The so-called great Norwegian mountain troll is a creature steeped in legend and folklore, said to inhabit the rugged peaks of Norway’s mountains. For decades, tales of these elusive beings have captivated the imaginations of people around the world.
But, in December of 1942, something truly extraordinary happened: someone apparently took a photo of a figure that seemed to be an actual troll.
So was this proof of the mountain trolls of Norway actually being true? Keep reading to find out!
What is the great Norwegian mountain troll?
In December 1942, the crew of an RAF Recon Flight claimed to have captured a photograph of a real-life mountain troll, some 300 miles north of Bergen. The photograph shows a large, shadowy creature standing in the distance of what seems to be a snowy field.
At first glance, the photograph appears to be genuine, and many people have been convinced that it was indeed a real mountain troll.
However, upon closer examination, I’ve got bad news for you: it’s pretty that the photograph was a fake.
Firstly, the photo was taken from a great distance, making it difficult to discern any real details of the creature. How convenient, when people are looking into whether something is real or not…
Furthermore, the claim is that the photo was taken by the crew of an RAF Recon Flight. However, let’s think for a moment on how likely it is that they would have been in a position to capture such an image.
After all, this would have been taken on a reconnaissance aircraft and so would not be able to take a photo of a creature on the ground, given that they would not be able to fly that low.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there’s no indication that this image was actually published in 1942. Instead, it appears that the earliest posting of the photo was on the Lucy Reynolds Art website on 31 July, 2012.
Related: 11 Most Beautiful Norwegian Islands For You To Explore
Where does this photo of the great Norwegian mountain troll come from?
The supposedly real photo of the great Norwegian mountain troll seems to be a Photoshopped version of a scene from the movie “Troll Hunter”. The figure in that movie and the one in the photo have identical stances with similarities in the background too.
“Troll Hunter” is a Norwegian movie that at one point was actually Netflix’s most popular non-English film. Notably, it includes the following scene:
As you can see, the positioning of the trial is exactly the same. In the original photo, you can even see the light outline of the troll’s nose and one of its eyes from the movie scene, even if the full expression isn’t apparent there.
One redditor even created this image to show the movie image fading out to the “photo” just to really emphasize how identical the two are.
So all this means that while it sounds great to have a photo of the great Norwegian mountain troll, even with just a brief examination it becomes clear that it’s a fake.
The legend and folklore of the mountain troll lives on in Norway! But, unfortunately, this photograph should not be taken as evidence of their existence.
I guess this just means that you’ll have to visit Norway to find your own proof…