Trøllanes () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

at the northern end of the Faroese island of Kalsoy in the municipality of

Klaksvík Klaksvík () is the second largest town of the Faroe Islands behind Tórshavn. The town is located on Borðoy, which is one of the northernmost islands (the Norðoyar). It is the administrative centre of Klaksvík municipality. History The fir ...

. Its postal code is FO 798. A tunnel to the village of Mikladalur to the south, the Trøllanestunnilin, was completed in 1985. Trøllanes is noted for its meat specialty, Garnatálg, made by kneading sheep fat. Trøllanes and Mikladalur formerly constituted the commune of Mikladalur, before being incorporated into Klaksvík. The name of the village means '

Troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

peninsula'. The village name

Origin story In fiction, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist. In American comic books, it also refers to how characters gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances ...

is that in the old days, the village was visited every

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

, by trolls from the surrounding mountains, and the villagers had to flee and seek shelter for the night in the neighbouring village of Mikladalur. And it is this which has given the village its name. One year on Twelfth Night however, there was an old woman, who wasn't able to make the trip to the next village due to infirmity, and she hid under the table in the living room, when the trolls came. They danced and partied and made such a noise that the old woman, in fear called out the name of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. When the trolls heard the holy name, they stopped partying and cursed the old woman, and left the village, and have never bothered it again. When the villagers returned they expected to find the old lady dead, but she was alive and able to tell them about the night's events.

See also