Study › Runes & Norse › The Troll Cross
The troll cross is a band of iron bent into a circle with a downward crook, worn against trolls and unfriendly beings. It draws on old beliefs about iron, but the charm itself dates from the late 1990s.
What is the troll cross?
The Troll Cross is a band of iron bent into a rough circle with a downward crook, worn as an amulet against trolls and unfriendly beings. It draws on a real strand of Norse and Scandinavian folk belief — that iron wards off the hidden folk — and it resembles the shape of the Othala rune.
How old is the troll cross?
Its history, though, is short. The charm as we know it was made popular in the late 1990s by a smith from Dalarna in Sweden, Kari Erlands, who said she copied it from a mark on her family's farm. There is no medieval or Viking Age evidence for it, so it is best understood as a modern folk-revival amulet resting on much older ideas about iron and protection.
It resembles the rune Othala.
Questions
Is the troll cross a Viking symbol?
No. It was made popular in the late 1990s by a Swedish smith.
What rune does the troll cross look like?
Othala.