Marvin the troll stretches out at the Bickelhaupt Arboretum.
Writer: Jessica O’Riley
Photos: Stable Media
Four of Clinton’s newest residents are an official big deal — emphasis on “big.” They’re giant trolls, designed and built from reclaimed wood by the Danish artist Thomas Dambo, who has created nearly 200 trolls around the world.
The artist came to Clinton in 2025 at the invitation of Ari Lewerenz, the president of the Sawmill Museum, which preserves the Mississippi River city’s history as the Lumber Capital of the World. Its exhibits and displays include artifacts from the local Struve Mill, which milled lumber from the 1860s through the 1980s.
After learning about that history, Dambo designed three “Tree Thieves” — brothers Marvin, Helmut and Warren — who are searching for clues to find timber from their ancestral homeland. More than 100 local volunteers helped Dambo build and install Marvin at the Bickelhaupt Arboretum, where he lounges under a tree. Helmut carries a 40-foot tree in a pot at the Sawmill Museum, and Warren hoards branches and sticks downtown at the old depot.
Helmut the troll stands at the Sawmill Museum.
Some of the materials came from Eagle Point Park Lodge, where volunteers found floorboards stamped by one of the city’s original companies, Joyce Lumber. Additional wood came from private donors and milling demonstrations at the Sawmill Museum.
The project went so smoothly that the Dambo team had enough time to create a fourth creature, called “Enchanted Branches.” Symbols on the three brothers’ giant necklaces (and online at trollmap.com) offer clues to its secret location.
Since the trolls moved in this spring, they’ve drawn an estimated 5,000 visitors to town each week, boosting even mid-week business at local restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts.
“It’s been amazing to see how many visitors take the time to see the beauty of Clinton and its riverfront,” said Matt Parbs, vice president of economic and community development for Grow Clinton. “It’s been a good reminder to locals just how unique and special Clinton is.”
Another Dambo troll lives in Elk Horn, near the Museum of Danish America. He goes by Fjord Ferryman and stands in a wooden boat, appearing to paddle across the prairie with an oar made from a fallen tree.
