The Genre of Trolls - Doria

villages: the villages of Rejpelt, Jörala, Andiala, Lomby, Bergby, Koskeby,
Miemois, Mäkipää, Rökiö, Lålax and Tuckur in the south and east, the
villages of Lotlax, Palvis, Bertby, Kovik, Karvsor and Kaitsor in the north
and west. In addition, two groups of outlying villages are situated in the
west and in the east; the former, comprising the villages Kalapää, Röukas-
Komossa and Kaurjärv-Aknus, is Swedish-speaking, whereas the latter, constituted
by the villages of Pettersbacka, Murto, Vesiluoma and Ruthsland,
is Finnish-speaking (Lönnqvist 1972: 53–54). 14 The neighbouring Swedishspeaking
parishes of Oravais and Maxmo belonged to the parish of Vörå
until 1859 and 1872 respectively, when they were officially separated from
Vörå. Contacts have been especially lively between the villages of Kaitsor
in Vörå and Karvat in Oravais, and between Palvis and Lotlax in Vörå and
Kärklax in Maxmo (Lönnqvist 1972: 53–54; Åkerblom 1963: 145–146).
The parish has been connected by roads to Vähäkyrö, Isokyrö, Maxmo
and the gulf of Bothnia since the 17th century—in the north Vörå stretches
out to the sea. In the 1850s and 1860s a main road to Ylihärmä was built,
but the present road to Vasa, the county capital, was not finished until the
1940s. During the time of collection, the parishioners travelled to Vasa via
Vähäkyrö, often to sell their produce at the market—mostly butter, meat,
pork and tallow; in 1821 the parish, like many others, lost the right to arrange
fairs of its own (Lönnqvist 1972: 54, 57; Talve 1997: 116; Åkerblom
1963: 119–120).
From the 1860s to the 1910s the population amounted to 7000–8000 persons,
most of whom were occupied with farming. In 1876 there were 624
landowners in the parish, and 802 tenants. Four years later 73% were occupied
in farming, and the corresponding ratio in 1901 was 66%. The rest
supported themselves through pensions, life annuity, public office, the poor
rota of the parish (a form of poor relief), social benefits (not specified),
trade, hunting and fishing, shipping, industry and handicraft, or communications
(not specified). In 1901, tenants, cottars and dependent lodgers still
constituted a large group (Lönnqvist 1972: 62). Some parishioners found
temporary work in Sweden, a situation which became increasingly common
from the 1860s onward. The period was also characterized by accelerating
emigration, first to Sweden in the 1870s and later to North America from
14 The form and spelling of the names of these villages vary considerably in the records
and the research literature, and in quotations I have retained the spelling of the original.
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Material and Context