The Genre of Trolls - Doria

the impertinence of its human friend’s, and his farmhand’s, actions immediately,
it will not be duped for long. Sailors passing by Hoburg have bitterly
experienced the wrath of the troll which is giving everyone another
ladleful, but not of silver coins: nowadays it is handing out bad weather
(SLS 21, 29). The old Hoburg man is exacting its revenge on mankind, and
a new, harmonious relationship will hardly have the chance to evolve.
In a text collected by G. E. Lindström, dealing with the theft of the
trolls’ drinking-vessel, the relationship between man and troll is initially
tolerant, but it deteriorates as the narrative progresses. A dragoon from the
parish of Helsinge in the province of Nyland rode past a hill in Nurmo, situated
in the province of Häme, on a Christmas Day:
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Här opp i Nurmo finns eit stórt bärg, o inn i de bärgi ä likasom rum, där trollena ska ha
bódd i för i värdn, o där syns ännu dörnar i bärgi. Ein gong ska ein dragón från Helsing
ha ridi där förbi om júlmoron o sítt jús brinna i alla fönster. Han ríder in o sía o sír än
där bór troll. So bijär ’an drikka, o do häntar dom ot’n me kuddhórn o toko. Do frägar’n,
om dom int hár bäter drykkiskärild i helviti, o so häntar dom ot’n me ein bägare,
men inga drakk an bara kasta de över vänster akslan, o de va so starkt, än när de full bák
po hästryggin, so förd ’e alt hårena bort. So hadd an vändi om o förd bigarn mes sej. O
han add ridi so myki hästn hadd för líve orka, men ändo so vild trollena få fast’n. Do
hadd’e rópa ot’n från höjdn, än an sku rída po välsignader jórd, po åkorjórd, o do hadd
dom int havi makt ti fölga’n. Men dom hadd vari so nära reidan, än dom hadd laga bigarn
ti smälta i eina kantn. Han reid sen ti Helsing-körka o fór me sama fártn in i körkan
o gá bigarn ot prästn, som just stó för altare, o när han välsigna den, so hadd int
trollena nogon makt meiran. (SLS 166e, 2: 745–748)
Up here in Nurmo there is a large hill, and inside the hill are sort of rooms, where the
trolls are supposed to have lived in the past, and doors are still visible in the rock. Once
a dragoon from Helsinge is reputed to have ridden past it on the morning of Christmas
Day and seen candles burning in every window. He rides in to look and sees that trolls
are living there. He asks for something to drink, and they fetch it for him with cow
horns and such things. Then he asks if they have no better drinking-vessels in hell, and
they fetch it for him in a cup, but he didn’t drink, he just threw it over his left shoulder,
and it was so strong that when it fell down onto the horse’s back, it singed off the hairs.
He had turned around and brought the cup with him. And he had ridden for all the
horse could manage for its life, but still the trolls were gaining on him. Then [a voice]
had shouted from the heavens that he should ride on blessed ground, on farm-land,
and then they couldn’t pursue him. But they had been so close already that they had
made the cup melt at one end. Later he rode to the church of Helsinge and went into
the church with the same speed and gave the cup to the parson, who was standing by
the altar, and when he blessed it, the trolls had no power any more.
According to Inger Lövkrona, tilled land is protected ground only in this
legend type and similar stories with a flight situation (Lövkrona 1982: 74–76).
Description of the Troll Tradition