Charcoal Nils and the Troll-Woman

Turns out that making charcoal is pretty hard.

Hello, reader! This week, our story comes to us from Sweden. Charcoal Nils and the Troll-Woman is a story about how you don't have to marry someone just because they help you. Read the story at the link above and continue below to analyze it.

This whole setup is kind of strange. Nils sees a woman who has far more strength than any human and thinks nothing of it. I understand that he would want to keep her around as a worker since she's so strong. But you'd think he might think about who she is a little more before marrying her and having three children with her. But maybe that's just my modern thinking.

On a side note, the way they describe the kids is pretty distressing. To paraphrase, Nils' wife took care of them, so he wasn't distressed about having kids. Excuse me but what? I could see how it might be a more modern idea to cherish your kiddos, but you'd think he would at least appreciate making his work force bigger. Since that was apparently enough to marry the kids' mother.

However, all good things and cheap labor must end. When Nils comes back from church, he forgets to warn his wife he's coming and he sees her and their kiddos at work. As trolls. I have to grudgingly give Nils some credit. It's possible his wife did some kind of magic to make him think nothing of her strength and whatnot and it was only because he went to church that Nils started wondering about this. It is fairly common in fairy tales that going to church could cancel out magic, so maybe that's what happened here. Or Nils is just oblivious.

However, I also have to legitimately give Nils some credit because he was able to gather himself and walk back to his troll wife and kids like nothing had happened. Then, when he got advice from a wise man, he actually followed it. Do you know how rare this is in fairy tales? So, Nils may have been bamboozled for awhile, but once he got his senses back, he was smart about this whole thing. Sucks for his kids, though. It makes me wonder about how dominant troll genes would be in half-humans. It also makes me wonder how we know all trolls are terrible, but that was a convention in those times.

The moral of the story is to be sure you really know someone before you marry them. Alternatively, if you do happen to marry a troll and have several kids with her, be sure you follow the advice on how to save yourself from the troll.

Have a different moral? Wondering why Nils' wife never got a name? Wondering why such a strong woman/troll couldn't fight off the wolves? Comment below! And don't forget to subscribe if you want to read more of this blog.