Back in 2023, Danish sculptor Thomas Dambo traveled across the US creating even more of his awesome trolls made of recycled materials as part of a new series called Way of the Bird King.
He started off in South Londonderry, VT, then continued on to Hainesport, NJ, Germfask, MI and then on to Cripple Creek, CO before heading to the Pacific Northwest to create six more trolls in Portland, OR and the Seattle, WA area.
Last fall we visited Hainesport, NJ to check out Big Rusty. We’ve missed out on getting to visit those new trolls in Vermont, Michigan and Colorado, but before and after driving to Alaska this summer we drove around the northwest to find all six of the trolls up there.
If you find yourself in Washington state and Oregon, here’s how to find the Northwest Trolls that are part of the Way of the Bird King collection.
This is the order that we found the six different trolls in. Part of this order was due to the way that we were already traveling around Washington, so depending on your plans you might find a more efficient route. Be aware that a couple of the trolls are on islands, so depending on which route you take you might need to take a ferry to get to them.
1) Bruun Idun
The first of the Thomas Dambo trolls we visited was Bruun Idun. She can be found on the beach in Lincoln Park (Google Maps location here), about halfway between downtown Seattle and SeaTac airport.
Bruun is playing a flute which was constructed by a member of the nearby Muckleshoot Tribe.
Thomas Dambo frequently writes poems to tell the story of a troll; here’s Bruun Idun’s:
In the night, there was a storm, there at the beach where she was born
And Idun felt a feeling wrong, and so she walked there in the dawn
And in a flute, the magic horn, a tune so passionate and strong
She played for them an orca song to ask them where they all had gone
Bruun Idun also has a few accessories adorning her left side.
A trail takes you downhill from the parking lot to the beach, so be aware that you’ll have a little walk on the way back up afterwards.
2) Frankie Feetsplinter
Next up was Frankie Feetsplinter who’s installed outside of the National Nordic Museum in northwest Seattle (Google Maps location here).
Here’s the poem dedicated to Frankie:
Frankie don’t like slimy fish, cause fishes are all so dumb
And Frankie don’t like little humans, humans are so dumb
Frankie don’t even like trolls, cause trolls are also dumb
But Frankie’s mouth’s the only one that says the word of dumb
Frankie was originally built on Vashon Island – the location of one of the other Northwest Trolls – before being transported by ferry to its location outside the National Nordic Museum.
One of our favorite features of this troll was that it’s stepping on a bench which looks just like the other benches outside the museum, only this one has buckled under the weight of having a troll standing on it.
3) Pia The Peacekeeper
The day we visited those first two trolls, we’d checked out of our hotel in downtown Seattle and were moving on to Port Angeles for the week. Our route had us traveling by ferry to Bainbridge Island which was perfect as it meant we could stop by to meet Pia The Peacekeeper who’s based in Sakai Park there (Google Maps location here).
Pia is 1.5 miles away from the ferry terminal, so if you don’t mind having a bit of a walk, you could visit her by foot if you don’t want to take your car.
Here’s Pia’s poem:
Pretty pretty please, let’s keep the peace beneath the trees
Hold you in my hand I will remind you with a squeeze
Quiet little people cause your criers make me tired
Pia likes to play with people, people they keep quiet
4) Jakob Two Trees
After spending a week in Port Angeles, we drove back across Washington state to head up to Osoyoos in Canada where we stayed at the beautiful Spirit Ridge Resort. Along the way we stopped by to meet the fourth of the Northwest Trolls – Jakob Two Trees. As you can see in the photo below, the ‘Two Trees’ part of his name comes from the couple of trees that he’s holding.
Jakob Two Trees can be found along the Rainier Trail in Issaquah (Google Maps location here). However, don’t use that location for your driving directions because it might lead you behind Issaquah Middle School and you won’t be able to access the troll from there. Instead, set your GPS to Issaquah Community Center (Google Maps location here). As you pull in to the community center, there’s a parking lot off to the left which will put you closest to Jakob. It’s then only about a quarter-mile walk along the Rainier Trail to get to the troll.
One of the interesting features of some of the Northwest Trolls were the birdhouses on and/or around them. For example, Jakob Two Trees has a necklace of birdhouses. The significance of birdhouses is that those are what Thomas Dambo first started making out of recycled plywood pallets many years ago before he started making these trolls. The longer background story behind the birdhouses is fun, so you can read the full story in Dambo’s own words on this Facebook post.
As with the other trolls in this collection, Jakob has a poem written about him:
A thousand circle suns, not old
Time will stretch and loop and fold
So stop, breathe out, breathe in, behold
The trees have sung a story told
In addition to the necklace of birdhouses, he has both a bracelet and a ponytail holder that were created by the Snoqualmie tribe.
Jakob is about 13 feet tall. I’m not sure exactly how that compares to all of Thomas Dambo’s trolls that we’ve seen elsewhere in the past, but he felt like he was one of the tallest.
5) Oscar The Bird King
The fifth of the Northwest Trolls that we found was Oscar The Bird King. He resides on Vashon Island which is an island located south of Seattle and north of Tacoma. That means you have to take a ferry over if you want to see him.
Oscar The Bird King is in Point Robinson Park which has a decent-sized parking lot (Google Maps location here). Follow a short trail and you’ll see him pointing at a stool in front of him, presumably where his subjects are supposed to sit.
The Bird King has a regal and imposing presence, with an intense stare as he points at you.
Here’s the poem written by Thomas Dambo about Oscar:
He swam here from the island, where his momma once had birthed him
He walked across the mountains till his giant feet was hurting
He spoke a crow and little girl, the Orca he heard him sing
He used to be a little troll, now Oscar is The Bird King
As you can see above, the Bird King’s crown features several birdhouses. When approaching Oscar, there’s a decoration with lots more birdhouses attached to the top of it. After all, a bird king needs feathered friends of which to be king.
With one last photo, we said farewell to Oscar.
Before leaving Vashon Island though, we walked the trail down to the beach to check out Point Robinson Lighthouse.
It was a nice, clear day when we visited, so we could see Mt Rainier in the distance across the bay.
6) Ole Bolle
The sixth and final troll that we found required driving further afield. While those first five trolls are in the Seattle area, the sixth Northwest Troll is located down in Portland, OR. Ole Bolle can be found at the New Sweden Cultural Heritage Society (Google Maps location here).
Of all six of the Northwest Trolls, Ole Bolle was both of our favorite as his design is the most creative. This troll is kneeling down next to a little cabin (Ole Bolle Hus), lifting up one side of the roof to look inside.
Here’s Ole Bolle’s poem:
There’s something in the air, that something makes my belly rumble.
Something smells so strong, it hits me almost makes me stumble.
Could it be the little people cooking something smelly.
In the big red cookie jar, so I can put them in my belly.
Visitors can go inside the Ole Bolle Hus…
…where you can see the troll looking down at you. Ole Bolle has a surprisingly gentle face considering a troll ripping off your roof would normally be a scary prospect.
Locations Of The Six Northwest Trolls
In the post above I linked to the Google Maps locations for each of the trolls. To help you picture their locations a little more easily, here’s where they’re all located on one map:
Other Thomas Dambo Trolls
We love Thomas Dambo’s trolls and have seen them both in the US and around the world – Maine, Colorado, New Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky, Denmark, Belgium, Singapore and more. Check out these posts to see more about all of those.
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