Peikko- Finnish CreatureCreature · Monster

The Finnish Troll

The peikko (plural peikot) dwelled in the remote wilderness: mountains, deep forests, and caves where humans rarely ventured. They were enormous, far larger than humans, with misshapen features and stony skin. Mentally slow, they could be outwitted. Many folk tales feature heroes who escaped through riddles, misdirection, or simply talking until the sun rose.

Sunlight turned peikot to stone. The boulders and rock formations scattered across the Finnish landscape were petrified trolls, caught by dawn while traveling. The stones sat where they fell, some in the middle of fields, some atop hills with no geological reason to be there, and each one had a story. Specific trolls were associated with specific locations, and travelers knew which places to avoid after dark.

Human-Troll Encounters

Some folk tales feature trolls who kidnapped humans, especially young women, and held them as servants or forced brides in their mountain halls. Trolls were also blamed for changelings, the vaihtolapsi: they swapped their own children for human babies, leaving the parents to raise a troll-child that grew too fast and ate too much. Gold received from peikot might turn to leaves by morning. Those who dealt fairly with trolls might receive unexpected rewards; those who tried to cheat them faced terrible consequences. The troll, for all its stupidity, enforced bargains with brutal precision.

After Christianization, peikot were said to hurl boulders at churches, enraged by the sound of bells. Large stones found near old churches were pointed out as proof, too heavy for any human hand.