Trolls bridge continents...and generations
Once upon a time, long ago and far away, the people of Scandinavia told stories of secretive gnome-like folks who inhabited the nearby caves and forests as well as the walls and rafters of their home.
Though all the seasons there were tales of Trolls and their concern for Nature: collecting food for the birds in Winter and watering wildflowers in the Spring. They provided dew drops for spider webs & cool Summer breezes and in the Autumn painted the leaves yellow & red, turning the forest into a fairyland of magnificent majesty.
As hundreds of years went by these tales were passed on down through the generations and became legends.
When Ken Arensbak and wife Neta came to this country from war-torn Denmark in 1949, they brought with them scores of these adventurous stories involving Scandinavian Trolls. They wanted their children to grow up with these legends, but the telling of these tales always raised the question: "What do Trolls really look like?", So Ken made one which brought his stories to life.
This first little Troll not only intrigued their children, but friends and neighbors alike. That's when Neta and her children decided to make more Trolls, using Ken's design, to give as presents. It was fulfilling the request of a local gift shop they soon found themselves in the Troll-making business. That was over 40 years ago. Today Five Arts Studio is still very much a family business.
The Arensbaks are joined in the family venture by daughter Marianna and her husband Ted Shaffer, another daughter Vivi and son Erik, who along with a small staff of helpers put heads and hearts together to constantly develop new themes and characters which range in size from 5 inches up to 5 feet tall.
Much harder to locate than the recently popular small plastic molded Trolls they are also distinctly different...so lifelike you almost find youself expecting a wink or nod as they gaze back at you with those wizened old eyes.
I am happy to report a few have taken up residence in select shops around the country where they'll eventually warm their way into the hearts and homes of happy owners.
Fortunate is the home that has one of several of these charming characters. Surely the avid fisherman who catches more than his share of fish has the fishing Troll to thank. The weekend golfer has his Golfing Troll to thank for last Sunday's "hole in one" and the gardens surrounding the house of the Gardener Troll will burst forth with a harvest of veggies and flowers.
Where does fantasy end and reality begin? This writer only knows that Ken & Neta Arensbak crossed not only an ocean years ago, but bridged the generation gap and brought imagination and fantasy to children of all ages.
