The Genre of Trolls - Doria

his father-in-law against him, Jacob feels unsafe. Exhorted by God, he
leaves Mesopotamia:
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25) Så gjorde Jacob sig redo, och satte sin barn och hustrur på camelar; Och förde bort
all sin boskap, och alla sina håfwor, som han hade förwärfwat i Mesopotamien; på det
han skulle komma till sin fader Isaac i Canaans land. Men Laban war gången bort til at
klippa sin hjord. Och Rachel stal sins faders beläter. Alltså stal Jacob Laban af Syrien
hjertat, at han honom icke tilsade, då han flydde. Så flydde han, och allt det hans war
gjorde sig redo, och for öfwer älfwena, och stämde åt Gileads berg. (1 Mos. 31: 17–21)
25) Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of
his getting, which he had gotten in Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of
Canaan.
And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her
father’s.
And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he
fled.
So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face
toward the mount Gilead.
(Genesis 31: 17–21)
Jacob with his companions and the Storkyro boy flee from their master,
whom they have attended for a long time, at a moment when the latter is
absent. Likewise, the boy cannot forget his home in Finland, just as Jacob
longs to return to the land of his father Isaac. Thus far they agree; however,
Jacob has property of his own, but the boy is not as fortunate; neither
are Jacob’s wives, who dispassionately contend that they no longer have a
share in their father’s estate nor a right to inherit from him. The boy steals
money from the general to be able to support himself during his journey
home, Rachel takes her father’s images, for reasons that remain obscure.
After this point, the narratives diverge: the boy arrives at the family farm
safe and sound, and unmolested, while Jacob is pursued by his uncle, who
is searching for his lost possessions and wishes to say goodbye to his
daughters and their husband. In the end Jacob is released and allowed to
go back whence he came.
The theme of homecoming in the folk narrative has numerous parallels
in the Bible. Jacob’s is one of them; in fear of his brother Esau and his
retinue of 400 men, he sends forth a gift to appease him. Jacob’s apprehen-
Intertextuality as Ideological Critique