.
  As reflected by how the students answer Hans, only a fraction of Norwegians consider themselves religious or visit the church regularly,
  even though the majority of Norwegians are members of the state church.
  The film also makes references to the often heated conflict between farmers and predators eating their livestock and the farmers' limited ability to react without breaking Norwegian wild life regulations Similarly there are conflicts that arise when new power lines need to be passed through the landscape.
  With several of the cast being comedians that are fairly well-known to the Norwegian audience, including Otto Jespersen playing Hans, it also sets the tone of the film for many. Robert Stoltenberg playing the Polish bear hunter makes that scene less serious, and plays on xenophobic stereotypes that most Norwegian immigrants are from Poland, often speak mediocre Norwegian or English, do what they are told without asking questions and often do the work Norwegians won't do themselves.
caption: Troll painting by John Bauer
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