You didn’t specify whether for use in D&D, or just general favorite creature. I’ve not yet used this folktale family in D&D, but I should!
My favorite is Iceland’s Grýla, and her many troll children.
Iceland was a fabled land of my earliest memories: the next island east, from which my parents returned with strange presents - and my favorite book, about the new island Surtsey born of a volcano just before I was born.
25 years later, I met a young Icelandic father and physician, a gifted storyteller who loved to share the folk tales he would tell his young children. The best of these involved Grýla‘s troll children, who visit Icelandic homes over the several nights before and after the winter solstice. They are troublesome tricksters, with evocative names like Spoon Licker, Door Slammer, Pot Licker,… and the more ominous Window Peeper and, err, “Meat Hooker.”
But Grýla herself is far worse: a trollish hag and a wandering beggar with a special interest in “naughty children,” who she would stuff into sacks, then feed to her ravenous family.
My friend would then tell another tale: the tale of how these twelve or thirteen troll children have recently changed:
Lately, the troll children have become quite round in the belly. They have also taken to wearing coats and red hats - and instead of causing mischief, they leave presents for small Icelandic children!
One small present for each child, he explained. One small present as they arrive on each of the 12 nights before Christmas. And one small present again on the next 12 nights, as they depart.
As December approached, my storytelling Icelandic friend bemoaned all the impending gift-giving, and his meager stipend.
The Icelandic Yule Lads and their Mother Gryla | Guide to Iceland
https://www.visiticeland.com/article/meet-the-icelandic-yule-troll-family/
Grýla - Wikipedia
My favorite is Iceland’s Grýla, and her many troll children.
Iceland was a fabled land of my earliest memories: the next island east, from which my parents returned with strange presents - and my favorite book, about the new island Surtsey born of a volcano just before I was born.
25 years later, I met a young Icelandic father and physician, a gifted storyteller who loved to share the folk tales he would tell his young children. The best of these involved Grýla‘s troll children, who visit Icelandic homes over the several nights before and after the winter solstice. They are troublesome tricksters, with evocative names like Spoon Licker, Door Slammer, Pot Licker,… and the more ominous Window Peeper and, err, “Meat Hooker.”
But Grýla herself is far worse: a trollish hag and a wandering beggar with a special interest in “naughty children,” who she would stuff into sacks, then feed to her ravenous family.
My friend would then tell another tale: the tale of how these twelve or thirteen troll children have recently changed:
Lately, the troll children have become quite round in the belly. They have also taken to wearing coats and red hats - and instead of causing mischief, they leave presents for small Icelandic children!
One small present for each child, he explained. One small present as they arrive on each of the 12 nights before Christmas. And one small present again on the next 12 nights, as they depart.
As December approached, my storytelling Icelandic friend bemoaned all the impending gift-giving, and his meager stipend.
The Icelandic Yule Lads and their Mother Gryla | Guide to Iceland
https://www.visiticeland.com/article/meet-the-icelandic-yule-troll-family/
Grýla - Wikipedia
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