The purpose of this essay is to discuss and analyse the trolls in Selma Lagerlöfs “Bortbytingen” and The lady of the forest in the chapter” Kevenhüller” in Gösta Berlings saga. The aim of pursuing this analyses is to show that monsters and characters from folklore can be understood as more than a mere antagonist. To enable an analyses of this kind, the usage of Jeffrey Cohens thesis on monsters as a product of culture has been used. To support that thesis in the pursue of answers, the analyses also look at the view of nature in the two texts through ecocriticism. The views of nature will enable the analyses to clarify which borders exist in the texts. To understand the monster thoroughly, there is also a contextualization of Selma Lagerlöfs authorship in a gothic context being presented in the analyses. The result of this essay shows that the trolls and the Lady of the forest is much more than just monsters of the forest. They are harbingers of the borders that surrounds us as well as they can be understood as a product of the gothic literary trend surrounding Swedish literature during the late 19th -and early 20th century. The trolls feature as ugly and different and brings a melancholic feel to the text “Bortbytingen”. They are also symbols for the borders of our inner violence and brute. The Lady of the forest is a femme fatale creature that highlights the gothic contrast between human and non-human. She is, as well as the Trolls, also a symbol for our inner desires, and the risks of crossing borders.

Key words: Monster, Gothic, literature, ecocritisicm, borders, Selma Lagerlöf, Jeffrey Cohen.