Fremont Troll

The Fremont Troll (also known as The Troll, or the Troll Under the Bridge) is a public sculpture in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States.

Description

File:Troll Ave Fremont Seattle USA.jpg

Sign for "Troll Avenue"

The Troll is a mixed media colossal statue, located on N. 36th Street at Troll Avenue N., under the north end of the George Washington Memorial Bridge (also known as the Aurora Bridge). It is clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle, as if it had just swiped it from the roadway above. The vehicle has a California license plate.<ref name="roadside_america">Template:Cite web</ref> Originally, the car held a time capsule, including a plaster bust of Elvis Presley, which was stolen when the sculpture was vandalized.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Troll is Template:Convert high, weighs Template:Convert, and is made of steel rebar, wire, and concrete.<ref name="oc_register">Template:Cite news</ref>

Artists and inspiration

The Troll was sculpted by four artists: Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter, and Ross Whitehead.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The idea of a troll living under a bridge is derived from the Scandinavian (Norwegian) folklore.

The artists have copyright to the Troll images. They have sued businesses that use its image commercially without written permission.<ref name="spokesman_review">Template:Cite news</ref> Postcards, beer, and other products approved by the artists are commercially available, and use is free to non-profit organizations.<ref name="fremont_com">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

File:Fremont Troll Information Plaque.jpg

Plaque for the sculpture

In 1990, the Fremont Arts Council launched an art competition for the area under the bridge with the intent to construct hostile architecture to deter the presence of "rodents, mattresses, beer cans, [and] guys sleeping" there, believing that the solution to the issue was "having a piece of art" instead.<ref name="ST1" /> The piece, built later that same year, easily won the competition, and was meant to become a cultural icon of the city from its conception.<ref name="ST1">Template:Cite news</ref> The vote in favor of the "funky" troll was also motivated of concerns about increased development in Fremont, including numerous large apartment buildings and an office park, urbanizing the largely residential neighborhood.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The construction of the troll provoked immediate complaints from homeless people who previously lived under the bridge, and in 1991, just a year after it was erected, neighbors funded powerful floodlights to deter squatters and "late-night revelers" from acts of vandalism targeting the troll's beard and hair,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as the continued dumping of trash around it by homeless people who used to live there.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite the intent of the arts council, the sculpture has periodically been the target of vandalism,<ref name="ST1" /> although local activists have made efforts to clean graffiti on a regular basis,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the city of Seattle has swept homeless encampments adjacent to the sculpture following repeated drug overdoses in January 2019;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> from January to mid-May alone, the city received 28 complaints about needles or homelessness within a block of the sculpture.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2005, the segment of Aurora Avenue North under the bridge, running downhill from the Troll to North 34th Street was renamed "Troll Avenue" in honor of the sculpture.<ref name="seattle_times">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2011, the Fremont Arts Council licensed a Chia Pet based on the Fremont Troll that was sold at a local drug store chain.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The stairway leading to the top of the sculpture was rebuilt in September 2023 using funds from the Move Seattle levy; the Troll is planned to be surrounded by more vegetation planted by volunteers the following month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In popular culture

The 1999 romantic comedy film 10 Things I Hate About You features the Fremont Troll in a scene between Joseph Gordon-Levitt's and Larisa Oleynik's characters.<ref name="MOPOP">Template:Cite web</ref>

The 2015 video game Life is Strange features the Fremont Troll partway through the first episode, in which the player can find a picture of the protagonist, Max, and two of her friends from her time living in Seattle, climbing on the sculpture.<ref>Life is Strange, Episode 1, "Chrysalis," Directed by Raoul Barbet and Michael Koch, written by Christian Divine, Jean-Luc Cano, and Raoul Barbet, Featuring Hannah Telle, Ashly Burch, and Nik Shriner, released January 29, 2015.</ref>

The seventh and final season of the ABC fantasy-drama series Once Upon a Time features a fictionalized version of the sculpture. Filming for the series took place in Vancouver, Canada, as such, a replica of the sculpture was built for the show. In the season's fourteenth episode, "The Girl in the Tower", a backstory for the sculpture is revealed, which includes references to the 1982 children's book The BFG.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In 2013, a movie documentary, The Hall of Giants - The Story of Fremont & the Troll was completed. It is an Anarky Productions film directed by Michael Falcone. It was featured at several international film festivals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2016, the Chicago rock band Majungas released "The Fremont Troll" off their Seattle Rock album.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022, the Seattle Kraken introduced Buoy, a mascot said to be the Fremont Troll's nephew.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In 2022, the Seattle Repertory Theatre produced "Lydia and the Troll" a play that heavily featured the Fremont Troll.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Artists Republic of Fremont
• Fremont Arts Council
• Fremont Chamber of Commerce: The Fremont Troll
• Save Outdoor Sculpture Survey