Suur Tõll, (), is a

mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

giant hero who lived on the

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n island of

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

Legend

Suur Tõll lived with his wife Piret in the coastal village of Tõlluste (Tölluste) by the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. He tossed huge rocks everywhere, mostly aiming for his archenemy Vanatühi (The Devil) or other enemies of the local Saaremaa islanders. Although Töll was the king of Saaremaa, he lived as a common farmer. He often visited his brother Leiger on the neighboring Hiiumaa (Dagö) island. He was so tall that he could almost walk there (the Soela Strait has passageways only 2-3m deep, and is about 6km across). His walking stick was a 5

fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an international standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally accepted non-SI unit. H ...

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

tree trunk. Tõll was always kind and ready to help, but very hot-tempered. He loved to eat cabbage, drink beer, and go to the

sauna A sauna (, ) is a room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a sauna is used to meas ...

(his wife was always busy gathering rocks for his sauna stove).

Death

When an enemy decapitated him, he put his head on his sword and walked to his grave, which is supposed to be somewhere in Tõlluste. When Suur Tõll died, he promised to rise from the grave and help people in case of war. But naughty children made fun of him by yelling "Tõll, Tõll, wake up, there is a war in the yard". Suur Tõll rose, grew angry and went back to his grave, swearing never to come back.

Theories

It is supposed that stories about Suur Tõll are based on an historical person, possibly an ancient ruler of Saaremaa, who was also very tall. Suur Tõll is sometimes connected with the local German (or Germanised) noble family Toll. Some members of that family are told to have been very tall (more than 2.10 meters). Tõll and Toll are also surnames still in use in Saaremaa.

Modern day

In the village of Ninase, there are two old windmills reshaped into the figures or Tõll and Piret. Newlyweds of Saaremaa go there to pay tribute to the mythical heroes of their island. Suur Toll

* Toell the Great has inspired the cartoon movie '' Suur Tõll'' (Tallinnfilm 1980). * Icebreaker ''Suur Tõll'' is a museum ship in Tallinn. * A

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of Suur Tõll and Piret was created in 2002 by Estonian sculptor Tauno Kangro, and is now situated by the SPA Hotel Meri in

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a populated places in Estonia, town on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Municipality and the seat of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded popul ...

, Saaremaa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toell The Great Estonian mythology Estonian folklore Saaremaa Estonian giants