The Genre of Trolls - Doria

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Statement of Purpose
The supernatural tradition that is the object of this study, the Swedish troll
tradition in Finland as documented in archived material collected between
the 1850s and 1925, has previously received little scholarly attention; apart
from a few articles (e.g. Lönnqvist 1996), this is the first monograph produced
on the subject, and I will therefore begin my inquiry with a description
of the folklore of trolls for the benefit of readers with a comparative
interest. The troll in the Swedish oral tradition in Finland is a supernatural
creature primarily associated with hills and rocks in the forest, but apart
from that, it is difficult, if not impossible, to give a good definition of the
troll. It is often a solitary being, but it may also live with others of its kind.
Judging by the sources at my disposal, it is not chiefly an empirical being—
I have not been able to find reports of sightings or personal experience
stories, apart from a legend told in the first person singular, but that seems
to be more of a narrative strategy—but this impression may well be false
due to the haphazard nature of collection. Perhaps reports of sightings
never happened to be recorded, even though they existed. Any definite
conclusion cannot be drawn on the basis of the recorded material alone.
My basic research problem can be thus formulated: how do the performers,
of whose narratives we have some form of transcript, construct the image
of the troll, and how is the relation between man and troll represented
in the texts? These questions recur in many guises throughout the thesis,
and I find them important because they imply an examination of the world
view of the narrators, and of what it means to be human in a world also
inhabited by extra-human forces. The description of the troll tradition is
divided into the following sections, roughly corresponding to the temporal
frame of encounter: “3.1 The Conditions of Encounter” focuses on the
time and place of the encounter, and on the agent traversing the boundary
between this world and the otherworld. The conditions and distinguishing
characteristics of women’s, men’s and children’s encounters with the troll
are also considered. “3.2 The Troll and Its World” discusses the appearance
and abilities of the troll, its world and surroundings. “3.3 Interaction
between the Realms” describes the relations between man and troll, both
hostile and friendly. The attitude of the troll to Christianity is explored as
Statement of Purpose 1