Page 129 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Mysterious Creatures 109

Selkies lenting enemies of humankind. Those occa-
Selkies, the seal people of the Orkney and sional Scandinavian folk heroes who dared to
Shetland Islands, wish to live harmoniously engage them in mortal combat were able to
with those humans who love the sea as much defeat the trolls with their superior intelli-
as they do. They have sometimes been con- gence, rather than might of arm or sword.
fused with the sirens of Greek lore that have Trolls are most often quite slow-witted, and
no interest in creating anything but death and they become confused and weak if they can be
chaos for seafarers. The selkies can shape-shift somehow tricked into stepping out of their
and appear in human form, resuming their darkened caves into direct sunlight.
true forms only when they wish to travel In more contemporary times, the troll is
through the sea. regarded as a denizen of mountain caves, larg-

The selkies are among a small number of er than the average human, and exceedingly
gentle and supernatural beings. They often ugly, who often crouches under bridges wait-
take human spouses and produce children ing for unsuspecting victims.
who occasionally have webbed hands and feet
and who are always born with a love for the M Delving Deeper
Booss, Claire, ed. Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales.
sea. But one day the selkie’s desire for the sea
New York: Gramercy Books, 1984.
will overwhelm her, and she will reclaim her
discarded seal skin and return to the ocean, Jones, Alison, ed. Larousse Dictionary of World Lore.
where she will keep in touch with her human New York: Larousse, 1995.
family only by her song and an occasional Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology.
appearance near the shore. John Sayles wrote Translated by Angela Hall. Rochester, N.Y.: D. S.
and directed an enchanting film about the Brewer, 1993.
selkies in The Secret of Roan Inish (1994),
adapted from Rosalie Frye’s novella The Secret
of Ron Mor Skerry.
Actors Who Faced (or
M Delving Deeper
Became) Movie Monsters
Benwell, Gwen, and Arthur Waugh. Sea Enchantress:
The Tale of the Mermaid and Her Kin. New York: ven the most casual fan of Hollywood
Citadel Press, 1965. horror films is familiar with the classic
Jones, Alison, ed. Larousse Dictionary of World Lore. Ecreatures of movie monsterdom and the
New York: Larousse, 1995. actors who portrayed them—such as the
Spence, Lewis. The Fairy Tradition in Britain. London: Frankenstein monster, as enacted by Boris
Rider, 1948. Karloff (1887–1969); the Wolf Man, as played
by Lon Chaney, Jr. (1906–1973); and the
vampire Count Dracula, as immortalized by
Trolls
Bela Lugosi (1882–1956). However, some of
Trolls bear no resemblance to the cute little the most well-known actors in motion pic-
dolls with big bug-eyes, dolphin grins, and tures or television encountered monsters—or
bushy red hair. Rather, trolls are nasty mon- impersonated them—before their stars had
sters who can assume gigantic proportions and begun to rise or after their clout at the box
wreak havoc wherever they choose. They are office had begun to grow less powerful. Of
fiendish giants, often associated with dark-side course there are also the cases in which an
sorcerers. established star simply enjoys playing a bona
To the old Norse, the term “troll” was fide monster for a change of pace.
applied only to hostile giants. By the time of Dana Andrews (1909–1992), a minister’s
the high Middle Ages, trolls had become a bit son, starred in such Hollywood classics as The
smaller and more fiendish, but they had also Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Laura (1944), and
become capable of working black magic and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Then, in
sorcery. Regardless of their size, trolls are unre- Curse of the Demon (1957), he played an

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