The Tavern of the Drunken Troll

Not too long ago, the tavern keeper Gilda told a story about her grandfather:
Grandfather Erloth had a wooden cart that he used when he sold mead and wine to the surrounding farms. Once when he had an especially large load, he trundled along toward the market bridge with the idea of enticing some dwarves to purchase his goods. But on the way, something quite unbelievable happened: He was attacked by a giant troll! Fortunately, Grandfather was able to slip off into the tall reeds by the roadside. The troll, however, destroyed his wagon and got into his casks. The troll seemed to like what he found there, because when Erloth returned to see if there was anything worth saving, he saw a giant figure staggering off in the distance – which was no great surprise given that the troll had apparently drunk up much of his entire supply of mead and wine. Not long afterwards, the farmers of Andor had some amusing incidents to talk about! Instead of hunting the farmers down and eating them, the troll staggered past singing at the top of his lungs, and then slipped into one of their stalls to sleep off his hangover.

The cart, however, was unsalvageable, so Grandfather decided to create a small stand out of its scattered parts and sell whatever remained of the mead and wine on that very spot. Soon the stand became a small hut. Many travelers came by and told their stories of what happened here and there across the land. And that’s how the Tavern of the Drunken Troll came to be made out of the remains of the cart, and I, Gilda, granddaughter of Erloth, became the tavern keeper after my mother passed on.

Author: Stefanie Schmitt