Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
No, you 1990s nostalgia addicts. Not the cute trolls with the weird haircuts and the diamond bellybuttons. The scary Scandinavian trolls of legend.
The troll is one of the most interesting symbols in this book because it shows us how the Norwegians settlers have brought all of their country's traditional myths and superstitions with them to America. While English or Irish settlers might tell a lot of stories about ghosts or banshees, it's trolls that dominate the majority of Scandinavian folk tales. And these trolls are way scarier than the ones that lurk under bridges waiting for Billy Goats Gruff.
The moment Per Hansa realizes someone might be messing with his land, his first reflex is to think,
… By God! the trolls must be after him! (1.4.3.1)
This may sound hilarious to many Americans—trolls? Seriously? Aren't they cute? But trolls mean business to Norwegians. When Per realizes that a group of Irish settlers have put down stakes and threatened his friends' farms, the narrator adds,
Before his thoughts stood ever the same problem: how would it turn out when the trolls came? Would he be able to hack off their heads and wrest the kingdom from their power? (1.4.5.2)
Replace "troll" with "monster" or "zombie" or "were-panther" (um, maybe not the last one) and it suddenly becomes kind of scary. Trolls are both legendary and metaphorical for Per—he compares the Irish to trolls because they terrify him. It's the way a particularly crazy Black Friday fight can be compared to a zombie apocalypse and we, as 21st Century Americans, understand both the mythological hat-tip and the spooky reality.