TROWS Originating in Shetland and the Orkney Islands, and possibly the Upper Hebrides they are most likely derived from legends of trolls in Scandinavia. The trows (rhyming with row) possess many traits similar to those of their northern brethren. They fear sunlight, though they are only frozen in place until dawn rather than turned to stone as are trolls. Once the sun has set, they are free to return to their underground homes. Among their other names are creepers and nightstealers, as trows have been known to kidnap human babies from cribs, leaving a changeling in the place of the child. Fiddlers have also been nabbed to play for the trowish revels. Some fiddle tunes are even accredited to Shetland's trows. The legends of trows typically describe them as squat, round, and misshapen faeries lacking legs. Movement is achieved by bouncing about on their bottoms like rubber balls. They are not necessarily wicked in nature, but they are mischievous and delight in hiding things from people under the cover of darkness.

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