The Genre of Trolls - Doria

known (Pleijel 1967a: 44). The rewritten material found in the hymnal and
in prayers has been decisive in this regard. The old Swedish hymnal of 1695
was officially employed until 1886, when the second general Finnish synod
accepted a new one. However, the latter never attained the same status as
the former, since it neglected the needs of the revivalist movements, and it
was superseded by the songbooks of these movements in practical use
(Näsman 1979: 119). Some of these songbooks, such as Sions sånger (‘The
Songs of Zion’) and Sionsharpan (‘The Harp of Zion’), were well-known in
Vörå (Dahlbacka 1987: 287). The importance of Martin Luther’s catechism,
reinforced by the parish catechetical meetings, should not be underestimated
either (Pleijel 1967a: 13; Pleijel 1967b: 90; Olsson 1967: 113). Though
many may have loathed the catechism and the effort involved in memorizing
it, it was nevertheless ingrained in people’s minds, as were the expositions
of it. The exposition of Archbishop Svebilius, originally published in
1689, was particularly popular; the chapter of Åbo adopted it as a coursebook
for the youth in 1759, and it retained its dominant position well into
the 20th century (Pleijel 1967b: 94; Nykvist 1979b: 309). We know that
Svebilius was cited by the folk, as attested by Janne Thurman in his article
on pagan memories in the poetry of the inhabitants of Pargas (Thurman
1891: 110). In the parish of Vörå Svebilius’ exposition was utilized in confirmation
classes and in the instruction of children (Wolf-Knuts 1991: 42).
Catechetical meetings were instituted by Bishop Johannes Gezelius,
senior in 1673. It was a matter of personal honour to perform well at the
examinations, and the proficiency of the participants was meticulously
checked. The meeting was usually held on a large farm, and everyone was
expected to be able to read from a book and to recite the catechism by
heart. The grades were entered in the parish register and in special reading
slips. Afterwards the clergy expounded a passage from the catechism, and
inquired into the moral state of the village (Näsman 1979: 45). Catechetical
meetings were still practised at the time of collection (Wolf-Knuts 1991: 42),
and confirmation classes and the examinations carried out in connection
with them, first decreed in 1763, were likewise common (Näsman 1979: 46,
75–76). As a consequence of the prohibition against private religious meetings
issued in 1726, catechetical meetings and visits to the sick were basically
the only forms of direct contact the parishioners had with the parish
priests. The repeal of this law in the new Church Law of 1870 resulted in
an intense activity on the part of both laymen and professionals. The clergy
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