Here is the requested summary of the first post:
The origin of Trolls is one which is often difficult to define. Tolkien has provided a large amount of contradictory quotes, which I have attempted to sort out in a logical manner. The resulting idea was the idea of multiple origins of Trolls. I would not even consider it had it not been for Tolkien’s words in Letter 153, which states "But there are other sorts of Trolls besides these rather ridiculous, if brutal, Stone-trolls for which other origins are suggested." This is what first initiated the ’multiple origin theory’, which kind of took off on its own from that point. After much arguing, the origins have been narrowed down to two different: a creature which was pre-existing, which was bent to the will of Morgoth, derived from Tolkien’s words in Morgoth’s Ring, in which "It seems clearly implied in Lord of the Rings that Trolls existed in their own right, but were ’tinkered’ with by Melkor." Of course, there are numerable other quotes, including the ones provided in Letter 153, which argue Trolls being counterfeits: "I am not sure about trolls, I think they are mere ’counterfeits’, which implies their fabrication, Trolls as corruptions: "elves would have classed the creatures called Trolls (in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings) as orcs -- in character and origin -- but they were larger and slowed. It would seem evident that they were corruptions of primitive human types", which implies that Trolls would need to be pre-existing creatures, and this quote from The Treason of Isengard, which ties the two together: "trolls--stone inhabited by goblin-spirit, stone-giants, and the ’tree-folk’"
Through this jumble of quotes, another solution presented itself which would tie together all of the quotes save one; the boldogs. To be both a corruption and a counterfeit proved itself impossible - how could one be pre-existing (corruption, for you need something to corrupt before you could call it such) and a counterfeit (implies that it was created, not pre-existing). As we know, Melkor was incapable of creating sentient beings of his own. This means that a counterfeit Troll could not have been solely the work of Melkor. He could not ’animate’ the Trolls, although the creation of an outer form was well within his abilities. Therefore, it was presumed through logical assumption that Melkor created the outer forms of the Trolls (hence they were counterfeits), and animated them with the spirit of boldogs (which were corruptions of maia’s, and the most likely spirit to be used). Through such a solution, we are satisfying three quotes: the one presented in the letter which calls them counterfeits, the one provided in Morgoth’s Ring which stated that the were ’like orcs, in character and origin’, and the quote in The Treason of Isengard, which stated that they were "stone inhabited by goblin-spirit". However, such a solution could not satisfy the quote which said that "Trolls existed in their own right, but were ’tinkered’ with by Melkor". Thus, it was necessary to stick with the ’multiple origin theory’ stemming first from Letter 153.
Of course, the theory would hold absolutely no weight unless a probable cause could be imagined for Melkor’s purpose in creating more Trolls. The only logical reason would be to strengthen his forces. More Trolls would mean more available power. My personal thought is that Melkor enslaved a pre-existing race of Trolls, which became his servants, but when he required more Troll-like servants, he created them through the ’outer embodiment / animation’ method described above.
However, I must disclaim that these theories are mostly purely invented by myself, Valithon, mastercharles, and Endilion to satisfy the plethora of contradicting quotes provided by Tolkien. They seem to satisfy every possibility, and for that I accepted them.
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