Saturday Rave: The Billy Goats Gruff.

Trolls have made a bit of a comeback, haven't they.
Yes, I'm afraid they're still reaching out to swipe people. It's not even because they're hungry, either, but through pure spite, and there's hardly a comments section of any website safe from them.

Perhaps we need a story about these new trolls, pointing out to them how stupid and boring they are.

Anyway, the Three Billy Goats Gruff features a pre-internet troll. This Norwegian folk tale is very simple, but it has a monster,  a beautifully satisfying third-time-lucky structure, a cunning twist, the triumph of the under-goat, and a happy ending.

It's pretty much perfect, in fact.

Hm...perhaps we need a Society of Gruff Goats to patrol the internet.

Word To Use Today: troll. The supernatural troll is an Old Norse word. The nasty internet commenters come the Old French troller, to run about, from the Middle High German trollen, to run with short steps.

Lovely image, that.

Troll can also means to fish by trailing a line through the water, to sing heartily, or, in Britain, to stroll around.



 .