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Comment by beachy | Hacker News Reader

Shame! I was hoping for some detailed analysis of what constitutes a troll.

For example, from Oxford I see "(in folklore) an ugly creature depicted as either a giant or a dwarf." Well, which is it?

Further to that, is Troll always a derogatory term? Some think of them as ugly, but apparently in Scandinavian folklore, trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them.

Again, these important issues are left unresolved by the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Truly an opportunity lost.

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I believe the etymology is from the verb troll, "carefully and systematically search an area for something" "fish by trailing a baited line along behind a boat."

The word that you are describing here is trawling, not trolling.

I admit though, that trolling does admit some sense of what trawling defines.

Etymonline suggests it might be a combination of both definitions: https://www.etymonline.com/word/troll

TIL. That makes a defamation lawsuit seen even more farcical.

Of course etymology is not meaning. While the origin of the term is neutral, there is no doubt that "patent troll" is used as a derogatory term. But in order to count as defamation it also have to be false.

But since there is no clear agreed-upon definition of "patent troll", it is impossible to prove whether it is a false statement or not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_(fishing)

http://www.flamewarriorsguide.com/warriorshtm/troller.htm

> Further to that, is Troll always a derogatory term?

In Master of Magic, Trolls are the physically strongest race, with high hit points and attack strength as well as regeneration. A band of War Trolls led by a clever Warlord will bring glorious conquest to the worlds of Arcanus and Myrror. Derogatory, forsooth!

https://masterofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/Trolls

Isn't a troll, regardless of what they look like, an entity that hides under bridges, and jumps out to demand a toll?

That's apparently how the Court understands it.

A troll is someone who employs a strategy analogous to this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_(fishing)

Or fly fishing, right?

No, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740707/ (Trollhunter, 2010.)

OK, I see:

> In Scandinavian mythology, trolls are large, ugly, unfriendly, brutish, slow-witted, anti-Christian creatures said to dwell in isolated rocks, mountains, or caves. In the movie, there are two main types of trolls: mountain trolls and woodland trolls. Subtypes include Ringlefinch, Tosserlad, Rimetosser, Mountain Kings, the Harding, and Jotnar.

But it doesn't say what they do, in addition to dwelling.

See https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrollBridge

I'm familiar with the trop and I have no justification for this but it feels like maybe a later medieval invention.

I don't know that they essentially do anything. There are many stories... they kind of just do unfriendly people things? mostly... they guard treasure and sleep for thousands of years sometimes?

OK, but the judge here is unlikely some expert in Scandinavian mythology. And it's pretty clear that they understand troll as someone who guards something valuable, and demands payment from those who want it.

And then there's online trolling: https://gizmodo.com/the-first-internet-troll-1652485292

True. What do online trolls guard? haha I think it might be just that trolls are unfriendly harassers. It's not universal but common enough since Christian times.

> What do online trolls guard?

They guard whatever it is that they're trying to dominate :)

This movie specifically has trolls under bridges, although no tolls of course.

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