Cave-troll

From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.

Cave-trolls are a race of trolls found in caverns of the Misty Mountains. Cave-trolls are known from an encounter with the Fellowship of the Ring as they passed through Moria, but were evidently found elsewhere in Middle-earth, too. These trolls, along with Orcs and perhaps other creatures, were originally sent to inhabit Moria by Sauron about five hundred years before the War of the Ring.

Contents 1 Appearance 2 Habits 3 Location 4 Book and Movies

[edit] Appearance

Cave-trolls' heights can range from 12-17 feet. They have dark greenish skin with blue or gray eyes. Cave Trolls' blood is black in color which is very hot and their hides are cannot be pierced by normal swords. The only soft area on Cave Trolls is the back of the neck. As in The Fellowship of the Ring Merry and Pippin repeatedly stab a Troll that has seemingly killed Frodo, having picked up the spear, Torozûl, that Aragorn had stabbed him with previously.

[edit] Habits

Cave-trolls are barely intelligent creatures which uses their sense of smell more than sight, generally being brought into combat by a chain around it's kneck, led along by a goblin tamer. In combat Cave-trolls usually kill the opponents that foolishly get too close to them. Even if they are allied with them. Cave-trolls are one of the shortest types of troll besides snow trolls, though they are shown only in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king. Cave Trolls are probably the second stockiest, behind the Olog-Hai.

Cave-trolls are omnivores, eating both meat and plants. Usually these trolls live with groups of goblins and fight alongside them or in groups of two or three in small caves. They are captured and used by both the armies of the goblins and Sauron (Though Sauron would fore go these trolls in favor of Olog-Hai, a stronger, smarter and larger troll that could move in the sunlight without turning into stone). It is known that Cave-trolls can turn into stone when exposed to direct sunlight. The Cave Trolls have a very primitive form of language. As depicted in The Hobbit. They can speak Westron(Common) but it is not proper in any way. Cave-trolls wear loincloths which the trolls either find or are given to by the goblins. Some Trolls in the wild make them from dead animal hides.

[edit] Location

Cave-trolls dwell in such places as the hills on the feet of the Misty Mountains or in its caves. The Elves prevent the cave-trolls from getting far in the south so they thrive in places such as the badlands of Ettenmoors or the Troll Fens. These brutish creatures are then captured by the goblins to be used in their armies.

[edit] Book and Movies

In the book version of The Fellowship of the Ring there are many cave-trolls. The first cave-troll is fought by Frodo who stabbed its foot, but the troll is not killed. The trolls are described as having long arms, dark green scales and toe-less feet. Soon, two more cave trolls throw two large boulders to form a bridge so the Balrog could pass.

In the Peter Jackson's 2001 movie version, there is one cave-troll which is killed by the Fellowship members who spear and hack at the cave-troll with no avail until Legolas dispatches it with an arrow. The arrow enters the soft part of its mouth and goes straight through the troll's neck, emerging from the back of its head after becoming stuck in the troll's thick skull. In the movie made by Peter Jackson the cave troll is computer animated. Its movements were done by Randall William Cook, wearing a motion-capture suit. It also has a set of nostrols located higher than the space between its eyes, making its nose look almost like a "third eye".

In Ralph Bakshi's animated movie, the cave-troll has quite an inconsequential part. Gandalf says "Orcs and something else! A great cave-troll I think!" when he sees the orcs through the east gate. Boromir then closes the gates but they are barged open by a large creature covered all in fur apart from it's hands and feet (Presumably the cave-troll). After this, Frodo leaps towards the creature, stabbing it through the foot, shouting "For the Shire!" as he does so, causing it to flee.