Where Trolls Deloused Themselves of Old

Posted by Martin R on July 6, 2011
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Skogs-Tibble parish near Uppsala is unusually rich in Bronze Age sacrificial finds, so I’m looking closer at it for some future fieldwork. And I found an awesome site in the Sites & Monuments Register, Raä Skogs-Tibble 93:3:

Skrubbstenen [The Scrubbing Stone]. Boulder with oral tradition, granite, c. 4 by 4 m a side … According to Ivar Hall, 80 years old, of Sågstennäs, his maternal grandfather told him that trolls used to scrub and delouse themselves against the inward-sloping side of the boulder in the two cavities there.

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Comments

  1. #1 Phillip IV
    July 6, 2011

    A boulder trolls scrubbed themselves against? It’s an early forerunner of the Internet! Now if a certain anti-atheist troll from Canada would grace this blogpost with one of his incoherent copy/paste diatribes, it would be perfect.

  2. #2 Art
    July 6, 2011

    Beware the pernicious troll lice that may be left over and hiding near the stone. Rumor is that perhaps trolls were just regular people who had a bad case of troll lice and that their unusual behaviors and appearance was entirely a result of this.

    The way I heard it a person properly fortified with Brännvin was less likely to attract troll lice. It is thought the herbs and spices act as a repellent.

    If that isn’t part of the folklore it should be. Pending insertion at the earliest possible opportunity. Consistent repetition, and utility, are the keys to creating folklore.

  3. #3 Birger Johansson
    July 6, 2011

    “Pending insertion at the earliest opportunity” -this is like the Cleopatra idea. :-)

    -Were extra-terrestrials involved? I see opportunities for a profitable book series…
    — — — — — —

    Finding showing human ancestor older than previously thought offers new insights into evolution http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-human-ancestor-older-previously-thought.html
    Prehistoric BBQ has bone marrow and aurochs on the menu http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-prehistoric-bbq-bone-marrow-aurochs.html

  4. #4 Birger Johansson
    July 6, 2011

    Ha! I got it! If you recall “Quatermass and the Pit” you may recall the perished aliens trying to re-create themselves from the grave.
    The “Troll lice” is a synthetic organism that escaped from one of the many impact structures in the regions, trying to sculpt human organisms into something resembling its extra-terrestrial creators. However, genetic drift made the lice analogues inefficient, leaving the afflicted humans as grossly deformed hybrid creatures. A few interbred with humans, explaining the emergence of freaks like Glenn Beck or Jean Le Pen.

  5. #5 Surgoshan
    July 6, 2011

    The Scrubble with Tibbles?

  6. #6 Nomen Nescio
    July 6, 2011

    trolls, delousing themselves? huh — oh, i see, it was in the PAST. the kinds of trolls we have all too many of these days are plenty lousy.

  7. #7 Birger Johanson
    July 6, 2011

    “The Scrubble with Tibbles?” WIN :-)

    (OT) Considering your interest in China, this might be worth reading:
    “The man leading the fight against anti-girl abortion”
    http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128195.800-the-man-leading-the-fight-against-antigirl-abortions.html

  8. #8 Martin R
    July 7, 2011

    I’m actually tempted to visit the Scrubbing Stone. I’ll probably find our friend David sitting on it with a laptop, a 3G connection and no meds.

  9. #9 Birger Johansson
    July 8, 2011

    (OT) Swedish astronaut Fuglesang survives homeopathic pill overdose http://www.thelocal.se/34796/20110707/
    “This act is an effort to get the inefficiency of homeopathic medicine, commonly used in Sweden today, on the agenda.”
    Best comment: “Homeopathy is a traditional method… to take money”.
    — — — —

    “Swedish woman beats up groper – goes free” http://www.thelocal.se/34820/20110708/
    You go, girl!

  10. #10 Peter N
    July 10, 2011

    A propos trolls, I just watched the 2005 Icelandic film “Beowulf and Grendel”, which I enjoyed very much. It tells the classic tale reasonably faithfully, with only the minimum necessary digressions such as a love interest. Grendel is portrayed (rather sympathetically) as a troll — he’s not any kind of supernatural being, but kind of a Bigfoot creature. There’s a really great mead-hall, of course.

    The Icelandic scenery is stunning, and there is a commendable absence of splashy digital effects.

  11. #11 Keyo Ghettson
    July 13, 2011

    Intresting blog…

    Check out my theory on the origins of the Proto-Germanic people:

    http://www.keyoghettson.com/2010/11/proto-germanic-people_30.html