Trolden Finds Kone tysser paa sit barn 1887

Niels Skovgaard created this pen drawing, "Trolden Finds Kone tysser paa sit barn", whose title translates to “The Troll finds his wife hushing her child." Skovgaard lived in a time of growing national romanticism in Denmark. As such, his work is deeply embedded in Danish folklore. The piece depicts a troll woman silencing her child. The image evokes both the magical and the mundane. It draws from the rich tapestry of Nordic sagas and fairy tales, but also highlights the raw, primal aspects of motherhood. Skovgaard does not shy away from showing the female figure as powerful and grounded in nature, outside of societal norms. This challenges conventional representations of women, but also echoes historical anxieties about women and the power of the maternal role. The troll woman becomes an emblem of the untamed, existing on the fringes of the civilized world. Skovgaard invites us to consider how we define beauty, nature, and the place of women within these constructs.