The Fremont Troll, also known as the Troll Under The Bridge, is a public sculpture in Fremont, Seattle, in the United States. The mixed-media statue is located at Troll Avenue, under the George Washington Bridge. It appears to be clutching an actual car, a Volkswagen Beetle, as if it had just grabbed the car from the roadway.
The Troll is 5.5 meters high and it is made of steel, wire, and concrete.
In 1990, the Fremont Arts Council launched an art competition for the area under the bridge to construct a hostile architecture to deter the presence of rodents, garbage, and homeless people. The council thought that an art piece would solve these problems. The Troll won the competition but it was criticized heavily by homeless people and it has been subjected to vandalism since. It is now a symbol of the city. In honor of the sculpture, the avenue was renamed ”Troll Avenue” in 2005.
It was sculpted by four local artists. A Scandinavian folklore about a troll living under the bridge inspired the making of the Fremont Troll.
The Troll was also a figure of popular culture as it was in the background of some of the popular movies like 10 Things I Hate About You or the drama series Once Upon A Time.
