The Genre of Trolls - Doria

The relation between man and troll has been tolerant in intentional encounters
(Nyland 1896, 26; SLS 21, 29), while it may be both tension-filled
and peaceful in unintentional ones (Fagerlund 1878: 169–178; SLS 65: 45;
SLS 202 Sagor II, 1; SLS 220: 240–242; SLS 280: 503–504).
The man may be motivated by fear or the thought of self-preservation
(SLS 280: 503–504; Fagerlund 1878: 169–178), he may be trying to extract
himself from a dangerous situation created by his own violent behaviour
(SLS 65: 45), or he is simply longing for home (SLS 202 Sagor II, 1). In
some instances, he is carrying off the generous christening gift of the troll,
fearing that it might decide to revoke it (Nyland 1896, 26; SLS 21, 29).
He might also effect the dissociation at the request of the trolls, if they
lack the power to perform it themselves and are eager to disentangle the
worlds. In narratives of the supernatural wedding procession, the man is
asked to move out of the way, but being reluctant to heed the trolls’ wish
immediately, he leaves only after being threatened or cajoled into it. Had
he stayed, the man would have run the risk of being trampled to death
(SLS 220: 240–242), or he might have obstructed the procession, as the
trolls are unable to walk over a Christian body (SLS 65: 152–153). A peasant
wreaking havoc at a troll wedding feast was likewise entreated to depart;
the trolls were indeed so anxious to get rid of him that they were prepared
to pay a substantial sum, nine buckets of silver, for the favour (SLS 71: 32–
34). Since the peasant has been invited to the otherworld, it is his responsibility
to leave when he is no longer welcome. The same goes for the men
straying to the rå’s or troll’s cottage; through their inhospitality, the trolls
provoke him to effect a disconnection of the realms (R II 175. See chapter
3.4.6).
A definitive separation is accomplished in the most violent variants of
rupture, which are usually dictated by a rescue mission: the man is freeing
abducted princesses or common girls (Nyland 1887, 180; SLS 1, 11; SLS 31,
146; SLS 137 I, 1; SLS 137 II, 1; SLS 202 Sagor II, 8; SLS 202 Sagor II, 21),
his brothers and their wives along with his own bride-to-be (Nyland 1896,
129), or himself from captivity (Nyland 1887, 77; SLS 37, 5). Often the man
acts as traverser of boundaries, intentionally as well as unintentionally, but
occasionally he happens upon the abducted woman without having any
previous design to search for her, and the crossing does not depend on her.
However, his visit to the otherworld receives a specific goal when he can
labour to restore her to the human world, to which she was lost. The breach
Breaking the Contact 121