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Trolls (middle-earth)




In J. R. R. Tolkien 's world of Middle-earth , Trolls are very large (around 9 feet tall) humanoids of great strength and poor intellect. While in Norse Mythology , the Troll was a magical creature with special skills, and are so accepted to this day in Norway , in Tolkien's writings they are portrayed as evil, with crude habits.


IN THE BOOKS


In '' The Hobbit '' they speak with thick Cockney accents. They turn to Stone when exposed to sunlight and they enjoy eating meat (such as Mutton , travellers, Hobbit s and Dwarves ) and drinking Alcohol . While threatening, the trolls in ''The Hobbit'' serve as a comic element. They even have normal names: Tom, Bert and Bill Huggins (the only one with a given surname).

The fallen Vala and first Dark Lord , Morgoth , created the first Trolls before the First Age . They were strong and vicious, but stupid creatures. The major weakness of at least some Trolls was that they turned to stone in sunlight. Nobody knows how he managed to breed them, though it is stated by Treebeard of the Ent s that Trolls were "made in mockery of" them, similar to the way that Orc s were bred from captured and tormented Elves . Tolkien did not discuss in detail the ways in which "good" beings could be corrupted to evil.

During the wars of Beleriand, Gothmog , the Lord of Balrogs , had a bodyguard of Trolls. The great warrior Húrin killed many of these Trolls during Nirnaeth Arnoediad , the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, where Morgoth seemingly triumphed over the united armies of Elves, Men and Dwarves.

Many Trolls died in the War Of Wrath , but some survived and joined the forces of Sauron , the greatest surviving servant of Morgoth.

In the Second Age and Third Age , Trolls were among Sauron's most dangerous warriors. In the latter, Sauron created the ''Olog-hai'', which were more powerful than earlier breeds of Trolls. While most Trolls cannot bear exposure to sunlight without turning to stone, the Olog-hai apparently could; this attribute is mentioned in '' The Return Of The King '' as making them particularly dangerous.

During the War Of The Ring , Sauron used mountain-trolls to lift siege equipment during the Siege of Minas Tirith. He used Olog-hai (called "hill-trolls" of Gorgoroth ) in the Battle Of The Morannon , where the hobbit Peregrin Took was able to kill one. As a result of the One Ring being destroyed, the Black Gate and the rest of Mordor collapsed to ruin during that battle. Most of the Trolls present at the battle were killed, with a very few escaping.


TROLL BREEDS


In '' The Lord Of The Rings '', several breeds are mentioned, which may overlap with each other:

  • Stone-trolls were Trolls who turned into stone during daylight, like the Trolls in '' The Hobbit ''. They could speak, and used a debased form of Westron (presumably rendered into Cockney English in Tolkien's "translation" of Bilbo's diary).

  • Cave-troll s, like the ones found in Moria , seem incapable of speech and it is not clear whether they can move in sunlight.

  • Mountain-troll s were used by Sauron during the Siege of Gondor, as stated above.

  • Snow-troll s are also mentioned, but it is not known how they are related to others. Not much is known about them, as they played no part in the main storyline.

  • , Chieftain of the Rangers of the North, and grandfather to Aragorn ; also, The Army of the West fought "hill-trolls" of Gorgoroth ''that could move in sunlight'' at the Black Gate, inferring that these hill-trolls, at least, were Olog-hai.

  • The Olog-hai , unlike the original Trolls, seem incapable of speech (though it's said they know Black Speech and are able to move while exposed to direct sunlight). Sauron created them.

  • River-trolls were also mentioned, but there is little evidence referring to them, except perhaps they also turned into their elements when exposed to sunlight, being perhaps water.