A Troll Creation Myth

If you haven't already, I highly recommend you read On Trolls: The Pantheon of the Wagkuni first. It will help you understand this a little better.

At first, all was Halja, and there were no Wag, and no Wagkuni. The Gathrahan, which was the spirit of the silence, got annoyed that everything was so quiet, and bellowed loudly, and there was no more silence, and he vanished. This was the first capo, to be repeated ‘till the coda.

The sound he uttered was the purest note rang in the history of the world, and from it came forth Maganwag, our great father. Maganwag sprang forth, already singing the chants of our people, and he loved the Great Song. But Maganwag was lonely in the the great void of Halja, so he gave all of his love to the Song, until she gave birth to his first pup, and named her Aluthareis, and then went on created many, many more children.

After his children numbered 1008, he became very tired, so he created a place to rest his head, and named it Nirna. But while he was sleeping, Nirna grew cold, and his children suffered. Kaldysmi, the husband of Aluthareis decided he would brave the cold to reach Maganwag to wake him up, but a shard of ice pierced his heart, and he was unable to continue. As the land continued to die, his son Wirginma said, “I will go and wake Maganwag up, since papa Kaldysmi can’t sing no more.” And Wirginma was wise and went to old hoary Bokhuna, who held open his book of the Great Song, and showed him there the picture of a Great Fish that can swim in even the sky-snow. Bokhuna was Clever, and so taught Wirginma of the ways of taming and riding the mighty creatures. But Wirginma was even more of a Clever Wag, so he stole the book of the Great Song, and continued.

After riding the Great Fish into the skies, he met Fugle, the Spirit of Life, who was growing sick because of all the snow. Fugle tried to teach Wirginma how to breathe into Maganwag the breath of life, but Wirginma could only take what Fugle was breathing in him. Because of this, Wirginma became a Wag, and Fugle cursed him saying, “Wirginma, if you are so Clever, why can you only take? I now make you a Wag, so everyone can see that you are like your cold father, who doesn’t even know how to walk properly. I curse you as I cursed him. You will never surpass this storm.”

And so Wirginma became a hideous creature, scaring the Great Fish, and leaving him alone in the great storm. The land was almost frozen, and desperate, he cried to the sky above him. But the snow killed his cries, and no one could hear him. But his mother, Aluthareis heard him and took pity on him, and she took two hairs from Kaldysmi and set them in the sky for Wirginma to see. Each hair became like a brilliant gem, and Aluthareis braided them until they were all latticed. She made a bridge of Kaldysmi’s fur for him to climb up and find her, and she then took Kaldysmi’s eye and put it inside him, as a guide through the storm. This is why Wagkuni have three eyes. But Aluthareis stole the book of the Great Song, and so she became a Wag too.

As Wirginma continued, his father’s eye guided him until he found Maganwag. And then he howled and howled, as hard as he could, until Maganwag woke. And Maganwag was sorrowed with what he had done to Nirna. Since he had taken her spirit from her, he became a Wag too. But One-Eyed Kaldsymi was angry, and Bokhuna was also angry. Bokhuna asked Wirginma for the book of the Great Song, which had been stolen, to be returned. Wirginma decided to give the book back, but when he couldn’t find it, Bokhuna got angry, and shut Wirginma’s third eye until he had recited the entire song all over again from the beginning of the capo, so Bokhuna could write it all down. This is why Wagkuni must constantly sing and chant, or Bokhuna will make us insane by shutting out the light of our third-eyes. Because of this, Bokhuna too, became a Wag.

One-Eyed Kaldysmi was angry at Wirginma, Fugle, and Althareis, and with his icy heart, he breathed out a winter so hard, that the whole land died completely, killing Fugle, who then began a Spirit of Vengance. Maganwag was furious, and he tore out Kaldysmi Skald-King’s Heart out, but when he tried to devour it, the icy Heart was too hard, and it laughed at him, declaring him unfit to lead the pack. Maganwag became saddened, knowing that it was true, and left for Far-Off Shores to watch over his children from there. He declared Wirginma the new pack leader, and Wirginma’s children became our people, the Wagkuni. Wirginma cried to Aluthareis his mother, and set his father Kaldysmi on a boat to a far-off land, hoping that Maganwag would one day take pity on him and breathe in him the Great Song again. The Gathrahan took in Kaldysmi’s spirit since it was empty, and it became the “Void-which-Is-Not.”

Wirginma then left to the land we live underneath now, which the surfacers-who-are-not-elves call Dunlain, anon High Rock. It was there that Wirginma decided to make more Wag, but when his wife Warqina came to him, she stole his compassion, and she became a Wag too. Warqina was saddened by this, and so she decided to give compassion to her children freely, and this is why no one else became a Wag. Wirginma went mad, and attacked his own children, which is why Wagkuni must often fight our brethren for dominion. But Warqina taught us rules for the Wagkuni to use while fighting, and so it continued that no one became a Wag, and there was peace. And Wirginma was cast out into a far-off land, and continued to make Wag out of men. Aluthareis allows him in every Red Moon to make mischief, and also to harvest and steal our crops, which Warqina plants. This is why Bokhuna taught us how to plant and harvest early, so that we may steal our own inheritance from Wirginma.

But what else can I tell you child that you have not yet heard before? You know of the Ndbahs-who-were-blight which we tamed, and of the pointy-eared alves who cast us down into our catacombs where we stay still. You know of our neighbors the humans, who think we are all stupid and call us trolls. Or perhaps I could tell you of our cousins the Ice Tribes, who attacked a far off City where the Men-Who-Are-A-Little-Less-Loud-Than-Us live. And how we fill our halls with chant which we will keep doing until the coda. Now sleep little Wagkun, while I put you to rest with the song our our people.

Credit to Snow Seychelle for the whale artwork.

Also, be sure check out the conclusion of the three-part series: On Trolls: Nights of the Gathrahan.