The Encyclopedia of Arda - Tom (original) (raw)
One of the three Stone-trolls met by Bilbo
One of three Stone-trolls that ranged the region known as Trollshaws, east of the river Hoarwell. With his companions Bert and Bill Huggins (who was apparently the leader of the group) he had descended from the Misty Mountains in search of human flesh. In the woods of Trollshaws, they found a cave and established it as a secure place to store their plunder, which included several Elvish weapons of great antiquity.
Though they had terrorised a village or two, their search had been largely a failure, and they were subsisting on mutton at the time that Thorin and Company stumbled across their fire in the woods. After an unsuccessful attempt at burglary by Bilbo Baggins, Tom and his companions succeeded in capturing the Dwarves, but through the trickery of Gandalf (aided by their own considerable stupidity) they failed to notice the rising of the Sun, which turned all three Trolls back to the stone from which they were made. Nearly eighty years later, Frodo and the Hobbits found Tom and the other Trolls still frozen in stone in the same spot.
Notes
| 1 | It seems inconceivable that this Troll's real name was 'Tom', any more than his companions would have been called 'Bert' or 'Bill'. Presumably Tolkien gave them these modern names for effect, but we cannot say what their true, original names might have been. |
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- Updated 13 May 2012
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