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by Anonymous on May 20th, 2007

Anonymous

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I just discovered something weird. in Denmark, "Troll" and "Ogre" are both translated into the same word and I wonder if there is a known difference between those two?

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Answers. 2 helpful answers below.

  • by LynfromNM on May 20th, 2007

    LynfromNM

    If we look at the origins of the words "troll" and "ogre" there is a difference in meaning.

    Troll comes from Old Norse for "demon, fiend".
    Ogre comes from Old French for "man eating giant". There is speculation that ogre might even be derived from the Latin "god of the underworld". There are some overlapping definitions of the two words, but "man eating" is only applied to ogres. Trolls can evidently be either giants or dwarves.

    There is entirely separate mythology involved with these two creatures as well. Trolls are Norse legend, while ogres may have been "invented" in Southern Europe. If the ancient Danes didn't buy into the "ogre" mythology they wouldn't necessarily have a directly translated word for that particular creature.
    "Troll" seems to have been a general catch-all word for evil supernatural beings, originally in Swedish, trolla - "to charm, bewitch;" and in Old Norse, trolldomr - "witchcraft." Troll-bull, a supernatural being in the form of a bull, and boar-trolls appear in the Viking sagas. (see Online Etymology Dictionary).
    You might want to try translations for "demon", "fiend" and "giant" into Danish to see what you get.

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  • by Japan on May 12th, 2010

    Japan

    Damn it all. I just wrote a huge discriptions and it was delteted. In English having met these two beings one is small and annoying and one is huge and fun to fight. Troll is small one and orge is huge one. I won't go on cause me mad but having met and fought these two before in my life time they are fun.

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