34-461: Grunay is an uninhabited island in the Out Skerries group, the most easterly part of Shetland , Scotland . Its area is 55.58 acres, or 22.49 hectares. The island is the site of the lighthouse keeper's house for the lighthouse on the nearby Bound Skerry . This house was abandoned following the automation of the light in 1972. A Blenheim IV bomber from No. 404 Squadron RCAF crashed on
68-504: A (mothballed) primary school. The primary school in 2015 had just one pupil. The previously open secondary school was the smallest in the UK; in 2010 the school had only three students. This secondary school was closed in 2014 by the approval of the Scottish government. In 2016 the school only had one student. The story went viral and he received 10,000 Christmas cards that year from all around
102-479: A collective term for supernatural beings who should be respected and avoided rather than worshipped. Troll could later have become specialized as a description of the larger, more menacing Jötunn-kind whereas Huldrefolk may have developed as the term for smaller trolls. John Arnott MacCulloch posited a connection between the Old Norse vættir and trolls, suggesting that both concepts may derive from spirits of
136-510: A farm or estate. Lindow states that the etymology of the word "troll" remains uncertain, though he defines trolls in later Swedish folklore as "nature beings" and as "all-purpose otherworldly being[s], equivalent, for example, to fairies in Anglo - Celtic traditions". They "therefore appear in various migratory legends where collective nature-beings are called for". Lindow notes that trolls are sometimes swapped out for cats and "little people" in
170-619: A lot of sea ( haaf ) fishing was conducted from traditional fishing boats known as sixareens . Being so close to Norway, the islands were of strategic importance in World War II and were a regular landfall for Norwegian boats carrying escapees from the Nazi occupation. The local coastguard were responsible for the refugees and at one point during the war were issued with a tommy gun , although initially no-one knew how to use it. German planes frequently flew over at low altitudes, strafing
204-501: A particular type of being. Numerous tales are recorded about trolls in which they are frequently described as being extremely old, very strong, but slow and dim-witted, and are at times described as man-eaters and as turning to stone upon contact with sunlight. However, trolls are also attested as looking much the same as human beings, without any particularly hideous appearance about them, but living far away from human habitation and generally having "some form of social organization"—unlike
238-500: Is critical of Motz's interpretation and calls this theory "unsupported by any convincing evidence". Ármann highlights that the term is used to denote various beings, such as a jötunn 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 berserker . Later in Scandinavian folklore, trolls become defined as
272-519: Is from the Old Norse sker and refers to a small rocky island or a rocky reef. Housay is from the Old Norse Húsey meaning "house island", although this name is now little used by locals, who prefer "West Isle". Bruray may be from the Norse brú and mean "bridge island" due to its position between West Isle and Grunay, the latter meaning simply "green island". The derivation of Bound Skerry
306-483: Is little peat on the Out Skerries, so the residents have been granted rights to cut it on Whalsay . The soil in the islands is thin and infertile, but is heaped into riggs, for better cultivation of potatoes, carrots and swedes. The main industry on the islands is fishing. There is still some sheep farming, but it is far less important than it once was. Tourism on the other hand has increased. The islands have
340-550: Is more problematic, but may be from bønn , meaning "forerunner", a reference to this being the first land a ship encounters en route to Shetland from Bergen . There is evidence of Neolithic inhabitation including two house sites at Queyness. The Battle Pund is a rectangle 13 metres (43 ft) across, marked out by boulders, dating from the Bronze Age . It is similar to a structure at Hjaltadans in Fetlar , but its purpose
374-416: Is much confusion and overlap in the use of Old Norse terms jötunn , troll , þurs , and risi , which describe various beings. Lotte Motz theorized that these were originally four distinct classes of beings: lords of nature ( jötunn ), mythical magicians ( troll ), hostile monsters ( þurs ), and heroic and courtly beings ( risi ), the last class being the youngest addition. On the other hand, Ármann Jakobson
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#1732772179185408-544: Is unknown. There is a massive ruined structure on the north shore of Grunay known locally as "the broch " although it is not known if it dates from the Iron Age , when such structures were built throughout the far north of Scotland. The name "Benelips" possibly originating from the Old Norse bon meaning "to pray" hints at the existence of an early Christian hermitage on these remote islets. Dey (1991) speculates that
442-617: The Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game . Beginning in the 1950s, Troll dolls were a popular toy based on the folklore creature. Trolls based on the dolls appeared in the Hollywood animated movie Trolls (2016) and its subsequent sequels Trolls World Tour (2020), and Trolls Band Together (2023). Troll is the name, and main antagonist, of a 2022 Norwegian movie released by Netflix on December 1, 2022. The Danish artist Thomas Dambo has created from recycled wood
476-404: The rå and näck , who are attested as "solitary beings". According to John Lindow , what sets them apart is that they are not Christian, and those who encounter them do not know them. Therefore, trolls were in the end dangerous, regardless of how well they might get along with Christian society, and trolls display a habit of bergtagning ('kidnapping'; literally "mountain-taking") and overrunning
510-426: The 9th-century skald Bragi Boddason . According to the section, Bragi was driving through "a certain forest" late one evening when a troll woman aggressively asked him who he was, in the process describing herself: Old Norse : Anthony Faulkes translation: John Lindow translation: Bragi responds in turn, describing himself and his abilities as a skillful skald , before the scenario ends. There
544-494: The Grunay lighthouse shore station in 1941 and dropping a bomb in 1942. The latter attack killed Mary Anderson, the only local casualty of the war and Grunay was evacuated shortly thereafter. A month later a Canadian bomber crashed on Grunay and in 1990, a plaque was raised to commemorate this event. Dey (1991) states that the bomber was a "British" Blenheim bomber with a crew of two Canadians and one Englishman. The plaque ceremony
578-832: The Proto-Germanic word is unknown. Additionally, the Old Norse verb trylla 'to enchant, to turn into a troll' and the Middle High German verb trüllen "to flutter" both developed from the Proto-Germanic verb * trulljanan , a derivative of * trullan . In Norse mythology, troll , like thurs , is a term applied to jötnar and is mentioned throughout the Old Norse corpus. In Old Norse sources, trolls are said to dwell in isolated mountains, rocks, and caves, sometimes live together (usually as father-and-daughter or mother-and-son), and are rarely described as helpful or friendly. The Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál describes an encounter between an unnamed troll woman and
612-408: The absence of trolls in regions of Scandinavia is described in folklore as being a "consequence of the constant din of the church-bells". This ringing caused the trolls to leave for other lands, although not without some resistance; numerous traditions relate how trolls destroyed a church under construction or hurled boulders and stones at completed churches. Large local stones are sometimes described as
646-535: The dead. Troll , a Norwegian research station in Antarctica , is so named because of the rugged mountains which stand around that place like trolls. It includes a ground station which tracks satellites in polar orbit . Trolls have appeared in many works of modern fiction, most often, in the fantasy genre, with classic examples being the portrayal of trolls in works such as in Tolkien's Middle-earth or
680-474: The easternmost part of Shetland. Locally, they are usually called Da Skerries or just Skerries . The Out Skerries lie about 6 kilometres (4 mi) northeast of Whalsay ; and Bound Skerry forms the easternmost part of Shetland , lying just 300 km (around 190 miles) west from Tjeldstø in Norway. The main islands are Housay , Bruray and Grunay . A large number of skerries , islets and stacks surround
714-600: The folklore of the troll -like trows , and perhaps that of the selkie may be based in part on the Norse arrival of the Norse settlers. She states that the conquest by the Vikings sent the indigenous, dark-haired Picts into hiding and that "many stories exist in Shetland of these strange people, smaller and darker than the tall, blond Vikings who, having been driven off their land into sea caves, emerged at night to steal from
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#1732772179185748-399: The folklore record. A Scandinavian folk belief that lightning frightens away trolls and jötnar appears in numerous Scandinavian folktales, and may be a late reflection of the god Thor 's role in fighting such beings. In connection, the lack of trolls and jötnar in modern Scandinavia is sometimes explained as a result of the "accuracy and efficiency of the lightning strokes". Additionally,
782-528: The islanders for their houses. Some of the gold from these wrecks was found in 1960. The wrecks of the Kennemerland and the Danish warship Wrangles Palais (1687) lie within a Historic Marine Protected Area . Due to their remote and rugged nature, the islanders were accused of smuggling and wrecking. Tammy Tyrie's Hidey Hol was used by islanders to avoid press gangs . Until the early 20th century,
816-569: The main Out Skerries and the Mainland , are Little Skerry and the Vongs, and Muckle Skerry is another outlier lying further north. Most of the Skerries placenames have a Norse origin. The "Out" name derives from one or both of two Old Norse words. Austr means "east" and may have been used to distinguish Out Skerries from Ve Skerries or "west skerries", and utsker means "outer". " Skerry "
850-565: The main Shetland Islands group. A third island, Grunay, is currently uninhabited. The two main islands are linked by a bridge. There are two shops, an airstrip, a church on Housay, a police station, a fish processing factory and a community hall where dances are held (especially for the celebration for the annual Lerwick to Skerries Yacht Race held in August). The islands are famous for wildlife, with frequent sightings of rare birds. There
884-789: The main group. These include the Hevda Skerries and Wether Holm to the north, the Holm to the south and Lamba Stack and Flat Lamba Stack to the east. Stoura Stack and the Hogg are to the south of Grunay. Bound Skerry, which has a lighthouse, is flanked by Little Bound Skerry and Horn Skerry. Beyond Mio Ness at the southwest tip of Housay are North and South Benelip and the Easter Skerries, as well as Filla, Short and Long Guen (the Guens), Bilia Skerry, and Swaba Stack. In an isolated group between
918-471: The new land owners." The skerry of Trollsholm and its cleft of Trolli Geo indicate the presence of this folklore on Out Skerries. The Out Skerries have been permanently inhabited from the Norse period onwards. There are a number of shipwrecks around the islands include the Dutch vessels Kennemerland (1664) and De Liefde (1711); and North Wind (1906), which was carrying wood which was salvaged and used by
952-566: The poem Beowulf emphasizes not the harrying of Grendel but the cleansing of the hall of Beowulf, so the modern tales stress the moment when the trolls are driven off." Smaller trolls are attested as living in burial mounds and in mountains in Scandinavian folk tradition. In Denmark, these creatures are recorded as troldfolk ("troll-folk"), bjergtrolde ("mountain-trolls"), or bjergfolk ("mountain-folk") and in Norway also as trollfolk ("troll-folk") and tusser . Trolls may be described as small, human-like beings or as tall as men depending on
986-526: The product of a troll's toss. Additionally, into the 20th century, the origins of particular Scandinavian landmarks, such as particular stones, are ascribed to trolls who may, for example, have turned to stone upon exposure to sunlight. Lindow compares the trolls of the Swedish folk tradition to Grendel , the supernatural mead hall invader in the Old English poem Beowulf , and notes that "just as
1020-605: The region of origin of the story. In Norwegian tradition, similar tales may be told about the larger trolls and the Huldrefolk ("hidden-folk"), yet a distinction is made between the two. The use of the word trow in Orkney and Shetland, to mean beings which are very like the Huldrefolk in Norway, may suggest a common origin for the terms. The word troll may have been used by pagan Norse settlers in Orkney and Shetland as
1054-748: The source, their appearance varies greatly; trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them. Trolls are sometimes associated with particular landmarks in Scandinavian folklore, which at times may be explained as formed from a troll exposed to sunlight. Trolls are depicted in a variety of media in modern popular culture. The Old Norse nouns troll and trǫll (variously meaning "fiend, demon, werewolf , jötunn ") and Middle High German troll, trolle "fiend" (according to philologist Vladimir Orel likely borrowed from Old Norse), possibly developed from Proto-Germanic neuter noun * trullan , meaning "to tread, step on". The origin of
Grunay - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-617: The south side of the island on the morning of 21 February 1942, possibly crippled by enemy fire off the coast of Norway. A plaque was placed on the island in 1990 to commemorate the crew by the nephew of one of the three men who died. 60°25′19″N 0°44′24″W / 60.422°N 0.740°W / 60.422; -0.740 This Shetland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Out Skerries The Out Skerries are an archipelago of islets , some inhabited, in Shetland , Scotland, and are
1122-790: The world. The old schoolhouse found reuse as the second-smallest cinema in the UK (the smallest in Scotland), called Schoolhouse Cinema, which opened in 2017 and offers free admissions and free snacks. Troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore , including Norse mythology . In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings. In later Scandinavian folklore, trolls became beings in their own right, where they live far from human habitation, are not Christianized , and are considered dangerous to human beings. Depending on
1156-440: Was attended by the family of F/Sgt Jay Oliver, one of the two Canadian casualties and Peter Johnson, a local man who had witnessed the crash aged eight years. During the war an official letter was sent in secret to the local sub-postmistress with instructions that it be opened in the event of a German invasion. After the war it was returned, unopened. Around 35 people live on the two main islands, Housay and Bruray, just east of
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