The Genre of Trolls - Doria

of a paradisical state on earth (texts 1, 3, 6, 9), either through moral purity
as in the story of the self-conceited girl (text 9), or in the otherworld of
supernatural beings (texts 1, 3, 6). The latter method represents the non-
Christian alternative, whereas the former approach, atonement, is more in
line with the Christian tradition. A paradisical condition as actualized in
birth-giving without pain is another variant of Paradise on earth (Wolf-
Knuts 2000).
The other instances of inversion or negation of Biblical intertexts are essentially
congruent with the religious tradition as a whole. The inversion of
the structure of the story of St. Paul (text 12) in the narrative of the unruly
midwife (text 16) actually reaffirms the supremacy of the Biblical text since
the midwife’s conduct is disapproved of. Likewise, the negation of the murder
of Abel (text 27) in the story of the Storkyro boy (text 21) is in consonance
with the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Deuteronomy
5: 17). The folklore texts are defending social values as against anti-social
ones, and the Biblical narratives as such are not the object of critique.
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Intertextuality as Ideological Critique