The troll is present in many folktales from Sweden and across Scandinavia. In many ways it is the most iconic of Swedish folktale characters but at the same time the hardest to describe, for Swedish trolls can take on a variety of forms. In southern Sweden they may often be described as small creatures that caused mischief in the country. In the north some tales describe giant like creatures of great strength. Some depictions are grotesque while others are rather comely. The one thing that is agreed upon is that trolls are supernatural beings connected with nature. Some argue that the term troll could really be used to refer to any natural being that is not otherwise identifiable. (Window, passim)
Troll stories often make the troll the antagonist. In various forms trolls may be tricksters, thieves, or murderers. In some instances trolls seem to be the personification of mysterious forces that humans cannot explain. (Hellsing, passim) Another piece of the puzzle is the juxtaposition of trolls with christianity in many tales. One story talks about a troll who dug a furrow for himself in a town and caused mischief there. The townsfolk invited a monastery to be built close to his furrow and the troll departed not wanting to stay so close to the cloister.(Lindow, 112) Whether the Churches promulgated this connection with a view toward showing the Church as the source of understanding or if the tales flowed naturally through Swedish society is less clear.
One outlier tale in this regard comes from Lund in Sweden, where it is said a troll came to St Lawrence, in Lund to build a church, and said that he would complete the church in a week. As payment the troll asked for one of three things: St Lawrence to call him by name, the sun and the moon, or to poke out St Lawrence's eyes. St Lawrence agreed, apparently not believing the troll could complete the task. When it became obvious that the troll would finish the saint was downcast and so went walking. While in the woods he heard the troll's wife and learned the troll's name so when the troll came to exact payment St Lawrence named him and with the power of that name bound him to the church. If you go into the crypt of the Cathedral in Lund you can actually see the form of a troll or some creature hugging a pillar. (Lindow, 84-85)
