The Boy Who Had an Eating Match with a Troll

The Boy Who Had an Eating Match with a Troll

Once in Norway lived an old farmer with three sons. They had little land, even less money, and that year winter seemed determined never to end. To pay their debts and keep the house warm, they needed a good supply of firewood.

One morning the father told his eldest son:

“Take the axe and go to the forest. If we work hard, we will manage the winter.”

The eldest packed food and went among the fir trees. He had barely begun chopping when the ground seemed to shake. Branches cracked, and an enormous troll stepped into the clearing.

“Who is cutting trees in my forest?” he roared. “Go away before I become angry!”

The eldest son was so frightened that he grabbed his axe and ran home.

The next day the middle brother tried.

The same thing happened. The troll roared, and the boy fled.

Then the youngest son said:

“Now it is my turn.”

His brothers laughed.

“If we ran, you will run even faster.”

“We will see,” he answered. “The troll is very strong. I wonder whether he is equally clever.”

His mother gave him bread, a piece of fresh cheese, and wished him luck.

The youngest reached the forest, chose a dry tree, and began chopping.

Soon the bushes crashed apart and the troll appeared.

“Hey! I said no one may cut trees here!”

The boy calmly placed his axe on the stump.

“Do not shout so loudly. I can become angry too.”

The troll stared. No one had spoken to him like that for years.

“You? What could you possibly do?”

The boy secretly took the soft cheese from his bag.

“See this white stone? If I truly need to, I can squeeze water from a stone.”

He crushed the cheese in his hand. Whey ran between his fingers.

The troll blinked twice and stepped backward.

“There is no need to become angry,” he muttered. “Cut what you need. I will even help.”

They worked together. The troll moved large dry trunks while the boy trimmed branches and stacked firewood.

After several hours, a mountain of logs lay in the clearing.

“We worked well,” said the troll. “Come to my house for supper.”

The troll’s home stood beneath a cliff. Everything inside was enormous: the table almost as high as the boy, spoons like shovels, and a cooking pot large enough to bathe in.

“Bring water,” said the troll, setting down two huge buckets.

The boy tried to lift one. It did not move.

“Strength will not help me here,” he thought.

Then he examined the buckets and said:

“Why make two trips? I will simply bring the whole stream here.”

“The whole stream?” cried the troll. “No, no! I like it where it is. I will fetch the water myself.”

Soon thick porridge bubbled in the great pot.

“Now let us see who can eat more!” boasted the troll.

“Agreed,” smiled the boy.

He quickly realized that competing with a troll’s appetite was a terrible idea. So he ate slowly and quietly moved part of his porridge into a clean cloth bag on his lap.

The troll ate and ate. First he laughed, then he puffed, then he stared at the boy in amazement.

“How can you still eat?”

“There is a trick to it.”

When the troll finally pushed his bowl away, the boy lifted the bag.

“Here is my trick. I was not competing with your stomach. I was competing with your confidence.”

For a moment, the room was silent.

Then the troll burst into enormous laughter. The spoons rattled and the pot lid jumped.

“You clever little fellow! No one has ever beaten me with his head instead of his muscles.”

“Then can we stop arguing about the forest?”

The troll scratched his head.

“Let us make a fair agreement. You may take dry trees, but leave the young ones. And do not cut more than your family truly needs.”

“Fair.”

The troll helped tie the firewood into large bundles. Before the boy left, he brought out a small chest.

“I found these coins long ago in an abandoned mine. Take some for today’s work and for teaching me a good lesson. But remember: gold runs out faster than a clever head.”

The boy thanked him and returned home.

His father and brothers could hardly believe their eyes. A cart piled with firewood rolled behind him, and he was cheerful and completely unharmed.

“How did you defeat the troll?”

“I did not defeat him,” said the boy. “We stopped measuring strength and started making an agreement.”

The coins were enough to pay the family’s debts. The wood kept them warm through winter.

From then on, they treated the forest with respect, taking only dry wood and never destroying more than they needed.

And people say that sometimes loud laughter can still be heard beneath a distant Norwegian cliff.

Perhaps the troll is remembering the day when a small clever idea proved stronger than enormous shoulders.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨