The Genre of Trolls - Doria

The pupils of the folk high school in Vörå delivered a collection to the
Literature Society in 1922, probably inspired by Jacob Tegengren, the local
collector (Wolf-Knuts 1991: 31). One of the texts, signed by Elna Källbacka
(SLS 338: 21–22), has bearing on my investigation, and it is intriguing to
note that it refers to a local tradition recorded by many other collectors as
well. In the same year, the folk high school in Närpes, too, submitted a
collection to the Society (SLS 319), whence I. N.’s essay “Vidskepelse i min
hembygd” (‘Superstition in my Home District’) is taken (SLS 319: 31–32).
Felix Andersson was collecting in Storpellinge in 1925 when he recorded
a story of a troll (SLS 374: 10–12). No informants are acknowledged by
name and the language is normalized, though some quotations framed in
direct discourse have a vernacularized tinge. In one instance he has added
alternative phrasings in the margin, which might imply that he heard the
story performed several times.
The notes on folk belief compiled in 1852 by Mårten Lassus, a senior
juryman living in Vörå, were incorporated into the collections of the Swedish
Literature Society in the form of typed copies (SLS 299); of these I
have cited six stories (SLS 299: 31–32; SLS 299: 33; SLS 299: 33–34; SLS
299: 34–35; SLS 299: 35–36; SLS 299: 47–48). The document was, in other
words, produced long before the Society even existed, and accordingly does
not conform to its rules of disposition. Incidentally, it is the only collection
of folklore thought to have been instigated by Rancken’s appeal in the paper
Ilmarinen in 1848.
2.2.4 Printed Sources
I have also made use of printed sources. Wilhelm Sjöberg and Jacob
Tegengren contributed one and two entries respectively, concerning names
and legends of stones and rocks in the parish of Replot in the former case,
and the parish of Vörå in the latter, published in the periodical Budkavlen
issued since 1922. Sjöberg’s article is included in the very first issue (Budkavlen
1922: 39–41), Tegengren’s appeared a couple of years later (Budkavlen
1923: 86; Budkavlen 1924: 85). Two items in Sjöberg’s text refer to trolls,
while Tegengren’s articles contain one item each that have been employed
in my analysis. Tegengren was likewise involved in the publication of
Bygdeminnen, a series in three volumes running between 1909 and 1912,
containing folklore collected by students at the folk high school in Närpes.
The Sources 65