Dungeons & Dragons, Father & Son

To start this post, I will repeat what I often say about being the father of a little boy: it allows me to live a second childhood. It also extends some family traditions. So I am not sure exactly why, but Wolfie suddenly got into medieval fantasy and he told me he wanted to play Dungeons & Dragons. So I bought some dice, dug up some old 2e edition books online as well as the data my brothers put on the clouds, and I started playing with him. Granted, it is a simplified game and we spend at least as much time walking around than sitting at the table throwing dices, but all the same. He plays a young wizard who spent the first few years of his life on an island and is going on the mainland now, with an adventuring party. It is great fun, it takes him off the screen and, to top it off, it allows the whole world created by my brothers and I to take a second life. All these kingdoms, characters, stories, now Wolfie is familiarising himself with it. So yes, let's just say I'm a proud dad.

Be original: say it with trolls

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone celebrating it and to everyone who thinks it is a painful day too. I found the picture of this lovely couple on the Facebook page of the Arensbak Trolls, which from what I understand is now called Trolls of the 5 Arts Studio (but I prefer the old name). If you want to offer something original today, why not trolls like these ones? After all, love means never having to say you're ugly (as this movie says), and this lovely couple is so darn cute with their tails wrapped together like that.

Troll the Ancient Yuletide Carol

I found this picture on the Facebook page of the Arensbak Trolls. I had to share it here, just because. I recently mentioned that Christmas owes a lot to Nordic myths and folklore. And we can't have an old fashioned Christmas without a few trolls here and there. So here's one for you.

Say it with... trolls?

Valentine's Day is coming very soon. I don't like Valentine's Day much: too stressful when you are in a relationsip, too depressing when you are not. And in times of pandemic, it makes things a bit more complicated. If I lived in Montreal (where there is at least one shop that sells them), I knew what I'd like for Valentine's Day: this troll which I found on the Facebook page of the Arensbak Trolls. you gotta admit, he's really cute.

About a Troll

It is election day in the USA and I do not intend to dwell on it. I hope for the best, but fear the worst. I don't like to blog about politics much here, but I thought I would reshare an anecdote which has been on my mind quite a lot recently. Some of you may remember, but the last troll who commented on this blog was a Trump supporter (and I believe a female, do we call them Trumpets?). Anyway,I had made that filthy joke upon his inauguration and someone in the comment section called Lynney62 had written this diatribe (you can read the full post and the exhange here):

"Sad that you are filled with such ugliness and hatred that you can't appreciate a momentous day in America's great Republic of freedom. If you dislike the historical ceremonies of America so much...why are you living in this country? Wouldn't you be happier in some other country such as Venezuala or France?"

Now this is, in a nutshell, what is wrong about the most ardent supporters. Bad English, for one (what the hell is a "Republic of freedom"), the vitriolic accusations, the ignorance (I do not live in the US) and making the equivalence between the leader, the ideology and the nation. For Lynney62, an American, or at least a good American, is and should be a Trump supporter or else. For the others, they are bad patriots at best, traitors in fact, and they can go to other countries. You know, the bad ones. Not like the Republic of freedom. Whatever the result of the elections, Lynney62 will still be around, sadly. But I do hope that at least sanity and intelligence will prevail and that trolls such as her will not have their way in the real world. They can always comment on this blog, and it will be my pleasure to make fun of them.

Trolls (or ogres?) in hiding

I blogged before about our visit to the Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire, one of my favourite places there. Now, a few meters away from the village, there was a long pathway in the nearby woodlands, where you could walk. And there were lots of wooden sculpture and other alongside the pathway, including these monsters which you can see here, these kind of ugly looking creatures hiding underneath boxes or treasure chests.

Now I am not sure what they are meant to represent, but my money would be on trolls. There was a bridge nearby, for one, and they have the deforme and grotesque look of trolls. Beside, of all the humanoid monsters, trolls are the ones closest to nature and these were literally crawling off the some underground hideout. They could also be ogres, although I always imagined ogres more at least somewhat more civilised. Be that as it may, it was as if we were stepping in a fairytale or n old legend and they were the adversaries we had to overcome before carrying on our journey. I envied Wolfie for a moment, because he could still use these monsters in his make belief games. He did not seem scare of them, by the way. Or that much impressed. But I still think they were absolutely as scary as they were lifelike.

A friendly troll

Back in November, I blogged about a troll I found in a shop in York. I mentioned then that I had seen this brand before, in fact that my family bought one when we went to Sweden, years ago (and I know you can also find them in Norway). You can see on the picture the troll in question, much friendlier than one would expect of a troll: this one is maybe no older than a child (a child troll anyway) and is hugging a... dog? Wolf? Fox? Anyway, I always loved Norse folklore and legends and love stories about trolls, whether they are nice or nasty. So it made sense to buy at least one to decorate our home. This one is very cute in an ugly way. I decided to take a picture during my last time at my parents' home and share it here. I never found a name for him. If you have any suggestions, you make them in the comments. Although a troll might not need a name at all?

A troll in York

I took this picture in a shop in York, you can see here a proper Scandinavian troll. The monster, mind you, not the Internet creature. This one looks very much friendly (not to mention clean, with his reddish cheeks and nose) to be much of a monster. I love trolls and other mythological critters, especially from Norse folklore. I was very tempted to buy it, but he was too big for the flat we had back then, or to bring home. I actually knew that brand of trolls already: my family bought a similar one in Sweden, with the same colours and features. If I remember correctly, it is a Norwegian brand. All the same, I want to start a collection, but we still don't have much space here.

Why I still love the USA

It is Independence Day today (the day, not the movie). Usually, I wish happy Independence Day to my American friends and readers and that's it. This year, with the Swine being POTUS, I know many of them don't feel like celebrating. And those who do, if they read my blog, well, they might be blind admirers of the Swine, like sadly there are too many. I even had the honour (sort of) to receive the visit of one on this post about the Swine. This is what the troll (lynney62, let's name and shame her) said in a comment:

"Sad that you are filled with such ugliness and hatred that you can't appreciate a momentous day in America's great Republic of freedom. If you dislike the historical ceremonies of America so much...why are you living in this country? Wouldn't you be happier in some other country such as Venezuala or France?"

This was my reply: "@lynney62-I have never read on my blog, even from other trolls, a comment as stupid and ignorant as yours. For your information I don't live in the US but that is a country that I love and admire. And unlike you I would never ever confuse the country from its government or its most unsavoury citizens or leaders."

In essence, and I am writing this as a sort of commiseration for all of those who read this and despair that Trump is president, this is why I love the United States nevertheless. Because the American people is not its current president, in fact let's not forget that he lost by a wide margin the popular vote (and got there with some foreign help). I love them because of things like this. Because my favorite actress is half American from her father and she is also a beautiful human being in her own right, regardless of her amazing talent as an actress. Because in spite of its religious fundies, its vulgar, loud mouthed narcissistic reality TV stars turned politicians, despite its trolls (yes lynney62, I am referring to you), the USA has intellectuals,great writers, secular humanists, free thinkers and overall, sane people.

A house troll

I blogged not so long ago about the Arensbak Trolls. These trolls are not like the trolls of Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore, they are not evil monsters, but more akin to spirits of nature and, since these trolls are for home, they are also household guarding spirits. My brother and have gathered some through the years, thanks mostly to my parents' generosity. This one is mine. It is comfortably set on one of my bookshelves in my bedroom, guarding my books. I was very tempted to bring him back with me, but then I thought better of it: the bookshelves here are already cluttered and this troll has been guarding my books all his life and this is how he should remain. I recently showed the picture to the Ticklers, who thought my troll was really cute and spontaneously said they wanted one like this. Maybe one day I should.

Trolls

There is this shop on Saint-Denis, on the Plateau Mont-Royal, that sells gems and stones and New Age(ish) stuff. But it also sells trolls made by this American company. You can see their Facebook page here. The trolls are hand-made with natural fabrics (such as pine cones) and of various shapes and forms. Some are as small as say glass and can stand on a bookshelf or a mantelpiece, others are as tall as a child, such as the one you see on the left. As I love folklore in general and Norse folklore in particular, you can guess that I I always loved them. I have one back home in Chicoutimi, which I might show on the blog one day. This is one is at the entrance of the shop. I am blogging about them because I always stop at the shop and rediscover them when I stay in Montreal. These trolls are far kinder than the original Norse monsters, they are more like spirits of nature than malevolent creatures, so they belong to a home, as guardians or simply dwellers. I was thinking about buying two as presents to the Ticklers, but the girls might prefer something a bit cuter (although they love scary stuff). I could buy one for myself, but the bookshelves at home are already crammed. So I might just enjoy their display in the shop.

A great unknown line about Scandinavia

Rereading this blog, feeling uninspired, I found on this old post a comment from my brother PJ. I decided to blog it, as it is so very definitely a great unknown line. So here it is translated in English:

"We have to admit, everything Scandinavian is cool, isn't it? Whether it is Vikings, trolls, the movies of Bergman, medieval festivals in the ruins of the Hanseantic League, or blonde Swedish women."

This is all very true, of course.