Asian Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies

Trolls: From Mythology and Folklore to the Internet

Maria Zarenti *

Department of Primary Education, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece.

Georgios Katsadoros

Department of Primary Education, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

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Abstract

Trolls as creatures are widely known from folklore and mythology. On the other hand, online trolls have become famous through the internet.

This article aims to highlight how from the trolls of mythology and folklore, we have moved to online trolls and the so-called practice of trolling. Through bibliographic and network research, it is realized that the development of the internet marks a new era, where almost all aspects of our lives are affected by it and now it is considered one of the biggest cultural phenomena of the time. Nevertheless, cyberspace presents quite often infringing elements and practices.  This article is based on the secondary qualitative data. Some of them are the well-known internet trolls and the practice of trolling by trolls on unsuspecting internet users. So, the mythological and folklore troll creature has turned into an internet troll, i.e., a malicious cyberspace user.

This article shows how the trolls of mythology and folklore are related to modern internet trolls.

Keywords: Trolls, trolling, folklore, internet, mythology

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