Trolls are fictional characters in

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...

, and feature in films and games adapted from his novels. They are portrayed as monstrously large humanoids of great strength and poor intellect. In ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'', like the dwarf Alviss of

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, they must be below ground before dawn or turn to stone, whereas in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' they are able to face daylight. Commentators have noted the different uses Tolkien made of trolls, from comedy in

Sam Gamgee Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictio ...

's poem and the

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

accents and

table manners Table manners are the rules of etiquette used while eating and drinking together, which may also include the use of utensils. Different cultures observe different rules for table manners. Each family or group sets its own standards for how st ...

of the

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

trolls in ''The Hobbit'', to the

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

ish atmosphere in

Moria Moria may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Moria (Middle-earth), fictional location in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien * ''Moria: The Dwarven City'', a 1984 fantasy role-playing game supplement * Moria (1978 video game), ''Moria'' (1978 video gam ...

as the protagonists are confronted by darkness and monsters. Tolkien, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, drew back from giving trolls the power of speech, as he had done in ''The Hobbit'', as it implied to him that they had

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

s – confronting him with a moral dilemma, so he made the trolls in ''

The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a book consisting of a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited, partly written, and published posthumously by his son Christopher in 1977, assisted by G ...

'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' darker and more bestial. They were supposedly bred by the Dark Lords

Melkor Morgoth Bauglir (; originally Melkor ) is a character, one of the godlike Valar and the primary antagonist of Tolkien's legendarium, the mythic epic published in parts as '' The Silmarillion'', ''The Children of Húrin'', '' Beren and Lúthi ...

and

Sauron Sauron () is the title character and the main antagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor. He has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middle-earth, using the power of the One Ring, which he ...

for their own evil purposes in mockery of ents, helping to express Tolkien's combination of "fairy tale with epic, ... bonded with the Christian mythos".

Appearances

''The Hobbit''

In ''

'',

Bilbo Baggins Bilbo Baggins (Westron: ''Bilba Labingi'') is the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', a supporting character in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of m ...

and the

Dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

company encountered three stone trolls on their journey to

Erebor In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Lonely Mountain is a mountain northeast of Mirkwood. It is the location of the Dwarves' Kingdom under the Mountain and the town of Dale lies in a vale on its southern slopes. In ''The Lord of the Rings'' ...

. The stone trolls captured the Dwarves and prepared to eat them, but the wizard

Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the Istari order, and the leader of the Company of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" fr ...

managed to distract them until dawn, when exposure to sunlight turned them to stone. They had vulgar

, constantly argued and fought amongst themselves, in Tolkien's narrator's words "not

drawing-room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...

fashion at all, at all", spoke with

accents, and had matching English working-class names: Tom, Bert, and William., ch. 2 "Roast Mutton" Jennifer Eastman Attebery, a scholar of English, states that the stone trolls in ''The Hobbit'' "signify the

uncouth {{Short pages monitor troll. In ''The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' the three stone trolls appear as in Tolkien's book. The trolls are portrayed through voice and motion capture with Bert performed by Mark Hadlow, Tom is performed by William Kircher, and William is performed by Peter Hambleton. In ''The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies'', trolls appear in Azog's army as shock troops. Some of the trolls have catapults mounted on their backs while others have bladed shields and other strange weaponry, such as one troll who had flails sutured to its limbs. Behind the scenes, Peter Jackson's design team added trolls to the orc army, saying that they were a "natural extension of the orcs' forces".

Television

The trolls appear in the Amazon Studios series ''The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power''. The first episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1, season one featured a snow-troll that attacked Galadriel's group at the abandoned fortress at Forodwaith. She was able to slay the snow-troll. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, Season two features a hill-troll named Damrod (voiced by Benjamin Walker (actor), Benjamin Walker in "The Eagle and the Sceptre", Jason Smith (visual effects), Jason Smith in "Doomed to Die (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Doomed to Die") who allies with Adar's forces. Damrod is described by Adar to be the "Eater of Dragon Bones" and "Slayer of the Stone Giants". After bringing back the head of an orc messenger sent to persuade him to ally with Adar, Damrod asks "Where is Sauron"?

Games

Trolls have featured in many Middle-earth in video games, video games set in Middle-earth, including ''The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth'', ''The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II'', ''The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age'', and ''The Lord of the Rings: Conquest''. In ''The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king'', the Angmar faction has a hill-troll hero named Rogash (voiced by Gregg Berger), and an Olog-hai named Brûz the Chopper (voiced by Gideon Emery) is important to the plot of ''Middle-earth: Shadow of War''. Middle-earth trolls have appeared in List of Middle-earth role-playing games, tabletop role-playing games; for example, the core book for ''Middle-earth Role Playing'', published by Iron Crown Enterprises, included rules for Normal Trolls, Olog-hai (or Black Trolls), and Half-Trolls, and the publisher released an adventure module called ''Trolls of the Misty Mountains''. ''Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game'' includes trolls, while Games Workshop produce a selection of troll miniatures.

Notes

References

Primary

Secondary

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Troll (Middle-earth) Fictional trolls Middle-earth races Middle-earth monsters