Look at them, troll mother said (1915 CE)

Look at them, troll mother said but the princess who sits among them does not belong to their world. That contrast gives the image its force: the heavy, earthbound presence of the trolls presses in around her, while her pale, grieving figure remains exposed and separate. Bauer makes the moment painful not through action, but through stillness, expression, and the unsettling closeness between innocence and threat.

A Fairy-Tale Scene from Among Gnomes and Trolls

This illustration was created in 1915 for Walter Stenström’s tale The Changelings, published in Among Gnomes and Trolls. The story draws on the old folklore motif of changelings, in which trolls steal human children and leave their own in their place. Here, the princess has been taken into the trolls’ mountain world and forced to remain among them, and Bauer captures one of the tale’s most emotionally charged moments: not escape or action, but the cruel intimacy of captivity.

The Troll Mother’s Pride

The line that gives the image its title is one of the reasons the scene remains so memorable. The troll mother looks at her sons with admiration and pride, while the viewer sees them through the princess’s distress. That contrast is central to the image. What the troll mother calls beautiful is presented as rough, looming, and frightening, while the princess, with her tear-streaked face and distant gaze, becomes the emotional center of the scene. Bauer builds the tension precisely through this mismatch in perception.

Captivity, Innocence, and the Troll World

The illustration is powerful because it stages two worlds at once. The trolls are not shown as intruders in the landscape; like many of Bauer’s troll figures, they seem to belong fully to the dark, root-filled world around them. The princess, by contrast, appears as someone displaced—fragile, bright, and visibly out of place. In that sense, the image is not only about danger, but about separation: the forced encounter between a human ideal of innocence and a realm governed by older, stranger values.

This tension was one of Bauer’s recurring strengths. He often gave folklore its emotional seriousness by showing how the enchanted world could be both fascinating and deeply threatening, especially when it touched the vulnerable.

Bauer’s Trolls and the Living Forest

One of the most distinctive aspects of Bauer’s art is the way his trolls seem to grow out of the forest rather than merely inhabit it. Their forms feel natural to the environment—heavy, mossy, and rooted—while still retaining a strong individuality. That connection between troll and landscape deepens the unease of the scene, because it suggests that the princess is not simply surrounded by hostile creatures, but enclosed within a world that itself offers no refuge.

Watercolor, Gouache, and Ink

Look at them, troll mother said is executed in watercolor, gouache, and ink on paper, and measures 26.5 × 28.5 cm. Bauer uses the layered qualities of these materials to build a scene of strong tonal contrast, with the darkness of the trolls and their surroundings set against the lighter, more delicate figure of the princess. The handling of texture and shadow is especially important here, helping to create a sense of depth and enclosure while preserving the softness and precision that characterize his fairy-tale work.

One of Bauer’s Most Remembered Images

This image has become one of Bauer’s most widely recognized illustrations, not least because of the emotional clarity with which it captures the princess’s isolation. It remains one of the strongest examples of his ability to give Swedish folklore a visual form that is at once magical, psychologically sharp, and hauntingly human.