TROLLS
Mainly Scandinavian Folklore
Can be as huge as giants or as small as dwarves
A TROLL is a fearsome member of a mythical anthropomorph race from Scandinavia. Their role ranges from fiendish GIANTS ; similar to the OGERS of England; to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground in hills, caves or mounds. In Sweden, TROLLS adopted many of the traits of the land-wights (vättar, compare Icelandic landvættir) and thus came to be inclined to thieving and the abduction and consumption of humans which, in the case of infant abductees, was substituted with a changeling. In Norway, a beautiful female troll is called by the singular form huldra (plural hulder), but is not identical with the plural form huldre or huldrefolk (compare Icelandic huldufolk), which refers to the fairy-like land-wights. In Shetland and Orkney tales, TROLLS are called trowe, adopted from the Norse language when these islands were settled by Vikings.
Nordic literature, art and music from the romantic era and onwards has adapted TROLLS in various manners; often in the form of an aboriginal race, endowed with oversized ears and noses. From here, as well as from Scandinavian fairy tales such as Three Billy Goats Gruff, TROLLS have achieved international recognition, and in modern fantasy literature and role-playing games, trolls are featured to the extent of being stock characters.
Origin of the Myth:
In the genre of paleofiction, the distinguished Swedish-speaking Finnish paleontologist Björn Kurtén has entertained the theory (e.g. in Dance of the Tiger) that trolls are a distant memory of an encounter with Neanderthals by our Cro-Magnon ancestors some 40,000 years ago during their migration into northern Europe. Spanish paleoanthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga provides evidence for these types of encounters in his book, The Neanderthal's Necklace. The theory that Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons occupied the same area of Europe at the same time in history has been theorized based on fossil evidence. Other researchers believe that they just refer to neighboring tribes. The problem with this theory is that neither Neanderthals or Cro-Magnons existed in this part of Europe during the ice-age. Most of Scandinavia was covered by a large glacier and the area was not occupied until much later.
A more plausible explanation for the TROLL myth, is that the trolls represent the remains of the forefather-cult which was ubiquitous in Scandinavia until the introduction of Christianity in the 10th and 11th centuries. In this cult the forefathers were worshipped in sacred groves, by altars or by gravemounds. One of the customs associated with this practice was to sit on top of a gravemound at night, possibly in order to make contact with the deceased. With the introduction of Christianity however, the religious elite sought to demonize the pagan cult, and denounced the forefathers as evil. For instance, according to Magnus Haring; konsen's laws from 1276 it is illegal to attempt to wake the "mound-dwellers". It is in these laws that the word troll appears for the first time, denoting something heathen and generally unfavourable.
This fits with the TROLLS in Norse sagas who are often the restless dead, to be wrestled with or otherwise laid to rest.
SOURCE: Wikipedia