o one seems to know. Apparently, though, they were "made" (as opposed
to "created" like the orcs) by Melkor. Said Tolkien: "I am not
sure about Trolls. I think they are mere 'counterfeits', and hence ... they
return to mere stone images when not in the dark. But there are other sorts
of Trolls, beside these rather ridiculous, if brutal, Stone-trolls, for which
other origins are suggested." (Letters, p. 191) "Counterfeits" here means
more-or-less that the Trolls have no independent life of their own but are
puppets animated in some way by an external Evil Will. As for the other kind
of Troll, the Olog-hai, no reference to their origin has been found, except
for Appendix F: "That Sauron bred them none doubted, though from what stock
was not known." However, they were definitely true Trolls, not large Orcs. The Troll adventure in the Hobbit should probably not be taken too literally as a source of Troll-lore -- it seems clear that it was much modified by the translator's desire to create familiarity. Thus, it seems unlikely that Trolls in Middle-earth spoke with Cockney accents, just as it seems unlikely that one of them would have been named "William".