Whoa! Troll!

Whoa! Lookout, its a troll!

I'm an internet junkie and man, do I get the occasional visit from a Troll. It’s interesting how the word meandered its way from Scandinavian folklore and Norse mythology to modern day tech jargon.

Let me tell you (in short) what the good old Scandinavian and Norse folk regarded as Trolls. The Norse mythology came first and were somewhat social beings, living in families (usually as father-and-daughter or mother-and-son) in isolated mountains, rocks, and caves. In the Middle Ages, the word Troll was used to denote a multitude of beings such as a giant or mountain-dweller, a witch, an abnormally strong or large or ugly person, an evil spirit, a ghost, a blámaðr, a magical boar, a heathen demi-god, a demon, a brunnmigi or a berserk.

Scandinavian folklore gave a more particular description of what could be called a Troll. Lore described them as being extremely old, very strong, but slow and dim-witted, sometimes with a cannibalistic urge. The stories said that the Trolls turned to stone upon contact with sunlight. Later, it was also said that Trolls can be quite "human looking" without any particular hideous appearance. But these Trolls would be distant, anti-Christian and prone to "kidnapping". Trolls were scared of lightening!

The modern day Troll is a much more sinister being! Let me speak in the wise words of Wikipedia, "In Internet slang, a troll (pron.: /ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. The noun troll may also refer to the provocative message itself, as in: "That was an excellent troll you posted."

While the word troll and its associated verb trolling are associated with Internet discourse, media attention in recent years has made such labels subjective, with trolling describing intentionally provocative actions and harassment outside of an online context. For example, mass media has used troll to describe "a person who defaces Internet tribute sites with the aim of causing grief to families.""

Well mythology or online irritants, I'd like trolls to keep to themselves. Not a very nice label to aspire for. So long!