The Genre of Trolls - Doria

ushed out and wanted to punish him for his insolence, but the peasant
apologized and explained his predicament. At first the troll was reluctant
to lend him any money, but when it realized that his own relatives had left
him in the lurch, it agreed. The peasant counted up the money properly,
taking only as much as he needed, and voluntarily asked for the acknowledgement
of indebtedness and signed it. The troll warned him that it was
a strict creditor, and that it expected to receive interest on time. The peasant
promised to do so. However, when he was supposed to pay the money
back, he could not find the troll anywhere. As a great gust of wind blew
through the forest surrounding the dwelling of the troll, he found the acknowledgement
of indebtedness, already countersigned by the troll. He
could therefore keep his money and went to visit his brothers-in-law, who
were no longer prosperous: they had lost everything they owned (Nyland
1887, 26). Maybe the troll somehow demanded the repayment of the loan
from them, since they would have been the natural creditors?
In another story, a poor crofter benefits from the generosity of a troll,
the famous Hobergsgubben (‘the old Hoburg man’). Their relationship
seems cordial, but when the crofter intends to host a party at the birth of
his child, the troll’s enormous appetite proves to be a problem. The crofter
and the old Hoburg man are described as good friends and close neighbours,
and they visit each other frequently. The crofter has received much
from the troll, and although he would love to invite it to the feast and make
it the godfather of the child, he knows that the troll would devour all the
food and leave nothing for the other guests, not out of spite, but due to its
nature as a supranormal being. He instructs his farmhand to invite the troll
but ensure that it will not come. The farmhand does as he was asked, and
the troll is delighted and grateful for the honour, inquiring about the other
godparents. St. Peter, St. Michael and St. Gertrude are mentioned, and
the troll becomes hesitant. When the farmhand reveals that the drummer
(the thunder) has been engaged as a musician, it definitely decides not to
attend the feast. Notwithstanding, it understands the duties of a godparent,
and measures up three big shovels of money to be given to the proud father.
The farmhand hardly manages to carry it all home, and he receives a great
reward for helping his master (Nyland 1896, 26). Apparently the warm relation
between the crofter and the troll endures in this variant; at least no
mention is made of a quarrel because of this incident.
Any prior acquaintance does not appear to exist in another variant in
Interaction between the Realms 111