Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Good Trolls and Bad Elves...Is it possible?

On one of my previous posts, I discussed the history of dragons and how our view of them has changed over time. This post goes beyond that, and looks at the possible behaviors of many creatures that exist within the fantasy realms.
One common creature that we commonly see in fantasy worlds are the trolls. Trolls are usually depicted as big, ugly brutes who love violence and mischief. Sometimes they lurk underneath bridges, other times they hide in caves. What is interesting about trolls is that most of the time they have to hide somewhere before the day comes otherwise they turn to stone. Most of the time trolls look like big, hulking humans (although I pictured them a little differently). Despite their ugly appearances, could it have been possible that they may have been more like people than originally thought?
What about elves? The original stories had them as tiny, forest dwelling people who did good deeds to others, almost like fairies. It wasn't until The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that the depiction of pointed-ear humans came to be. It has then become popular imaging of immortal human-like creatures that are better at many things than humans that many people have tried to recapture. However, if they were like humans, then shouldn't they have faults just like us?
Let's take a look now at the animal kingdom. Here there are many examples of good and bad creatures. Dogs earned the reputation as Man's Best Friend, but are all dogs friendly to people? Unfortunately no. Do all snakes seek the downfall of men? No, they're just trying to make a living by following instincts. Are sharks man-eaters? Don't be silly, they just mistake people for seals or turtles. Is it always a bad sign if a crow is nearby? Of course not. If animals can be good and bad like people, then why isn't it possible for some ogres, goblins, trolls, and such creatures to be good while fairies, elves, mermaids, and the rest to have some bad members?

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