Chapter One:
Concerning Trolls
This book is largely concerned with trolls, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history.
The Beginnings
Trolls are a wise and ancient people, going much farther back than humanity. Their evolutionary roots can be traced back to the superfamily of Cercopithecoidea (Old World higher primates), which means, unlike humans, we are not simple apes. Where as the earliest signs of human civilization (if you could call anything humans do "civilized") can be traced to about twelve thousand years ago, records of troll civilization date back to over five hundred, thousand years ago. By the time humans had "discovered" fire, troll architects built massive structures in Africa (later used by human Egyptians that were too lethargic and senseless to build their own tombs), troll scientists discovered cures for most bodily ailments, troll philosophers discussed the meaning of life, and troll scholars had recorded almost all of troll history in great archives and libraries. We had roads that encircled the earth and put Rome's mere pathways to shame. While humans were grunting and growling like animals, we wrote great opera of literature. While Paleolithic humans stared enviously at feathered beasts, we took to the sky in engineering marvels.
This was the golden age of trolls, when we ruled the land, sea, and air.
The Dark Ages
While we frolicked in our utopian Eden, humanity gradually progressed. When they finally began to develop and leave Africa and the fertile crescent, we saw it as an opportunity to converse with another sentient race. It was one of the biggest (as well as one of the only) mistakes we ever made.
After many failed attempts at contact, we decided to do the one thing every troll hates the most, give up (we are a very stubborn race). What we didn't count on, was them looking for us.
Humanity branched into many races including hobbits, dwarves, elves, and most hideous of all (next to humans)...orcs. During this period of human prehistory, solitary trolls would often be captured, forced into captivity, used as something as barbaric as weapons2. These were some our people's darkest days, when the squabbling of men devastated Europe. Unfortunately, it would not be the last time.
Some eight thousand years later, when one of the few "great" empires of humans (The Roman Empire) fell to some of the most barbaric humans in history (Strange how the intellectual are always beaten by the dumb-witted in human culture, isn't it?), the dark ages of humanity intertwined with those of trolls.
During this period, trolls and humans often had to share the same space, which resulted in humans brutally going on "romantic" "quests" and "crusades" to "slay foul beasts".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes:
2For more information on trolls in "The War of The Ring" see a later chapter in this publication. (not yet added)