Wall Street Journal: A World of Gnomes, Trolls, and Faeries

Translated from the Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally, this slim collection amounts to an illustrated catalog, or bestiary, of folkloric characters.

A collection of macabre and magical folklore from the “godfather” of the Norwegian trollKittelsen’s whimsical portraits of these creatures appeared in 1892 as “Troldskab,” a book now making its English-language debut for readers of all ages as Troll Magic. Translated from the Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally, this slim collection amounts to an illustrated catalog, or bestiary, of folkloric characters. Some of the entries are structured like short stories while others feel more like story fragments. There’s little tonal consistency, but Kittelsen (with Ms. Nunnally) gives us flashes of sudden beauty. Of a waterfall spirit known as the fossegrim we read: “His playing is eternal. That’s why the gleaming black mountain walls rise to a mighty temple where the sounds of eternity can freely roar. Sailing high above on the dark blue vault is the silvery clear moon, mirrored in the glittering serpentine coils of the deep black pools below.” Kittelsen’s striking ink drawings are variously haunting and raucous, combining wit and menace in such a way as to anticipate the work of later illustrators, such as Edward Gorey, Maurice Sendak and Jeffrey Alan Love.

Read the full review at Wall Street Journal.