Troll's Gift Ring
The troll's gift ring belongs to a widespread Nordic belief that the hidden folk — the huldra, the hill-folk, and the trolls — sometimes press gifts upon humans: rings, bracelets, belts, or coins that gleam like gold. In the folk tradition it is said that a person who accepted such a gift courteously and without greed could keep lasting luck, while one who snatched greedily at more, or refused rudely, would be cursed with misfortune; at dawn the fine gift might also be found to have turned to leaves, moss, or ashes, the standard fate of fairy gold. The motif is told across Norway, Sweden, and