If you ask me for something I don’t have, I don’t have to go out and get it. I can get it from my own self. If you want broth for soup, I’ll cut you some pieces of my head. If you want a light for the candle, I’ll set my two fingers on fire. I don’t have to buy fish, either. I just row out to the lake beside my underground home, and when my eyes go green, I take my ladle and scoop out as many fish as the boat can hold.

I say to men, “Don’t try these things at home.” You have to be a troll if you want a troll’s power.

Powerful Troll in I Know What I Have Learned, Pink Fairy Book. Illustration by Michelle Tocher.