Norwegian Troll Cards
Norwegian Troll Cards published by Aune Forlag of Trondheim, c.2000.
Norwegian Troll Cards published by Aune Forlag of Trondheim
Aune Forlag markets photographic postcards, tourist publications and souvenirs for the Norwegian market, including several varieties of Troll Playing Cards. This set depicts benign images of trolls, which in Scandinavian folklore are supernatural beings who dwell in isolated places, not generally friendly to humans. Someone who dares to express their feelings at the wrong time and place. Trolls show up in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the Harry Potter series, Game of Thrones, and the Shannara Chronicles. In popular jargon a troll is someone who intentionally annoys people, especially on the Internet; these cards correspond to the first definition. See the Box►


Above: Troll Playing Cards published by Aune Forlag of Trondheim.

By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
View ArticlesRex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.
His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.
Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.
Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.