The Genre of Trolls - Doria

Aukrust scrutinizes the symbolism of the stories of St. Olaf and the trolls,
connecting them with the creation of sacred space and the victory of good
over evil.
In addition to these scientific works, there are a number of books aimed
at the general public which are worth mentioning, for instance Jan-Öjvind
Swahn and Bo Lundwall’s 1984 book Trollen, deras liv, land och legender
(‘The Trolls, Their Life, Land and Legends’), Olav Bø’s Trollmakter og godvette
(‘Magic Powers and Godvette’, 1987), and Ebbe Schön and Elisabeth
Nyman’s Troll (‘Trolls’, 1997).
To summarize, my own work will develop three aspects already touched
upon in prior scholarship: firstly, I will expand Hartmann’s perspectives on
conflict and tolerance between man and troll to include other genres than
fairy tales, and to focus on the ratio between these opposites in the narratives,
and how it affects the relationship between man and troll. Secondly,
I will discuss the issue of intergeneric dialogue raised by Holbek in order to
highlight the generic constitution of the image of the troll. Thirdly, I will
launch a more systematic and sustained analysis of the connections between
troll narratives and Biblical stories, a relation briefly considered by Amilien
in her dissertation.
1.4 Intertextuality in the History of Research
In the following I briefly outline the history of the concepts and perspectives
I employ in my analysis of the Swedish troll tradition in Finland. My
focus is on levels of intertextuality as they have been defined, explicitly and
implicitly, in literary and folkloristic scholarship. I do not intend to give a
complete overview of intertextual theories, nor do I endeavour to go into
every detail of the works I mention in my account. For good introductions
to intertextuality I refer the reader to Graham Allen’s Intertextuality (2000),
Michael Worton and Judith Still’s Intertextuality: Theories and Practices
(1990), the collection Intertextuality edited by Heinrich F. Plett (1991), and
Influence and Intertextuality in Literary History edited by Jay Clayton and
Eric Rothstein (1991), for example. The early development of folkloristic
intertextualism is described in my Intertextuality in Nordic Folklore Research
(2001), in which I include particulars not touched upon here.
In an ascending order of abstraction, I discuss (1) intertextuality proper,
i.e., the notion of each text being an intersection of texts where at least
Intertextuality in the History of Research 21