Color of orcs and trolls?

[bmilder]

I'm wondering what color the orcs and trolls are supposed to be. I was looking at one of Tater's old pics of an orc, and it was green. In the LotR computer game I had, the Orcs were green as well. Is there actual evidence in LotR to support this, or are we just guessing?

[Inoldonil]

It's a curious common misconception, green Orcs. One of Tolkien's letters reveals most Orcs were actually sallow skinned. That can have a green hue, but it's a greyish, greenish, yellow colour.

Another misconception (leading some to suppose Tolkien was a racist) is that Orcs are black. Orcs are in fact commonly referred to as black, although very rarely or never in reference to skin to my knowledge, and so are the Nazgûl, when you can't even see their skin. (When Frodo does, they are of course pale skinned). 'Black' is thus probably more a description of clothes or armour, or else due to something akin to fur (as Michael Martinez supposes). The Orcs were very hairy. There are swarthy Orcs, usually Uruks it seems. But that's not the common Orkish skin-tone.

I don't know why so many artists depict them as green.

Trolls actually were green. Or the Stone-trolls of the Trollshaws (from the Ettenmoors), Moria and Gorgoroth were. We know the Trolls from The Hobbit were green from Tolkien's illustrations of them, the others are described as so in the Lord of the Rings. In the Battle of the Pelennor Fields there are Mountain Trolls from the Ash Mountains, but they aren't described. In The House of Eorl in the Appendices, Helm is likened to a Snow-troll, although we never see any or hear of any in any other text.

The Olog-hai, the Trolls who (as long as Sauron was in power) were not turned to stone in sunlight, were black-skinned.

Or course, Trolls who actually are green are the ones never depicted as such!

But art is art. :)

[SauronDL]

I have always believed Orcs to be a greyish green, and I always will. I've never been quite sure of the colour of Trolls, but perhaps something of a skin-colour.

The LotR movies portray, however, Trolls to be of skin-colour with some sort of a grey in it. It looks right, I guess that's my new colour!

[Lord Xanthyz]

I always imagined greyish-green, with grey being the predominate color

[Shanamir Duntak]

Yup... me too.
Always tought that the term "black" wasn't not really refering to their "evilness"

[webwizard333]

I've always thought completley grey for trolls because of their history with rocks.

[Finduilas]

Something in the "Bridge of Khazad-dum" was described as having greenish scales. It was most probably a troll.

[easterlinge]

So Trolls looked like..... the Incredible Hulk?