“Troll Bridge” by Neil Gaiman - A Short Story - included in Snow White, Blood Red- A Fairy Tale Anthology - edited and introduced by Terli Windling and Ellen Datlow - 1993

 

“Troll Bridge” by Neil Gaiman - A Short Story - included in

Snow White, Blood Red- A Fairy Tale Anthology - edited and introduced by Terli Windling and Ellen Datlow - 1993

I have known for a long time I would probably enjoy reading a Fairy Tale by Neil Gaiman.  A few days ago I was streaming my favorite TV series, The Big Bang Theory, and he appears as himself in an episode in the comic book store.  So now I really wanted to add him to the writers featured on The Reading Life.  

The stories in Snow White, Red Blood are inspired by old fairy stories.  Trolls, of course, were lurking under many a bridge in the Fey Landscape.

As story begins a boy of seven is on a stroll.  He encounters a traditional looking very large scary troll under a bridge. The troll tells him he wants to eat his life.  The boy tells the troll he has just begun to live, let him go and he promises to come back in a few years.  At age forty, married with children he has his final encounter with the troll.

“Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, and The Graveyard Book. Among his numerous literary awards are the Newbery and Carnegie medals, and the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner awards. He is a Professor in the Arts at Bard College.” From Amazon

Mel Ulm