Evil spirits sent to dwell in the Barrow-downs by the Witch-king of Angmar during his wars with the remnant of Arnor and who remained there long after the realm of Angmar itself had vanished from the world.
Cave-Trolls :
A race of monstrous creatures found in caverns and dark places.They are known from an encounter with the Fellowship of the Ring as they passed through Moria but were evidently found elsewhere in Middle-earth,too.These trolls,along with orcs and perhaps other creatures,were originally sent to inhabit Moria by Sauron some five hundred years before the War of the Ring.The cave-trolls of Moria were of huge size with a skin of dark green scales and flat,toeless feet.The fact that Gandalf was able to recognise the creature he encountered in Moria specifically as a cave-troll strongly suggests that this appearance was shared by others of the kind.
Giants :
Perhaps the most mysterious of the races of Middle-earth,Giants are mentioned only fleetingly by Tolkien but sufficiently often to show that they did exist in his world.
Hill-Trolls :
A variety of troll adapted for life among hills and moorland.Aragorn's grandfather Arador was slain by them in the hills north of Rivendell and a company of these creatures were among the armies that Sauron loosed from the Morannon in the War of the Ring.In appearance they were man-like but larger and seem to have been covered with hard scales.They were fearsome and vicious,bellowing like beasts as they stormed into battle and beating their enemies down with great hammers.
Mountain-Trolls :
Apparently trolls that lived in the mountains of Middle-earth.It was creatures of this kind that wielded the great battering-ram,Grond,at the Battle of the Pelennor.
Nameless Things :
The secret and very ancient creatures that dwell in the dark depths of the world.Gandalf came upon them in the depths beneath Moria but would say nothing of them to his companions.All we know of them is that they gnawed dark tunnels far beneath the earth,through which Gandalf escaped from the depths of the chasm beneath Khazad-d�m.
Ogres :
Monstrous and destructive creatures of legend and folklore.In fact,it is doubtful whether Ogres ever existed in Middle-earth.Tolkien mentions them only once,in The Hobbit,during Bilbo's Riddle-game with Gollum.In his attempt to solve Gollum's fifth riddle,Bilbo '...sat in the dark thinking of all the horrible names of all the giants and ogres he had ever heard told of in tales...' Since no ogre is ever again mentioned,it is entirely possible that they were a mythical race even to the inhabitants of Middle-earth.
Olog-Hai :
A race of trolls bred by Sauron in the later years of the Third Age,seen among the trees of southern Mirkwood and the mountain borders of Mordor.They were superior to other trolls in almost every way: stronger and more powerful but also showing greater intelligence and skill.Many of their abilities they owed to being under the direct will of their master,Sauron and while under his control they could exist in direct sunlight,unlike others of their kind.In the battle before the Gates of Mordor,Aragorn and the Captains of the West encountered a company of large trolls,identified as 'hill-trolls out of Gorgoroth'. That battle took place in sunlight and so it seems to follow that the hill-trolls must have been Olog-hai. They are described as being taller than a man and covered in horny scales,carrying hammers and bucklers in their claws,though there is no way of knowing whether this description applies to all of the Olog-hai or just to those in the battle.
Skin-changers :
Creatures who could take different forms at will.Little is known of their abilities;the only skin-changers identified by Tolkien were Beorn and his descendants (who could take the shape of a Man or of a bear) but evidently other skin-changers also existed.
Snow-Trolls :
Trolls adapted for life among snow and ice.No snow-troll appears in Tolkien's work but we can infer their existence from the fact that Helm Hammerhand is compared to one of these creatures during his sorties against the Dunlendings during the Long Winter.
Stone-Giants :
Mighty creatures of the Misty Mountains and perhaps elsewhere in Middle-earth.The only known reference to them occurs in The Hobbit,in which Bilbo and the Dwarves encounter them as they cross the Misty Mountains.During a storm,the Stone-giants emerge and cast huge boulders about a rocky valley as part of a bizarre game.The difficulty of fitting Stone-giants (and all giants, for that matter) into Tolkien's world has led some to see the Stone-giants as a metaphor for crashing thunderbolts or something similar. However,the detail of the Stone-giants' description and the occurrence of other giants in Tolkien's work, makes it seem likely that these creatures actually did exist in Middle-earth.
A race of trolls in the service of Sauron.We know nothing for certain of these creatures except that they inhabited the Westlands of Middle-earth:the trolls encountered by Bilbo Baggins and his companions on their journey to Erebor were likely of this kind.
Torog :
The Sindarin word that Tolkien normally renders as 'troll' in his works.The derivation of this word is uncertain - it may be derived from older Elvish words or perhaps imitates olog,which seems to be the comparative term in the Black Speech.
Vampires :
Mysterious bat-like creatures in the service of Morgoth and of Sauron.The only vampire that Tolkien names is Sauron's servant Thuringwethil but Sauron himself took the form of a vampire on at least one occasion.
Werewolves :
Dread servants of Morgoth in wolf-form.Werewolves were especially associated with Sauron,who indeed took the shape of a great wolf himself at least once.
Were-worms :
Creatures of an unknown kind,possibly mythical and presumably related to dragons,that were said to dwell in the Last Desert.Tolkien only ever mentions were-worms once,in the quote given above,so we know almost nothing about them.We cannot even be certain that they actually existed - the Hobbits had a rich folklore peopled with fantastic beings and were-worms quite possibly fall into that category.If they did exist,the name 'were-worm' suggests a shapeshifting creature like a werewolf - a being that could take the form of either a Man or of a Dragon.Any discussion of the form or habits of the were-worms, though,must remain in the realms of speculation.
