The Vagabond Trap (Situational Irony)
In a textbook example of situational irony, the vagabond falls into the very trap that he anticipates at the beginning of the story. He is so charmed by his allegorical understanding of the world in relation to his little rat traps, so sure that every glimmer of hope or opportunity to get ahead is nothing but a rind of pork or piece of cheese luring him to his demise, and yet he still takes the money and gets lost in the woods on a freezing, snowy night. After spending so much time thinking about this allegory, one would expect the vagabond to be more cautious and avoid these "traps," but he falls into one just like anyone else.
Captain von Ståhle (Dramatic Irony)
When the Ironmaster mistakes the vagabond for his old army friend, he is totally convinced that he's speaking to a man named Captain von Ståhle. The reader, however, knows that the vagabond is no such man, and furthermore, the reader knows how anxious the vagabond is to avoid the situation. The Ironmaster, however, remains totally in the dark. Because the reader is aware of the full situation while the Ironmaster and Edla are being duped, this qualifies as dramatic irony.
A Fine Fellow (Verbal Irony)
As Edla and the Ironmaster ride back from church after hearing the crofter's story of being robbed by a drifter wearing rat traps around his neck, the Ironmaster says to his daughter, “Yes, that was a fine fellow you let into the house. ... I only wonder how many silver spoons are left in the cupboard by this time” (73). The Ironmaster is being sarcastic, exhibiting a bit of verbal irony in the sense that he thinks of the vagabond, at this point, as quite the opposite of a "fine fellow." At this moment, he thinks of him as a nothing more than a thief.
