Trolls are alive and kicking.
They have been and still are a popular wing of pop culture around Europe and especially Scandinavia.
They have been and still are a popular wing of pop culture around Europe and especially Scandinavia.
Denmark probably influenced a global Troll craze more than anyone when woodcutter Thomas Dam gave us the universally recognisable Troll. My daughter had tons of these hairy dudes in the late 1980's.
Fauni trolls like these were a really big thing for the youth of Finland too.
photo: hannele K flickr
Apparently there Fauni everything in Finland: bath towels to lemonade drinks. Lots of different Fauni money boxes too.
Here's the current official Atelier Fauni website
With a little bit of history (pictorial, too)
Arto has informed me that the Atelier Fauni brand is nowadays most famous for their Moomin Family made back in the 50's and 60's. They command considerable sums today. The Atelier Fauni story of how they turned an author's characters into popular toys reminds me of the Paddington Bear story, its old Mrs. Clarkson headquarters just down the road from Moonbase!
I had a couple of Moomintroll paperbacks by Finnish author Tove Jansson when I was a teenager in the 70's. It was sort of hippyish to read Moominpappa back then - a bit like reading the British book The Little Grey Men by BB too and being into Faeries by Brian Froud, all of which I still have!
Tivvy was part of the Fauni too.
Many of you will know Tivvy even if you don't know Fauni.
I know him best from my TV Comic Annuals. He's stood aon the bonnet of the Steed's motor on the cover of my 1967 annual.
Many of you will know Tivvy even if you don't know Fauni.
I know him best from my TV Comic Annuals. He's stood aon the bonnet of the Steed's motor on the cover of my 1967 annual.
Arto tells me Tivvy was big in Finland and like the UK Tivvy became a money box icon.
There was both a Tivvy soccer player bank and Tivvy hockey player bank and they made one for every team, with the team logo and outfits painted on. The same idea was exported to Sweden as well.
There was both a Tivvy soccer player bank and Tivvy hockey player bank and they made one for every team, with the team logo and outfits painted on. The same idea was exported to Sweden as well.
It is interesting that Tivvy made it big in the UK but not the whole Fauni family of trolls. Why? Who got the licence for Tivvy?
Arto mentioned to me that he recall's seeing a giant Tivvy (a person in a Tivvy suit) in some 60's TV clip, which had some Gerry Anderson connection too. Any ideas readers?
Arto mentioned to me that he recall's seeing a giant Tivvy (a person in a Tivvy suit) in some 60's TV clip, which had some Gerry Anderson connection too. Any ideas readers?
Germany produced many different trolls as well including ceramic ones and nodders like this Heico one.
Trolls have also graced the silver screen. Maybe the nadir were the two 80's Troll horror films, Troll and Troll 2.
Midway has to be the cave troll in Lord of the Rings, when Boromir utters the classic line "They have a cave troll!"
There's kids' cartoon films too about the colourful long haired troll pals.
The zenith of cinematic trolling has to be the monster movie Trollhunter, the 2012 film which dispels any notion that trolls are cute little long haired friends! They're HUGE!
Interestingly the only two words in English similar to Troll, besides Troll itself, are trolley, meaning something made 'to roll' [t-roll] and the much less pleasant internet troll, which has a complex origin according to wiki. Oh yes, there's trollop too, from the old German Trulle or lady of ill repute.
Anyways, get your trolls out folks and appreciate their mythical charms.
Have you got any troll, Tivvy or Fauni collectables?
Trolls are scary, I may have nightmares after reading this post. Why do little girls think these things are cute ? At least the ones in the second photo are a bit like Wombles, and more friendly looking than most.
ReplyDeleteMy sisters had the first round of Trolls back in the sixties and I inherited a small one with flame red hair. The Finnish Fauni ones are quite sinister and look a lot like the folklore 'hearth spirits' such as slavic Domovoi or english Brownies
ReplyDeleteI've never had any Troll figures or collectibles, although in the seventies I bought a beautifully illustrated second hand book simply titled 'Gnomes'. I sadly no longer have it, nor can I remember the author or illustrator's names. However, I remember the artwork being truly magical :)
ReplyDeleteI recall Gnomes, theres a similar book called Faeries by Alan Lee and Brian Froud. Lees watercolours are wonderful. Its still on my bookshelf now
DeleteExcellent trollster round-up Woodsy. The clip with Gerry Anderson and Tivvy is mentioned in this excellent summary of the UK Tivvy phenomenon, in an article accompanied by a photo of Tivvy with Scott Tracy and Lady Penelope (scroll down midway)
ReplyDeletehttp://timworthington.blogspot.com/2016/10/theres-so-much-more-in-tv-times-part-7.html
I recall though that Tivvy in the tv clip was a life-sized one.
I vividly recall the "first wave" of Troll Fever, in the US at least, circa 1963. Everybody HAD to have a troll. And I had several, and loved them to death.
ReplyDeleteFascinating article!
ReplyDeleteTrolls have been a part of both me and my wife's childhoods (long before we met!)
Marilyn had a Dam Troll that she crocheted a woolen dress for. I had a Dam Troll goat-centaur and a lambs wool and leather Moomin Troll. (I still have them lurking around somewhere, along with my Snoopy in Apollo spacesuit figure)
I enjoyed the movie Trollhunter and I'm currently reading the all together less enjoyable Troll Hunter which is about the Internet variety.
Now, having ripped back the curtain from our childhood memories, will anyone have the temerity to tackle that other 60's species, THE GONKS?!
BTW, looking through the TV Times blog mentioned above, I was trying to identify the bloke with Scott, Lady P and Tivvy. I struck me he might be Tommy Handley and after much staring at horribly pixelated low-rez typography in the photo, I think it is!
ReplyDeleteGolly! Like Harry Corbett and Peter Glaze, I haven't thought about him in decades!
Thanks everyone for lively insights into these dam trolls. Somewhere in the attic are a horde of resting trolls from the early Nineties along with plastic dummies and little plastic babies. Crazes that our daughter was well into at the time. I think we may may see more trolls on the base but hopefully not in the modern sense touchwood!
ReplyDelete