In The Tale of Thorstein Bull’s Leg, there are several mentions of female trolls—non-human entities. The female trolls are explicitly mentioned as negative or evil entities, thereby representing a supernatural female presence:
Then they rode on their way until they came to where they saw a great hall standing. They saw three female trolls running from the hall, two young ones and one very large one. She was as hairy all over as a grey bear. They all had swords in their hands. They also saw a huge man coming, if it could be called a man, and two boys with him. He had a drawn sword in his hand. It was so bright that sparks seemed to fly from it. All the trolls looked very evil. (trans. Clark 1997)
The idea of the supernatural female is once again suggested later in the story, when the male protagonist Thorstein enters the home of a troll family and observes a sleeping female troll:
Thorstein saw that a woman was lying in the bed, if she could be called a woman. She was both tall and thick-bodied and totally troll-like. Her countenance was coarse and black and blue in aspect. She was lying dressed in a silk shift. It looked very much as if it were washed in human blood. The ogress was sleeping and snored very loudly. A shield and sword were hanging above her. (trans. Clark 1997).
Here, the troll’s sex is explicitly stated as female, with emphasis placed on the bodily disfigurement and non-humanlike qualities of this female entity. In this way, we may see how the female trolls are representative of the association of Viking Age females with the supernatural.
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