Maybe American kids are to sheltered? I mean, kids in Norway have been told these stories for hundreds of years, me and my kids included, and I’ve never heard ANYONE being terrified of these. Kids find them fun, and understand it’s fiction. Of course, adult Americans, now that’s a different story…

Double standard from the most violent country on the western hemisphere.

Oh, how fun! I think a lot of norwegians are “meeting themselves in the door” by this. This story is so deeply embedded in our culture and childhoods, and the Ashlad himself is sort of the incarnation of the norwegian identity. For anyone to find them scary is just not something I think most norwegians ever stopped to imagine until now.

This is just one story amongst many. Of course, we have a lot of stories with trolls in them, and I think the way we tell our kids about them, it is let on obviously that this is pure fiction, even so the kids understand. I guess it’s an education for the kids in separating reality and fiction. Also, kids love the big scary trolls, as we grown ups tend to impersonate them by goofily trampling around looking very silly indeed. I have never ever in my life heard of anyone actually being scared of trolls or this story, even though we have all grown up with it. But I it might be different in America.

I think that kids these days are smart enough to understand that this is pure fiction and that this scenario is rather unlikely. Btw, whats thet problem with kids running around slaying trolls;)