Trolls can be very friendly, at least those that are not online. The recycling artist Thomas Dambo has made a living from building trolls in nature, mostly, all over the world. He always collect scrap wood and other materials in the vicinity of the place where the troll is going to live, and he collaborates with local volunteers to build the piece. All the trolls have names and identities that can be guessed or you can read about it on the Trollmap which will try to find your position and tell you if there are any trolls near to where you are, and show you approximately how to find them. But you may have to solve a riddle or follow an unmarked trail to find them, because trolls are elusive and do not want to be to exposed. They usually want to tell you a message about nature and how to protect it.
Trolls can be found in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. They are in principle against entrance fees, so they are usually hidden in areas with free public access, with few exceptions.
Little Tilde, Vallensbæk by Thomas Dambo 2016. Photo: Hans Christensen
Little Tilde is lurking in the forest, curious if anything is happening around the lake in front of her. Inside her, there are 28 hidden birdhouses that provide shelter in the colder months. She is one of the 6 forgotten giants in the area, called Sleeping Louis, Hilltop Trine, Oscar Under the Bridge, Thomas on the Mountain, and Teddy Friendly.
Bjarke Cirkelsten, Dragør 2020 by Thomas Dambo . Photo: Hans Christensen
Bjarke Cirkelsten is sitting next to a meadow where the kindergarten kids come to play and have lunch, within a circle of big boulders. The stone circle passes into the trees where Bjarke Cirkelsten sits and asks for small rocks that he can use for building small mounds in the wood. This troll was build under Covid19 as Thomas Dambo was called back from his international projects and used the time to build several trolls together with the locals. His video is on facebook.
So far, there are more than 100 trolls arounds the world.
“My mission is Waste No More: our world is drowning in trash while we are running out of natural resources. I spend my life showing the world that beautiful things can be made out of trash. I give new life to discarded materials by turning them into large-scale artworks. My aim at the moment is to build 1,000 Trolls using recycled materials all over the world,” states Thomas Dambo.
Hans, I've recently been made aware of the trolls within woods movement, and I'm new to Dambo's work. So this is a breath of fresh air. I appreciate you sharing this. Hope you're well this week? Cheers, -Thalia
Love this! Thanks for posting, the world needs more of THESE trolls!