Trolls. They’re all the rage.
But what is a troll? Ask any number of people and you’re likely to get several different responses, ranging from asshole on the internet to agent of chaos to sincere challengers to the traditional vanguard of society. While the first definition can be broadly used for the modern variant, the latter interpretations are more interesting in respect to the history of this term.
Mythologically speaking, a troll is bridgekeeper. He lives under a bridge and emerges to demand a toll from any traveller who seeks to pass. In some versions of this myth the toll takes the form of a series of questions - if the questions are answered correctly, the traveller is afforded passage. If not, they are eaten.
So what does this have to do with the modern version we see today? To answer that question, it might help to consider what are the gaps in our society, and what are the bridges to those gaps. From those inquiries may emerge a clearer idea as to what types of trolls we are dealing with today.
In todays world there is unprecedented access to information and yet it would seem, a prevailing lack of wisdom. I’d suggest that you pick any number of popular delusions that are in play at the moment, except we would likely not even agree as to which are delusions and which are not.
Maybe what’s really at lack in our world is a common understanding. Take a look at that word - understanding - and you may see an interpretation being “to stand under”. Reflecting on this in relation to the subject in question, what comes to mind for me is the image of a troll standing under a bridge.
Trolls understand the bridges in our world. And if you wish to pass over any of these bridges, you must first pay the toll. You must show the troll that you understand his bridge, and this requires your time. That’s what a toll is, a payment of time and the energy within, like all currency.
Seen in this light, other elements begin to emerge, such as the nature of the various divisions, derived from principles, that bound this world. Principle means first, as it is a value based in choice. All choices create division, all the more so when they are acted upon - to choose a route is one thing, to travel a chosen route will exponentially leave a division in it’s wake. This is because movement is energy.
When you arrive at a division you are crossing one movement of energy with your own. That’s what the troll is guarding, not the bridge so much as the energy current over which it spans. Regarding an inquiry I posed earlier, the gaps in our society are movements that are at cross currents with one’s own movement. And the bridges across those gaps are the development of understanding.
So what’s on the other side of these bridges? There’s the right to move forward, having paid the toll, until the next cross current. You can try to swim across, but as a reminder that all choices create division, attempting to cross yourself will likely carry you downstream, to another bridge and another troll.
I’d like to present a hypothesis at this point: that there may be two different types of trolls - the fare troll and the tax troll. And I think the difference lies in the trolls’ relation to the dividing currents over which they preside.
A fare troll places a bridge over a divide that is already in place. In some way he has built this bridge himself - he is providing a service and so rightly charges a fare.
A tax troll places an artificial divide across your path and uses it to steal your energy - in these cases there may be no bridge at all; he crosses you and offers no way over his own currency.
In this context, it is the fare troll who offers passage by way of communication, while for the tax troll, the only data to be communicated is how much tax is owed. And so it is that while both are guarding currents, only the fare troll is a bridgekeeper. He deals with wayfarers, while the tax troll deals with livestock.
In order to manage this situation you should be aware of what brought you to this divide in the first place. If you know why you are here you will take an interest in the troll’s questions. The quality of your interest in these questions will determine your chance of success.
One way that trolls ask questions is to make statements that draw out answers from their response. It may take the form of a riddle, or perhaps a phrase that initially seems wrong or even foolish. Since presumption often precedes projection, it’s important to exercise patience in comprehending the nature of these interactions. Why did you come here?
The quality, not necessarily degree, of your interest in the troll’s questions, takes priority here. One can get wrapped up in the solving of the riddle, and the sense of exclusive pride that it engenders, rather than the deeper understanding of not only the bridge, but what lays beyond it.
Earlier I mentioned divisions that bound this world. If those divisions emerge from principles, it follows that the boundaries divide principalities. This may be a more complete answer to what is on the other side of the bridge: a new principality with it’s own peculiar governance. You are being led, after all. And as far as your right to continue moving forward, this depends on the principality you’ve entered; it’s internal subdivisions and proportion of currencies.
I also referred to the tax troll as crossing you without any bridge, and that to try to pass a current on your own was to cross yourself. This may in fact be the only way out of the tax troll’s charge; to cross yourself, enter the current and let it carry you downstream, until you reach a bridge where you stand a chance to cross over the current divide, into a new principality. Or you can remain in the stream, and keep going until you reach a place beyond all principalities. The choice is yours.
I’d like to mention that the title for this piece is partially lifted from a catchphrase of a rather well known modern troll. A long time ago I heard that according to some ancient law of writing, it is acceptable to swipe from another writer, as long as you pay homage in some way. Here’s hoping that I’ve managed to meet that requirement:
For Saxon or Dane or Norman we,
Teuton or Celt, or whatever we be,
We are each all Dane in our welcome of thee,
Alexandra!
by Lord Alfred Tennyson
Writing and images by Greg McCann, the author of this post and owner of this Hive Channel. To view more of my work, please visit www.fireawaymarmot.com.
