Fairy tales always warn us that little girls shouldn’t wander into the forest alone, and beware of trolls lurking in caves and under bridges. Well, I’m not just any girl, and I ignored all of these warnings on my mission to seek out the Forgotten Giants on the outskirts of Copenhagen! For me, Denmark has always been eponymous with fairy tales thanks mostly in part to H.C Andersen and his world famous stories. But did you know trolls have always played a part in Scandinavian folklore? Although it changes region to region, they’re often depicted as giant, monstrous beings, sometimes with supernatural abilities, but they are always quite naughty and mischievous. There are tons of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish stories about trolls, even famed playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote about them! So its no wonder they are a source of wonder and fantasy.

This brings me to my recent trip to Copenhagen. I was looking for something off the beaten path to do and came across Thomas Dambo’s treasure hunt for his 6 Forgotten Giants. Dambo is a Danish ‘recycled art activist’ who uses heaps of reclaimed wood to build these amazing sculptures and places them in forests, fields and parks all over the world. In fact the first one I saw was ‘Green George’ in Christiana in Copenhagen. His project aims to “show the beautiful and often overlooked nature spots” as well as make us think differently about sustainability, and add a bit of whimsy to the world. So with that, my friend Emily and I decided to make a day of it and go-a-troll huntin’!

“The 6” are all in the western municipalities of Copenhagen and really, not as close together as I originally thought! So we decided to start with three: Lille Tilde, Oscar Under the Bridge and Thomas on the Mountain.

©Thomas Dambo

So we packed a picnic, I grabbed my Donkey bike and off we went!

Oscar Under the Bridge

It was a really quick train from CPH central to Ishøj St then off we rode! Now I need to say, this was a big deal for me because I am really not a good biker; shamefully embarassing, and much to Emily’s amusement, but very true. So it was a somewhat wobbly start through the quiet little town and onto the rocky, winding path. We were both really pleasantly suprised when we arrived at Strandpark. Me so much so that I crashed my bike off the bridge….

But seriously it is such a beautiful place! Beautiful fields and grassy areas right on Køge bay, and nestled under the bridge, seemingly holding it up is Oscar! Hes so cool, laying back legs akimbo and wild hair that kind of blends into the bushes. You wouldn’t notice him if you were going across the bridge, he blends into the surroundings! We walked across and sat on the opposite sandbank watching a bunch of kids having a birthday party climb and play with him. If you have the chance to, I think such a cool way to experience Oscar would be to kayak by! Get a whole different perspective. When it quieted down we went back over and even though Em and I are well into our 20’s, we kind of wanted to play and interact with him too!

Lille Tilde

Lille Tilde was the troll I was most excited to see. She has such a sweet face and is in a forest area. On the way from Oscar there was actually lots to see! Some cool art installations along the bike path, lots of farm land with cows (boring to some, but I loved it) and beautiful canals and moss covered camping dugouts. Honestly, just spending the day out riding in this slice of the world was worth it enough. We stopped so I could take some photos of Emily and as we started on our way again I fully, fully bailed hard on my bike. She loves to remind me that she caught it on camera…

About 20 mins later we found our way off the path, into the woods and there she was! Holding herself in somewhat a shy way between two trees. We sat by the water and had a charcuterie style little picnic, watching the birds flit in and out. Dambo actually built 28 bird houses inside the troll so shes multipurpose! What was cool was people emerged from different areas of the woods to see her, and kind of bonded everyone. I’m Canadain, Em is English, there were Danes, Germans and French people and we all helped each other take photos - and everyone had a smile on their face!

I stand quite tiny at 5’4, but I have to say it really did feel like something out of a fairy tale so be walking in the woods and come across this little clearing and a giant troll appears!

Thomas on the Mountain

Our last troll of the day was Thomas! It was a gorgeous sunny day so we were happy to coast our way over, laughing and chatting all the way. One of the coolest things about the trolls, is that they really are part of their surroundings. They are huge, but in a way they completely blend in with nature. Although Thomas is on top of a hill, again you don’t notice him right away. He’s got such a lovely kind face and crazy long legs! A great place for us to sit and me to rest my legs that weren’t used to biking this much! The best part is from the tip of his big toe, there is the most stunning view of the municipality of Albertslund and we were there during golden hour so everything was just dripping in light! Its interesting the way that we can sometimes feel the energy or ‘souls’ of inanimate objects. All three had a different feel to them, like Thomas seemed very chill and content with his life on top of the world.

After an exciting day of troll hunting we returned to Copenhagen ready to celebrate with some beers! Em and I still have three more to go, but are saving them for when the weather warms up again! This was one of my favourite day’s out i’ve had in Denmark. Its such a great way to be active, spend quality time with a friend or loved one, be out in nature and expose yourself to some amazing artwork! Whether you’re a tourist or a local, if you are looking for something different to do in Copenhagen to shake up your routine, I say, go troll hunting!