The Genre of Trolls - Doria

ous. An improvement of sorts is achieved in the story of the younger
brother returning to Finland from Russia, in which the elder brother abandons
his murderous plans when he discovers the familial bonds between
himself and the stranger (text 21). This change of heart is conditional, as it
is based on the special brand of ethics applicable to relatives. A common
feature of these narratives is the element of contrition, or the lack of it, an
important aspect of the concept of reform, associated with a persistent need
or flat refusal to reconsider one’s priorities in life. The events the characters
are embroiled in are designed to give them pause, and some take that opportunity,
while others resist it vigorously.
In a period characterized by religious revivals, the issue of spiritual
growth, as the logical consequence of illumination, might have been a vital
one. The last link in the chain of associations, captivity, occurs in both
literal and metaphorical form. The captivity of the Storkyro boy in Russia
(text 21), the Babylonian captivity (text 23), Joseph’s slavery in Egypt (text
24), the imprisonment of Little Maja in her tower (text 5), the captivity of
the girls abducted by the troll (texts 1, 3, 6) and the detainment of the impudent
boy by the damsels (text 13) are examples of the former. Generally,
confinement is viewed negatively, with the partial exception of the abducted
girls—their imprisonment is undesirable, but it does have its advantages
(the paradisical component). As for the latter, blindness may be regarded
as a kind of captivity; the blind man healed by Christ is freed from this
constraint (text 11), whereas the midwife blinded by the rå is plunged into
lifelong isolation (text 16). The haughty girl is undeniably the captive of the
snake curling around her neck, regimented as she is by its whims (text 9).
All but one of the characters eventually attain freedom (text 16).
Thus, the themes of captivity, illumination and reform are the central
nodes in an intertextual network remarkably focused on moral issues. The
individual texts furnish different perspectives on the subject, but despite
their dissimilarities they all seem to agree on the significance of the matter.
In intertextual terms, the main point of controversy is the possibility or
impossibility of regaining Paradise in this world. In other words, the conflict
is focused on dogma, a vehicle of ideology, and therefore the narrators
of the folklore texts may be said to voice ideological critique of the established
doctrine of a Paradise in Heaven only (thence the title of this chapter).
The Biblical text emphasizes the pervasive influence of the Fall on
human life (texts 7–8, 10), while the folk narratives argue for the attainment
The Outline of an Intertextual Network 179