THE TALE/TRAIL

of the Thomas Dambo Trolls

By Dr. Lotta Gavel Adams

THE FIRST THOMAS DAMBO troll on the North American continent, stuck his toes into the waters of the Caribbean Sea on the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico, in 2014. It was Hector, the Protector, made of recycled scrap wood. He held a big stone in his hand, ready to protect the island from invaders and damaging hurricanes. And he did. When Hurricane Maria hit in 2017, Hector took the brunt of the winds and waves, and was knocked out. But no lives were lost on the island, for which the islanders credited Hector. In 2019, the islanders invited Thomas back to recreate their beloved Hector. The new Hector holds a lantern in his raised hand, warning approaching hurricanes, that here lies Culebra and you must go around.

Thomas Dambo, Danish rapper, storyteller extraordinaire, skilled carpenter by trade, wood sculpture artist and recycle activist, is conquering the world with his cute and whimsical giant trolls telling the humans, the little people, to stop polluting the planet. Thomas comes from a strong storytelling tradition. He was born in Odense in 1979, the same city as Hans Christian Andersen 174 years earlier. The storytelling tradition from Odense is alive and well.

Since Hector, the Protector, twenty-four more Dambo trolls have popped up in the US–in addition to his troll installations in China, South Korea, Chile, Australia, and of course Denmark. The latest ones are Bo, Bodil, and little Bibbi in Aullwood Audubon, Ohio, Mama Mimmi in Jackson Hole, and the five troll Guardians of the Seeds in Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. People are flocking to see them. His Isak Heartstone in Breckenridge, Colorado, caused such a stir, attracting more than 3,000 visitors on certain days, that he had to be moved to a more accommodating place. Rocky Bardur and his five fellow trolls, in the Morton Arboretum in Chicago, got tired of the little humans continuing to pollute and destroy their beloved nature so they decided to hunt them down and teach them a lesson. Look out for Rocky and his big stone!

Trolls run deep in Nordic folklore and imagination. Since olden times, they have lived deep in the forests and mountains of the Nordic countries. The trolls were feared because they owned nature. The natural resources were theirs and they were rich. They looked imposing and dangerous like Theodor Kittelsen’s Forest Troll from 1906. The message was clear: Trolls and nature are big, powerful, and scary. You, the for us, the little people, is: What have you done to the planet in the last one hundred years when you thought that you were the masters of the universe? Look at all the trash you left behind and look at the pollution you have created, and all the trees that you have cut down. It is time for you to reexamine your lifestyle. human beings, are small and insignificant, and scared. You better behave when you are in the forest. Things changed after the arrival of industrialization in the Nordic countries at the turn of the last century.

There may still be hope for the Pacific Northwest. We understand that seven Dambo trolls have applied for visas to come to the Pacific Northwest. Now they are looking for comfy little forest spots, preferably close by the waters of the Salish Sea so they can communicate with the Orcas.

Humans were getting more confident and cockier, gradually imagining themselves to be the center of the universe. Trolls were safely relegated to legends and tales of superstition. Then, trolls started migrating into children’s books, where they stayed for the entire 20th century. They became a useful teaching tool for elementary school teachers, telling their young students that they needed to be strong and enterprising in the new world: Just look at those trolls! They are big and dumb, and easy to cheat. You, young boys and girls, are stronger and smarter. It is time for human beings to take charge of the world. But that did not turn out too well.

In the last couple of decades, the trolls have been returning in films and books for grown-ups. And they have a message for us. Through their many distorted forms, the trolls hold up a mirror to us, the human beings, and ask us what we see. What have you done during your hundred years in power? Enter the Dambo trolls. Their question

IMAGES FEATURED: Theodor Kittelsen’s Forest Troll from 1906, Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Hector the Protector, 2nd version (Puerto Rico, 2019), Artist Thomas Dambo, Author Lotta with Thomas Dambo's Nordic Swan at the National Nordic Museum.