The Genre of Trolls - Doria

In one story, the troll comes to the bedside of the master of the house to
ask him to move the stable (SLS 280: 362). Here the encounter is occasioned
by the man’s status in the household: he is the highest authority in
the affairs of the farm, and only he is qualified to grant or reject the troll’s
petition.
The troll may have more sinister reasons for its visit as well. A boy, who
has undertaken to guard the possessions of his mistress against the attack
of trolls, is subjected to severe nocturnal assaults (Nyland 1887, 77), and an
obese man called Smörbuk (Butterbelly) is abducted to furnish a succulent
soup for the troll’s festive dinner (SLS 37, 9). 21
In accordance with the prevailing ideals in premodern, agrarian society,
men exhibit a more active approach to the otherworld. They do not hesitate
to enter the supernatural realm to track down the troll, and they have
the prerequisites to emerge from such an encounter untouched. Men may
also be cast as victims of the troll, but somehow they manage to turn the
situation to their advantage, or they are rescued by other men, either their
father or their youngest brother.
The influence of age and marital status on men’s encounters with the
troll is primarily felt in connection with the trolls’ abductions of women
and the performance of banishments. In order to be suitable partners for
the princesses they free from captivity, the men must be young, or at least
unmarried, in the first instance, while they must be mature in the second,
as their position as minister requires a lengthy education. When it comes
to abductions of men, trolls seem to be less discriminating, for they kidnap
both married and unmarried men.
3.1.4 Children’s Encounter with the Troll
In this category I have included smaller children only, as many boys and
girls mentioned in the texts seem to be perceived as young adults rather
than underaged children. Moreover, gender appears to be more significant
than age in determining the fate of a person.
21 The name of this character is usually rendered as Smörbock (‘Butter Ram’), but in this
record it is evident from the notation of the vernacular that Smörbuk (‘Butterbelly’) is the
name used by the narrator. The u is underlined in the manuscript, and in the phonetic
script an underlined vowel denotes a long vowel, making it buk, not bock, which would
have a short vowel in the vernacular.
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Description of the Troll Tradition