What You'll Experience

Your visit begins as a walk. Troll footprints run along the floor and set the route, so you never have to wonder where to go next. The museum is small on purpose. Nothing hurries you. Tablets wait at almost every installation, and they change what you're looking at: point one at a figure and it starts to move, tap the screen and things appear that only trolls are supposed to see.

The Hall of Trolls is where most visitors slow right down. The creatures stand at full height, one after another, with Kittelsen's original drawings and their fairy tales on the plates beside them. Measure yourself against the wall and you'll lose badly to a mountain giant. At the far end sits the old troll who has forgotten his own age, and he's the one nobody hurries past.

After roaming the halls, you'll probably want to sit down. That's what the reading room is for. Sink into a chair and dive into the most famous fairy tales from Norway and the rest of the world. Our library is small but carefully chosen, with books in Norwegian, English and other languages that you're welcome to borrow during your visit, plus some beautifully preserved old editions kept on display.

Grab a coffee, tea or hot chocolate from the corner just outside the reading room and the whole thing turns properly cosy. Read with your cup in hand. Look out of the window at the Arctic Cathedral standing across the water.

Or play a round of Troll Maze with your friends, because yes, we have games. A museum devoted to unusual creatures ought to offer unusual activities, so we built a few games of logic and dexterity inspired by our own trolls. Most need at least two players. You can also sit and practise alone until you're dangerous.