Just how hard is it to kill a Troll?

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Frodo stabbed the Troll's foot whilst saying "FOR THE SHIRE" in Balins tomb.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Actually, it doesn't say who the foot belonged to. However, it uses the word 'great' to describe the foot, and just a few lines before Gandalf uses the word 'great' to describe what he believes was a cave-troll. He merely uses 'large' for the Uruks. So I believe it is implied that Frodo did in fact stab the foot of the troll.

We should always remember that Treebeard doesn't know everything that he thinks he knows, to paraphrase Tolkien. He might be spouting gibberish about Trolls. Who knows? We cannot take Treebeard's words as truth, simply by virtue of their being Treebeard's words.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

I think we can take Treebeard as honest, after all his words made it into the text, and there aren't any other incidences of him being wholly wrong about things like that.

But anyway, I don't think goblins and orcs have huge, scaly, greenish (did it say green?) toeless hooves of feet. That and Boromir's sword never glanced off the skin of any other orc, and he swung it at many, many of them.

"The Hobbit's bite is deep, you have a good blade, Frodo, son of Drogo." That's what Aragorn said. He didn't merely 'stab at' the Troll's foot, he drove Sting in deep and when it went past possibly two inches of tough, scaly skin (I'd say almost like that of a crocodile). And Boromir was probably more than five times the strength of Frodo - I'd say the weapon mattered TOTALLY.

Granted, Hurin was one of the greatest men ever - but Hurin bore an axe and came out of the East of Beleriand - it's possible that axe was dwarf-made, and Dwarves weapons were possibly of greater craft (though less enchantment) than elven ones in those days (Narsil, anyone?). Also, Trolls being something of a subterranean creature it's likely that Dwarves had many more dealings with them and so the craft of the weapons reflected that knowledge. Couple that with a mighty swing from Hurin into the chest or head of a troll (and they were also lesser in size and strength in those days, yes), and it seems likely if he dropped his shield and only used the axe, that he was assailing them in the berserker style, charging them, using speed and surprise and not letting them have time to defend themselves. Trolls are after all big, dumb and slow, so the berserker attack would work better on them than on Orcs or other Men.

And also - Hurin was taken alive, it's likely he was under explicit orders to be captured alive, and that's why he wasn't killed during his huge exploit, so it's possible he did kill 70 Trolls, with how stupid they are and his attack.

The Troll Pippin killed . . . was a huge troll on the other hand, and a huge feat for one Hobbit, it was well armored and massive. His barrow-blade (and it was that blade), cut right into it's belly. The Numenoreans in Arnor lived close to the Troll-Shaws, and it's likely that many Trolls were in the employ of the Witch-King of Angmar, whose sorceries and servants those blades were warded against (possibly by the elves of Rivendell). Had he screamed "For the Shire!" and stabbed the Troll's foot, it's likely he would have gotten similar (though I doubt as much) results as Frodo.

That raises the question in my mind, as why the Defender of Minas Tirith and the heir to the seat of Stewards, descended in a long line from Mardil, who was distinctly of pure Numenorean descent, wasn't carrying a blade of that history (I speculate the very sword Denethor still wore girt around his waist was the "Blade of Mardil" or whatever - he wasn't ready to part with it yet). But that's another topic.

[Voralphion]

That raises the question in my mind, as why the Defender of Minas Tirith and the heir to the seat of Stewards, descended in a long line from Mardil, who was distinctly of pure Numenorean descent, wasn't carrying a blade of that history

Who's to say that Boromir's sword wasn't of that history, just because it wasn't mentioned, doesn't mean it wasn't true.

I think we can take Treebeard as honest, after all his words made it into the text, and there aren't any other incidences of him being wholly wrong about things like that.

Treebeard wasn't lying, (ie. he was honest), but he didn't know everthing. Just because his words made it into the text doesn't mean they were true, just that he said them. In one of the letters, I think one refering to orcs, Tolkien says that Treebeard was wrong and didn't know everything.

alright here are my ideas...

Mountain (cave) trolls as far as i know don't turn to stone, only the forest trolls do
(but i'm not sure on that one)

And am i the only one who thought the trolls in the movies were too small?
maybe i just have a big imagination.

Also i got the impression that forest trolls were as wide around the waiste as tree trunks

But then again, i have only read the hobbit, LOTR and half of sil

[Gothmog]

My faith in the power of Hurin makes me believe that he was able to kill, if not 70 so at least plenty of trolls. I know I'm repeating others words but remember: they had orders to get him alive! And: he was the greatest warrior of men ever lived!

And can somebody please help me out: when did Ecthelion kill 100 trolls? (I'm too lazy to go trough the books right now and I can't remember that). At the fall of Gondolin??

By the way, has anyone seen the old cartoon movie? The fight in Moria in that one is more as I've imagined it when reading the books...

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Ecthelion is rumoured to have killed 100 Trolls in one go. I don't have an exact source for this claim. I only heard it on another thread. Perhaps this tale is told in HoME or maybe it is not true.