Thread:Tlaqh1335/@comment-3261439-20200715104441/@comment-46173343-20200715144746

According to the New World Encyclopedia, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Troll, the Etymology for the word "Troll" is not known or uncertain. It seems the term Troll could be used to describe some Jötunn, but it wasn't a word to describe all Jötunn.

"The meaning of the word "troll" is uncertain. It might have had the originally meaning of "supernatural" or "magical" with an overlay of "malignant" and "perilous." Another likely suggestion is that it means "someone who behaves violently." In old Sweedish law, trolleri was a particular kind of magic intended to do harm. It should be noted that North Germanic terms such as trolldom (witchcraft) and trolla/trylle (perform magic tricks) in modern Scandinavian languages do not imply any connection with the mythical beings. Moreover, in the sources for Norse mythology, "troll" can signify any uncanny being, including but not restricted to the Norse giants (jötnar).

''The ambiguous original sense of the word "troll" appears to have lived on for some time after the Old Norse literature was documented. This can be seen in terms such as sjötrollet (the sea troll) as a synonym for havsmannen (the sea man)—a protective spirit of the sea and a sort of male counterpart to the female sjörå."''

Notice how it describes Jötunn as "Norse Giants." This is fairly common in English. Most Norse terminology is not easy to say to English speakers, and so Jötunn are often referred to as "Norse Giants."

According to the website "Norse Mythology for Smart People," https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/giants/, The term giant developed out of a French word after the Norman-French ruler William the Conquerer conquered England.

"When the Norman (French) William the Conquerer seized control of England in 1066 CE, the English language became filled with French words. Among these loanwords was the Old French geant, the ancestor of the modern English word “giant,” which replaced the Old English eóten. Geant referred to the Giants of Greek mythology, who were a group of spiritual beings who, like the jötnar of Germanic mythology, were the enemies of the gods. The Greek ancestor of geant, in turn, was once used to translate a Hebrew word that denoted beings of enormous size in the Bible, and over time this connotation of “giant” became the word’s dominant meaning."