Tolkien Orc Kitbash p.24 - Second batch of Uruk-Hai, and more trolls painted.

[Blackwolf]

“Wolfie has a generous layer of fur”. That’s what my wife says
Lovely work Richard 

[Captain Blood]

Guy, I always imagined you as so sleek

[Hammers]

Fantastic, Richard.

[Blackwolf]

Guy, I always imagined you as so sleek

‘Tis true,long dog walks will do that Hairy,grey,and slim

[Silent Invader]

Great stuff. 

[Hobgoblin]

Utterly marvellous! The bright clothing is unusual - and it looks great!

Tolkien never says exactly how big trolls are.

He does say this in The Two Towers (in 'The Road to Isengard'):

[There] came forward out of the trees three strange shapes. As tall as trolls they were, twelve feet or more in height....

But twelve-foot trolls aren't quite congruent with this description from 'The Black Gate Opens':

[There] came striding up, roaring like beasts, a great company of hill-trolls out of Gorgoroth. Taller and broader than Men they were, and they were clad only in close-fitting mesh of horny scales, or maybe that was their hideous hide; but they bore round bucklers huge and black and wielded heavy hammers in their knotted hands.

It's not that "taller and broader than Men" rules out a 12' height; it's just that it seems an odd way of saying it if they were actually twice as tall. And it's hard to imagine a 12' creature getting its shoulder and leg through a dwarf door!

I suspect the answer is that Tolkien's trolls are just as tall as they need to be for any point in the story - however frustrating wargamers might find such narrative elasticity!

Yours look terrific - and they certainly look spot-on scale-wise for the Cormallen and Moria descriptions. Very much looking forward to seeing the rest painted!

[armchairgeneral]

Utterly marvellous! The bright clothing is unusual - and it looks great!

He does say this in The Two Towers (in 'The Road to Isengard'):

But twelve-foot trolls aren't quite congruent with this description from 'The Black Gate Opens':

It's not that "taller and broader than Men" rules out a 12' height; it's just that it seems an odd way of saying it if they were actually twice as tall. And it's hard to imagine a 12' creature getting its shoulder and leg through a dwarf door!

I suspect the answer is that Tolkien's trolls are just as tall as they need to be for any point in the story - however frustrating wargamers might find such narrative elasticity!

Yours look terrific - and they certainly look spot-on scale-wise for the Cormallen and Moria descriptions. Very much looking forward to seeing the rest painted!

I thought the Black Gate trolls were a newer breed that were more “controllable” and could stand the light of day, the Olog-Hai?

[Hobgoblin]

I thought the Black Gate trolls were a newer breed that were more “controllable” and could stand the light of day, the Olog-Hai?

Yes, they presumably are. But there's nothing explicit about the Olog-hai being smaller than other trolls (and strong implications that they're the most fearsome sort), and the earlier statement just seems to be about trolls in general rather than any specific type. The cave-troll that tries to push its way into the Chamber of Mazarbul doesn't seem to be 12' tall, as it has its shoulder and foot through the crack of the dwarf-door at the same time.

Again, I suspect that Tolkien was content to let trolls be whatever size they needed to be at any given point. And I'm sure he would have rationalised it if need be by saying that different breeds of trolls come in different shapes and sizes!

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Hobgoblin is right as usual, I think.  Tolkien played pretty free and easy with size.  I don't think trolls are anywhere near as big as they are in the movie.  I am OK with the ones in the Hobbit being (or seeming) bigger because we are largely seeing trolls from the perspective of a Hobbit.

As far as Olog-hai size - I would be happy to have these smaller - I have known some scary short people who you wouldn't want to take on!

[Hammers]

...and then there’s the quote from The

Yes, I am afraid trolls do behave like that, even those with only one head each."

This is of course the narrators voice saying this in the not-100%-integrated childrens story that tH is, so it ca be interpreted in a number of ways.

[Captain Blood]

Thanks chaps 

Yes, as I’ve said before, I get the impression Tolkien didn’t really care all that much about what things looked like - hence so many sketchy and sometimes conflicting descriptions of things that we’d love to have more details on. He was much more interested in the idea of what that thing was: it’s nature, be that one of his characters, races, or creatures. Which, on the plus side, leaves a lot of room for interpretation - which the Alan Lees and John Howes of this world have made handsome careers out of.

The cave troll that forces its arm and leg through that dwarf door in Moria, is described as covered in black-green scaly skin like armour, and having a solid foot without toes. Yet when Frodo stabs it in its foot with Sting, it’s enough to cause it to instantly retreat. True the blade is elven, but it’s also tiny relative to a giant troll. None of it really makes too much sense

[Grumpy Gnome]

Both Hobgoblin and Captain Blood make excellent points. Tolkien can be inconsistent at times but even with that aside I would suggest that were we able to ask him he would say it is up to the reader to see the specifics of his world to fill in the blanks to their individual satisfaction.

[TWD]

Tolkien is being true to his Norse Saga sources. Trolls and giants (jotun) vary considerably in appearance and size from story to story.

[racm32]

I love this version of Orcs, very inspiring.

[SotF]

I thought the Black Gate trolls were a newer breed that were more “controllable” and could stand the light of day, the Olog-Hai?

The Olog-Hai were half-trolls, and they were, supposedly, created in the East, believed to be the crossbreeding of trolls and men.

There are also mordor trolls that were shaped by the will of Sauron to be immune to the light of day until Sauron's fall. They were bigger and more controlled than the normal ones.

Yes, they presumably are. But there's nothing explicit about the Olog-hai being smaller than other trolls (and strong implications that they're the most fearsome sort), and the earlier statement just seems to be about trolls in general rather than any specific type. The cave-troll that tries to push its way into the Chamber of Mazarbul doesn't seem to be 12' tall, as it has its shoulder and foot through the crack of the dwarf-door at the same time.

Again, I suspect that Tolkien was content to let trolls be whatever size they needed to be at any given point. And I'm sure he would have rationalised it if need be by saying that different breeds of trolls come in different shapes and sizes!

The chamber having a larger door is something also easy to see there. They weren't a secret door, and dwarf construction tends to lean towards the grandiose with regard to stone and metalwork. A large set of double doors fits the dwarf aesthetics there, especially due to it being a room for records, despite also being the location of the last stand there.

There are also a lot of different types of trolls. I think it's a 7 or 8 types with the difference being the Snow Trolls which is something that may or may not be a real thing (The description is used to describe how one of the Rohirrim kings or heroes snuck into enemy camps like a snow troll and left none alive...if I remember the bit correctly).