Viking Troll Park
A great place to stop for a picnic lunch! Located beside the CN Station, the beautiful park has trolls located in various places throughout the park. There is also a viking ship which the "Viking Warrior" (metal sculpture) guards. Be sure to look for the Troll Mountain sculpture in the park.
The park development incorporates Troll Park and the Naturalization Park. Troll Park was planned with a Scandinavian theme- trolls in Scandinavian folklore are supernatural beings represented as dwarfs. The Park also contains many Scandinavian native plants. The Naturalization Park area assists in preserving and enhancing our environment for future generations by teaching students and adults the importance of working in harmony with the environment. Troll park is located at 5001 - 51 Avenue in Viking.
Troll Park started as a Great War Veteran’s Memorial Park 1935.
In 1957, the Memorial Park was turned over to the Town of Viking. Soon after, the park became insignificant, with very little tourism and appeal, so the idea of converting this park to a Scandinavian Troll Park was suggested. This set the stage for this unique park to be designed by Ron Erickson. In 1998-99 fundraising and donations helped to finance this venture. Volunteers from the community and service groups helped with the construction of the park.
Viking values its Scandinavian heritage; therefore, park development focused on educating visitors about Scandinavian culture.
You might be wondering “Why trolls?” - Trolls are part of Scandinavian culture. Legends of trolls are centuries old and are etched in several Norwegian folk tales. In keeping with the Scandinavian park theme, wooden trolls made by local artisans have been placed throughout.
Other ideas associated with Scandinavia in the Troll Park are: a Viking ship with a Viking warrior of steel guarding it, a bridge with Billy goat’s Gruff attached to it crossing the miniature Viking fjord, and a Viking’s Raven Flag.
At Troll Park, visitors of all ages are able to enjoy nature while experiencing a bit of Scandinavian history and culture.
Scandinavian Viking society was divided into three classes:
1.) A small elite with great economic and judicial power.
2.) Free-holding farmers with the right to bear arms and attend the Thing (“Thing” can be described as an assembly. It was an early system of justice and administration).
3.) Slaves who had no rights at all.
In Viking society family ties were strong, and family allegiance was often more important than the law.
Additionally, women (see left) held a strong position in Viking society and were responsible for the farm when their men were abroad. The symbol of a powerful house wife was her keys which hung from her belt.
The Viking runic alphabet had 16 letters. Runes were first used on stones raised in memory of the dead, and for magical purposes.
The Raven Flag
The Viking’s Raven Flag was also incorporated into the park setting. The flag has a black Raven flying over a white field. It was brought to Canadian shores by Leif Erickson and 25 Norsemen, about 500 years before Columbus. The Vikings had neither compass or sextant, so, to find direction of land, they flew a raven from their ship, and followed it as it led them to the shore.
Vikings had their beginning about AD 800. They sailed to many parts of the world. They acquired wealth by trade and conquest. Most of the Norwegians and Danish Vikings sailed westward. The Swedish Vikings went eastward, across Russia as far as the Black and Caspian Seas, trading furs for gold, silver, and luxury goods. Viking expeditions lasted to about AD 1000. The Vikings ranked among the best shipbuilders of their time.