A cave troll in the Fellowship of the Ring film
Cave-trolls were a race of trolls found within the caves of the Misty Mountains. One of them shows in the Fellowship of the Ring, as the Fellowship passed through Moria, at the battle of the Chamber of Mazarbul.
History
Only the shoulder, arm, and foot of the cave troll are described in The Fellowship of the Ring, as the troll forces the door of the Chamber of Mazarbul open before being stabbed in the foot and driven off. The arm has "a dark skin of greenish scales". The foot is "flat and toeless". The creature's blood is black.[citation needed]
A cave-troll in rage in Moria
Portrayals in adaptations
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
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 to no avail until Legolas dispatches it with an arrow. The arrow enters the roof of its mouth and goes straight through the troll's brain, emerging from the back of its head after becoming stuck in the troll's thick skull; normally an arrow, even Elven, wouldn't deal that much damage. In the movie, 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 nostrils located higher than the space between its eyes, making its nose look almost like a "third eye".
Ralph Bakshi's film
A cave troll with its chain & hammer
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 its 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.
Games Workshop Character
Games Workshop produced three cave trolls with different weapon options: one with a hammer and chain, one with a spear, and another with its hammer rising up. A cave troll was also included in their "The Mines of Moria" starter set.
Video games
A cave troll as seen in the game The Battle for Middle-earth II
- In the EA game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth, cave trolls are spawned from a cave. They are neutral and attack any units in the area. When your soldiers destroy the cave, a pile of gold can be found, suggesting that trolls like to collect trinkets. This is supported in The Hobbit, as after the trolls are turned to stone Bilbo finds a large stash of treasure in their cave. Strangely, cave trolls in the aforementioned game are a brownish color instead of the greyish-green seen and described in the movie and book.
The cave troll in BFME II
- In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II they revert to their original greyish-green that was seen in the movies and books. The goblins can train them out of a fissure as a lesser siege unit, inferior to the mountain giant. The trolls can throw rocks or fight with their fists. When using melee they can find an orc/goblin and throw it at an enemy. They can also fell a tree and use it as a giant club; this greatly improves their damage and it makes it possible to bash entire battalions. Disadvantages of this are that when the troll picks up a tree, he will keep it until his death, so he can't throw rocks anymore or throw goblins/orcs as projectiles. All of this also works with the Mountain-trolls that Mordor uses. The only difference is that they look different, and the mountain trolls can eat the orcs for health instead of throwing them. Due to gameplay issues, these trolls can stay in sunlight without turning to stone.
- There are also cave trolls in The Lord of the Rings: Conquest by EA Video Game Company, but they are seen only briefly. They are based upon the Mordor troll catapult loaders in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and are wearing leather helmets. The cave trolls are playable in Lord Of The Rings: Conquest, but they spawn randomly by type, so it is difficult to get to play as one in the game. They're also weak to headshots, and grab like other trolls, but take more damage.
Translations around the World
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
|---|---|
| Croatian | Špiljski Trol |
| French | Troll des cavernes |
| Galician | Troll da cova |
| German | Höhlentroll |
| Italian | Troll di Caverna |
| Polish | Trolle jaskiniowe |
| Russian | Пещерные тролли |
| Spanish | Troll de las cavernas |
| Dutch | Grot trol |