Goblins is there a standerd size?

[Vermis]

Can't top that! I'm certainly going to have a closer look at Bauer trolls now.

[Arundel]

Bauer was one of those rare artists who seemed to define how some legendary beings "ought to" look--they just feel right, like Rackham's fairies and giants, and as I said above, it surprises me these artists haven't had more of an impact on sculptors. They would  be a refreshing  change from the endless GW inspired figures.

For more images of classic trolls (for real connoisseurs out there), the work of the Norwegian artists Erik Werinskiold and Theodor Kittelson is also worth looking for.

[fastolfrus]

Some excellent stuff coming up.

The mossy bit immediately made me think of Discworld trolls and their problems with heat slowing the brain.
Which made me also think on the LoTR conundrum posed by someone marketing ranges of Harad trolls in a context where trolls turn to stone in sunlight.....

But as for different tribes of goblinoids (for want of a better term), why not?
I'm not particularly clued up on zoology, but why not equate a goblin with eg a shark? (Or a great ape if you prefer, a great ape may be easier to visualise as a goblin).
What I'm getting at is that sharks are all sharks (as far as I know) but you get tiger, great white, basking, hammerhead, and all the other types that I don't know the name of. Dogs might have been an easier analogy, I know more breeds of dog.
Anyway. No doubt someone will put this together in a far more cogent form.

[Rhoderic]

For more images of classic trolls (for real connoisseurs out there), the work of the Norwegian artists Erik Werinskiold and Theodor Kittelson is also worth looking for.

Also Tove Jansson

(That's a joke that no one outside of Sweden or Finland will probably get - Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated the much-loved "moomin troll" children's stories, which just goes to show how far the concept of trolls can be taken. Although, for a laugh you may want to check out the illustrations Jansson did for Swedish and Finnish editions of The Hobbit; they have an air of naive modernist weirdness about them. Her goblins and Gollum are rather bizarre.)

[Arundel]

I actually quite like some of Jansson's illustrations--others not so much. Fantastic tip, though, as I'd never heard of her! For a real modernist take on Tolkien there is always Cor Blok; I can't explain it, but I've always found his paintings for LOTR very appealing, and so did Tolkien, apparently. I've always wished there was an English language edition with his illustrations.

[Vermis]

Which made me also think on the LoTR conundrum posed by someone marketing ranges of Harad trolls in a context where trolls turn to stone in sunlight.....

The half-trolls of Harad? When I read the mention in the books of 'great men like half-trolls', I took that to mean 'really big, scary looking, otherwise human guys'. Couldn't believe it when GW released literal, scaly, half-man-half-troll minis.

The general LotR troll conundrum - your shock troops turn to stone if you have trouble telling between AM and PM - left out of wargames for a good reason. Would've made some games of Warhammer a bit shorter - "Pre-game clock roll. And it's... daylight!" *Takes out grey primer and aims at opponent's army*

I'm not particularly clued up on zoology, but why not equate a goblin with eg a shark? (Or a great ape if you prefer, a great ape may be easier to visualise as a goblin).
What I'm getting at is that sharks are all sharks (as far as I know) but you get tiger, great white, basking, hammerhead, and all the other types that I don't know the name of.

Guy, if it's still on the iplayer, look at that short documentary series about sharks that the beeb showed a few weeks ago. Fantastic stuff, and your mind'll boggle at the variety.

I get what you mean, though. Like there's one genus or species, or a wider family, of goblin, but a bunch of species within the genus or subspecies within the species.

(BTW, have you heard of the goblin shark?)

Also Tove Jansson

(That's a joke that no one outside of Sweden or Finland will probably get

Don't count on it! One of the tv shows I watched as a young kid was the Polish stop-motion The Moomins, shown on British TV. I didn't manage to see too many episodes (they were so short it was blink-and-you'll-miss), and I was too young to remember many details anyway but the weird, uncanny-valley animation and atmosphere wedged itself in my head, whether it's faithful to the books or not. I remember the Lady of the Cold freaked me right out, at least.

There was a later japanese series shown here too, and a BBC documentary about the life of Tove Jansson a couple of years ago. And what about this thing! I've never read any of the original books, though.

Still, she's among the plenty of names to add to the list.

[Dolmot]

Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated the much-loved "moomin troll" children's stories, which just goes to show how far the concept of trolls can be taken.

She sure did. There's some wonderful stuff in the comics, including but not limited to:

• Moominpappa and mamma abandoning their son for a couple of days while they live a bit of bohemian life in the coastal caves.
• Pappa and Stinky moonshining "Manhattan dynamite" in the same cave.
• Sniff trying to get rich by dubious means such as various scams, theft and blackmailing.
• The whole family experimenting with time and personality altering drugs on Torrelorca. (Coincidentally, that story is the basis of the recent movie but I suspect they've left some things out...)
• Moomins accidentally excavating the mummies of their ancestors, who come back to life and quickly return to their old profession of wrecking ships with false beacons.

Ah, all those dear childhood memories. And the best thing is that we never have to grow up. lol

[Hobgoblin]

The half-trolls of Harad? When I read the mention in the books of 'great men like half-trolls', I took that to mean 'really big, scary looking, otherwise human guys'. Couldn't believe it when GW released literal, scaly, half-man-half-troll minis.

I think there's some room for interpretation there. After all, the Southerner in Bree who "looked more than half like a goblin" does seem to have had orcish blood. And the same applies the ruffian leader in the Shire: "Merry himself slew the leader, a great squinteyed brute like a huge orc". I think we can be fairly sure that he was like an orc because he was at least part orcish.

That said, I'm pretty sure that the "shadow" that was "like wings" in Moria wasn't a pair of batlike appendages (even though it was described as simply "wings" at one point; the last description of it is "shadow"). And I've always read the Harad passage in the way you do. But I do think the other reading is valid.

Dolmot - I second your endorsement of Tove Jansson and the Moomins: quite, quite wonderful!