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The Creature that was Defeated by the Three Billy Goats Gruff?

Many of you who are not really familiar about Norwegian Folktale are wondering about the creature that was defeated by the three Billy Goats Gruff. The creature was actually a mountain troll that its quite hard to imagine how the Billy Goats managed to get away from it.

Among the three Billy Goats Gruff, the eldest was the one who actually defeated the troll while the other two simply outsmarted the dumb beast. As to what happened to the troll, it could have either died or simply left the bridge out of humiliation.

In the movie Troll Hunter, Hans who was the hunter used a goat to attract the troll that was hiding under the old bridge. Unfortunately, the goat attracted a different and quite aggressive troll (Raglefant) that nearly killed Hans. He was actually trying to take a blood sample out from the troll and fortunately, he was just lucky enough to take some without getting killed.

The troll from the story,  The three Billy Goat Gruff must have been a human sized troll. If this was the case then its a lot more comfortable to create a visual imagination on how the biggest Billy Goat Gruff managed to threw the creature off the bridge. However, most human sized trolls were the once capable of using supernatural abilities. Their capabilities was actually comparable to the witches or even far more beyond as they were considered as "mythical beings".

A closer perspective point of view about the creature that was defeated by the Billy Goat Gruff must have been a troll dwarf. Since the creature was small, the biggest among the Billy Goats can easily drive it off the bridge. But again, troll dwarves were known for their exceptional intelligence. Based on the Norse Mythology, the gods and goddesses even consult them for guidance and decision-making. Thus, this makes it impossible for the first two younger Billy Goats to outsmart a troll dwarf.

Troll Monster

Giant trolls were the once with the lowest form of intelligence (dumbest among all of their kinds) and most of them does not posses any supernatural abilities. They simply rely on brute or physical strength to incapacitate their prey. If this was the type of troll that was encountered by the Billy Goats then even the biggest among them does not stand against the troll.

What giant trolls actually does in most of their time was to eat. They keep feeding themselves with anything that they can grab with their own hands. Thus, a real troll cannot afford to lose any food on their sight especially when it comes to animal's meat. They cannot also be outsmarted just like what the first two young Billy goats did on the story. Giant trolls does not have that kind of potential to think and wait for the biggest goat to come and pass on the bridge. It's because their actions are driven by their hunger and appetite for food.

The Three Billy Goat Gruff Did Not Defeat a Troll


Many sources on the web claims that the creature defeated by the three Billy goat gruff was a troll. In my own opinion, it was not a troll but a mere human being. I had already proven above that the three Billy goat gruff does not stand against any kinds of trolls. So here are my own speculations:

1. An Old Man Living Under the Bridge

Yes it was an old man and not a troll. An old homeless man who has no where to go but to live under the bridge. He must have been staying there for a long period of time that he became so ugly looking like a troll. This old pitiful man must have confronted the Billy goats when the time that he was so hungry. Due to hunger along with an old aged body, he was easily defeated by the eldest Billy goat gruff.

2. Trolls Do Not Live Under Bridges

A bridge is a path constructed by humans for them to be able to cross a stream or river. This means that the bridge is intended to be used by humans most of the time. Thus, trolls won't situate on that place knowing that there will be humans crossing over the bridge. You have to know that trolls cannot stand the presence of humans the reason why they prefer to live on remote places far away from the human society.

3. Other Creature but Definitely not a Troll

There were so many other strange creatures that existed in the past. The creature that lives under the bridge might have been just mistaken as a troll.


Here is a book that I recommend that tells the complete interesting story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff.