300+ Best Troll Names: Fierce Ideas for Fantasy Creatures

300+ Best Troll Names: Fierce Ideas for Fantasy Creatures

Discover over 300 legendary troll names from Norse mythology, folklore, and modern gaming culture. Perfect for D&D campaigns, fantasy novels, and gaming characters. Each name includes rich backstory, cultural context, and suggested applications for bringing these formidable creatures to life in your adventures.

Trolls occupy a unique space in fantasy—they're not sophisticated dragons plotting schemes over centuries, nor are they mindless beasts acting purely on instinct. They exist in that fascinating middle ground where brutish strength meets cunning intelligence, where primal fury coexists with surprising tactical thinking. The Old Norse called them "trǫll," creatures of the wild places where civilization's light never reached. They guarded mountain passes, demanded tolls at bridges, turned to stone in sunlight, and regenerated from wounds that would kill any mortal creature. Their names reflect this duality—harsh and guttural like grinding stone, yet carrying echoes of ancient power.

What makes a troll name memorable isn't just its sound but the weight of tradition behind it. "Thokk" suggests simple, direct violence—a troll who solves problems by smashing them. "Fimbulvetr" evokes the endless winter of Norse apocalypse, suggesting a frost troll of mythic proportions. "Gruffguard" connects immediately to the fairy tale bridge troll we've all heard about since childhood. The best troll names immediately convey personality and purpose, giving your audience instant insight into what kind of creature they're dealing with—whether it's a regenerating cave dweller obsessed with riddles, a frost-covered mountain king who commands avalanches, or a wise old swamp guardian who's seen empires rise and fall.

The Ancient Roots of Troll Legends

Scandinavian trolls emerged from the harsh reality of life in northern Europe—when winter darkness stretched for months, when mountains swallowed travelers without trace, when forests seemed infinite and hostile. The Norse needed explanations for disappearances, for avalanches that destroyed settlements, for the bone-deep fear that gripped anyone traveling alone through wild country. Trolls became the personification of nature's hostility, creatures that represented everything dangerous and unknown about the wilderness. They weren't evil in any moral sense—they simply existed outside human concerns, defending their territories with the same instinct that drives bears to protect their cubs.

The oldest Norse sources describe trolls as massive, dimwitted creatures easily tricked by clever humans despite their immense strength. They feared church bells, Christian symbols, and especially sunlight—the touch of dawn's rays would petrify them instantly, turning living flesh to stone. This sunlight weakness created natural drama in countless folk tales: heroes racing to delay trolls until sunrise, entire troll families frozen mid-step as monuments to their nocturnal hunting. But trolls weren't uniformly monstrous. Some tales speak of troll women who married human men, of troll craftsmen whose work rivaled dwarven smithing, of troll kings who ruled underground kingdoms with surprising sophistication.

As Christianity spread through Scandinavia, troll legends evolved. Earlier pagan spirits and nature deities got reclassified as trolls—creatures of the old world that hadn't accepted the new religion. This transformation enriched troll mythology, adding layers of tragedy to their stories. They became symbols of a fading past, creatures forced further into the wilderness as human civilization expanded. The famous bridge trolls emerged from this period—territorial guardians demanding payment or tribute, representing the conflict between expanding human trade routes and the wild lands they crossed. These trolls weren't necessarily violent; many would let travelers pass for a reasonable toll, a clever riddle's answer, or simply a good story to break their eternal monotony.

Physical and Cultural Characteristics

Troll physicality varies wildly depending on their environment and the traditions describing them. Mountain trolls tower three to four times human height, with rocky skin that provides natural armor and makes them nearly indistinguishable from cliff faces when motionless. Their strength lets them hurl boulders like humans throw stones, reshape landscapes through brute force, and survive cave-ins that would pulverize lesser creatures. Cave trolls adapted to darkness developed extraordinary senses—hearing that detects heartbeats through stone walls, smell so acute they can track prey across miles, touch-sensitive skin reading vibrations in the earth itself.

Forest and swamp trolls present entirely different adaptations. They're typically smaller—merely twice human size—but far more dangerous for their environment. Moss, lichen, and even small plants grow directly on their skin, making them vanish into woodland backgrounds. Some trolls stand so still for so long that birds nest in their hair and squirrels store nuts in their crevices, perfect camouflage until they explode into violence. Swamp trolls can breathe underwater through gill-like slits, walk across quicksand that would swallow horses, and emit toxic gases that render their territories nearly impenetrable to outsiders.

The most remarkable troll trait—one that appears across nearly every tradition—is their regeneration. Trolls heal from wounds that would be instantly fatal to other creatures. Severed limbs regrow, crushed bones knit back together, even decapitation might not kill them permanently. This regeneration makes them extraordinarily difficult to defeat through conventional combat. Fire and acid prevent regeneration, which is why D&D trolls fear flames above all else. In World of Warcraft, Darkspear trolls can regenerate health rapidly, paying homage to this ancient trait. This biological gift explains why trolls survive in the harshest environments and why they've persisted through ages when other magical races declined.

The Art of Troll Naming Conventions

Troll names follow distinct patterns that immediately communicate their nature and origin. Norse-inspired trolls favor harsh consonant clusters—"Grommash," "Throkk," "Kveldulf"—that sound like rocks grinding together or avalanches rumbling down mountainsides. These names resist being whispered; they demand to be growled or roared. Multiple syllables add weight and antiquity: "Fimbulvetr" carries the weight of endless winter in its very pronunciation, while "Trollvald" suggests ancient royalty through its construction.

Modern fantasy gaming introduced new naming conventions that have become equally iconic. Warcraft trolls feature apostrophes in unusual places—"Zul'jin," "Vol'jin," "Sen'jin"—creating a distinctive linguistic signature that immediately identifies them. These names blend exotic sounds with familiar structures, making them memorable and pronounceable despite their foreign feel. The pattern has become so established that any fantasy troll with an apostrophe-divided name immediately evokes Warcraft's rich troll culture, with its voodoo magic, tribal structure, and complex spiritual traditions.

Famous Trolls in Literature and Media

The bridge troll from "Three Billy Goats Gruff" might be the most famous troll in Western culture—a creature so iconic that "troll under the bridge" has become shorthand for territorial threats and unreasonable demands. This Norwegian fairy tale presents trolls in their simplest form: brutish, greedy, and ultimately outwitted by cleverness. The troll's famous threat—"Who's that tramping over my bridge?"—has echoed through children's literature for generations, establishing the core archetype of trolls as obstacles to be overcome rather than understood.

Tolkien transformed trolls from folklore creatures into epic fantasy monsters. In "The Hobbit," the three trolls Tom, Bert, and William provide comic relief through their bickering and eventual petrification by sunlight. But Tolkien's later trolls grew more dangerous—the cave troll in Moria, the massive siege trolls of Mordor, and the mysterious Olog-hai bred by Sauron to resist sunlight. Tolkien's innovation was treating trolls as a species with variations and evolution, not just scattered individual monsters. This approach influenced every fantasy work that followed.

World of Warcraft elevated trolls from antagonists to a fully realized culture. The Darkspear tribe joined the Horde as equals, bringing complex traditions, spiritual practices, and a rich history to the game. Vol'jin's rise to Warchief represented trolls stepping from the margins to center stage in fantasy gaming. Warcraft trolls practice voodoo, worship animal loa spirits, speak with distinctive Caribbean-influenced accents, and maintain tribal structures that feel authentic rather than stereotypical. Their regeneration, headhunters, witch doctors, and batriders have become as iconic as any fantasy race's signature features.

Regional and Cultural Troll Variations

Norwegian mountain trolls—jotnar—represented the massive, primordial forces of nature itself. These weren't mere large humanoids but geological phenomena given malicious intent. Standing hundreds of feet tall, they reshaped valleys through their movements and hurled boulders that became hills when they landed. Some Norse scholars argue these trolls embodied ice age memories—the grinding glaciers, the mountain-cracking freezes, the avalanches that destroyed entire settlements. Their names reflected this: Skrymir (The Vast), Hrungnir (Noisy), Thrymr (Crash).

Swedish forest trolls took a different form—smaller, more numerous, intensely territorial but occasionally willing to trade with humans who showed proper respect. These skogsrå protected woodland animals, punished hunters who killed wastefully, and could be bargained with for safe passage or forest knowledge. Female forest trolls sometimes took human lovers, producing half-troll children who inherited unusual strength and long lives. This tradition influenced fantasy literature profoundly—the idea that trolls could integrate with humanity rather than existing in eternal opposition.

Iceland's trolls became literally part of the landscape. The island's dramatic geology—towering sea stacks, oddly shaped rock formations, precariously balanced stones—all received explanations as petrified trolls caught by sunrise. Tour guides still point to these formations: "There's the troll woman carrying her cow to market," "That's the troll fisherman who stayed out too late." This tradition made every unusual landscape feature a story, weaving trolls so thoroughly into cultural identity that geology and mythology became inseparable.

Trolls in Modern Fantasy Gaming

Dungeons & Dragons codified many troll traits that became standard across fantasy gaming. D&D trolls stand eight to nine feet tall with rubbery, moss-green skin that regenerates all damage except fire and acid. They're savage hunters with incredible strength but limited intelligence, making them dangerous but manipulable. The D&D troll's signature weakness—fire disrupts regeneration—creates tactical gameplay where smart parties carry torches and alchemist's fire specifically for troll encounters. This design choice transformed trolls from unstoppable threats into interesting tactical challenges.

Warcraft's reimagining gave trolls unprecedented depth and variety. The game features multiple troll subspecies adapted to different environments: jungle trolls of the Gurubashi empire, forest trolls of the Amani nation, ice trolls of the Drakkari kingdom, and island trolls of the Darkspear tribe. Each culture developed distinct traditions, architecture, and spiritual practices. Zandalari trolls—the ancient, sophisticated troll civilization—demonstrate that trolls can build pyramid cities, develop complex theology, and create art as refined as any human culture. This multifaceted portrayal influenced how other games and stories approach troll civilizations.

League of Legends' Trundle represents another approach—the troll as anti-hero protagonist. Rather than a monster to defeat, Trundle is a playable champion with complex motivations. He united his people by taking their diseases and curses upon himself, becoming a walking embodiment of troll suffering to save his tribe. This tragic-heroic characterization shows how trolls can carry stories as complex as any fantasy protagonist, moving beyond their origins as simple obstacles or antagonists.

300+ Troll Names by Category

The following collections present over 300 troll names organized by their traditional habitats and roles. Each category reflects different aspects of troll mythology and culture, from the towering mountain-dwellers of Norse legend to the sophisticated voodoo practitioners of modern gaming. Use these names as-is for quick character creation, or let them inspire variations that fit your specific setting and needs.