Askeladden who fought with the troll (Norwegian story) Hovseter skole
Once upon a time there was a farmer who had three sons. He was old and weak, and his sons wouldn`t work for him. Next to the farm there was a big forest. The old farmer wanted his sons to cut some of the trees in the forest in order to earn some money. This way he would be able to pay off his debt. At last they agreed to work for him; the oldest son went out to work first. When he arrived at the forest he chose a tall tree. Suddenly a big troll appeared. “If you cut my tree I will kill you,” said the troll. When the boy heard that, he threw away the ax, and ran home as fast as he could. He came home, out of breath, and told the others what had happened. However, the father said he was a coward. “That troll never scared me whenever I was in the woods,” the father thought. The following day the second son went out to cut some wood. The same thing happened to him. After he made some cuts in a tree, the troll showed up and said: “If you chop my trees, I will kill you!” The boy didn`t dare to look at him, he threw his ax away and started running, just like his other brother, and just as fast. When the boy came home, the father was angry. He told him that the troll never scared him when he was young.