A Toll for Troll

Over the stream at Lengolred
There stands a bridge of stone,
And none may cross without a loss
If he carries meat and bone.

Beneath that ancient hewn stone span
There lives a great stone troll,
Or so it is said in Lengolred,
And to pass you must pay a toll.

In a cave beneath the ancient bridge
Troll's family waits to eat,
With hungry maws and eager claws,
And a taste for fresh red meat.

To travel over the old stone bridge,
Be you commoner or class,
Have meat to pay the toll that day,
So you may safely pass.

Troll has no interest in your purse -
No coin of the realm will do;
If you offer gold he may strike you cold
And take his toll from you!

Copyright (C) 2007 by John Bliven Morin