Oyebode Ayoola

A Norwegian troll hides beneath a mossy stone bridge as a traveler passes overhead at dusk.

How Erik Conquered the Bridge Troll with Clever Riddles

August 3, 2025

In the northern village of Svartvik, where pine trees hissed like whispering ghosts and frost kissed every doorstep, the children spoke in hushed tones of The Troll Beneath the Stone Bridge. For centuries, the moss-draped crossing had arched over a narrow ravine that the villagers dared not pass by moonlight. They said a troll, ancient, warty, and wise in riddles,

A black rooster crows in a Balkan village square at sunrise, as villagers watch with awe and fear.

European Folktales

The Black Rooster of the Balkans

Once, in a mountain village where wolves howled louder than the church bell, there lived an old widow named Baba Velka. Her only companion was the black rooster, a sleek, sharp-eyed, and oddly watchful one. She called him Karakalak, and he never crowed at dawn like other roosters. He crowed