The Genre of Trolls - Doria

path of a supernatural wedding procession refuses to leave the spot at first
when the troll asks him to move out of their path, and it has to resort to
vicious threats to make him react. The hunter finally does as he is told and
realizes that the troll has saved his life: had he stayed, he would have been
trampled to death (SLS 220: 240–242). Here the implicit conflict is never
actualized, giving way to tolerance.
Another potential conflict is lurking in a narrative of some supernatural
beings living under a cowshed, told by Anna Maja Nordbäck’s husband,
Arstu Jucka:
Arstu Juckas farfar plägade berätta, att en handelsman i Gamla Vasa vid namn Thölberg
blef bjuden till underbyggarena en julkväll. Då han kom ut på gården, fördes han till en
trappa, som ledde under jorden, hvilken han inte märkt förut. Det var fint i deras
boning och där bjöds han på mat och åt också. Men då hästarna i stallet kastade sitt
vatten, rann det ned på trollens bord; rummet var nämligen midt under stallen.
Trollen bådo då Thölberg, att han skulle flytta stallet och lofvade, att han skulle få så
mycket penningar han orkade bära, om [han] lofvade att göra det. Han lofvade och fick
pengarna. (SLS 65: 49)
Arstu Jucka’s grandfather used to tell that a merchant in Gamla Vasa named Thölberg
was invited to the earthdwellers on Christmas Eve. When he came out into the yard,
he was brought to a stair leading down into the earth that he had not noticed before. It
was elegant in their dwelling and he was offered food there, and he ate too. But when
the horses in the stable urinated it dripped down on the trolls’ table; for the room was
precisely underneath the stables.
The trolls asked Thölberg to move the stable and promised that he would get as
much money as he could carry, if [he] promised to do this. He promised and got the
money.
This migratory legend has been linked to a real-life personage, the wealthy
merchant Thölberg who lived in Gamla Vasa. This was before the disastrous
fire in 1852 when much of the town was ravaged, and the city subsequently
moved to its present-day location closer to the sea. Earthdwellers
and trolls are used interchangeably in this text; the former are the supranormal
creatures usually associated with this legend type, as they live underground
(cf. Klintberg 2002: 170–171). Christmas Eve was, like Midsummer’s
Eve, a time of great supernatural import, and the habitations of the trolls
could become visible, as in this text. To eat the food of the trolls is generally
a risky business, but here the offer of victuals is an element in a context
of hospitality and mutual trust in the other’s goodwill (cf. Tangherlini 1998
Interaction between the Realms 107