How do Trollocs breed?

[Beer Rot]

I've never read a trolloc description as being female.  I don't know/think they could breed from kidnapped human women.

 

So what do you think?  Trolloc women stay in the blight and raise the little 'loclings while the men are out doing the great lord's works?

[Majsju]

 

 

So what do you think?  Trolloc women stay in the blight and raise the little 'loclings while the men are out doing the great lord's works?

 

Pretty much, yeah. Female trollocs are kept in breeding pens, and giving birth is their only function in life.

[Guest BaLefireP]

It is something the Do keeps secret it is called..."Trolloc sex"!

 

Beware!

[Eel-finn]

According to The Guide (all hail The Guide), there are women Trollocs that never leave the Blight, instead they do menial labor.(i.e. Breed, all day, everyday)

[Catiendha Myerin]

I recall that I read female Trollocs enjoy being pregnant.  That may have been in the BWB or in one of the books.  Not sure.  I'd have to go look it up. 

 

But I am sure somewhere it said the female Trollocs enjoy being pregnant.  So yeah, they just produce baby Trollocs or litters of baby Trollocs.

 

What interests me is the genetics of the Trollocs and Myrddraal.

 

Myrdraal are "throwbacks" to the human stock used in the creation of Trollocs.  I assume that means that once in a while a female Trolloc gives birth to a baby Myrddraal. 

 

Since we have never heard about a female Myrddraal, maybe it is a genetic thing.  Like a recessive gene.  Maybe like calico cats. 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_cats

 

Almost all calico cats are female.  Maybe all or almost all Myrdraal are males?  Are they sterile like the rare male calico cats?  They are known to take pleasure in raping human women, but no ill-begotten children are mentioned.  Is that because they are sterile or just because the Fades use the women to the point of death? 

 

This leads me to a side point.  Sorry to distract from the main topic. 

 

Imagine raising and educating a baby/child Trolloc or Myrddraal!  Who does that?  Who are the teachers?  From the books, we see that they can write, which by inference, means that they can read! 

 

Look back at the first book, "The Eye of the World" and in the dungeon the Brown sisters note that the writing on the wall in blood is in a better hand than Trollocs.

 

 

Who teaches these Shadowspawn to read and write!!??   

 

 

 

 

[Luckers]

How do Trollocs breed? The same way everyone does--internet dating.

[redarm]

They do it like they they do it on the discovery channel... :o

[Kaznen]

There are no ill begotten children from the Myrddraal, attentions, because the women don't live long enough to find out if their pregnant or not.

[Luckers]

I faintly remember reading that Myrdraal were sterile, though I can't recall if this was in the Guide or an RJ answer, or just a random poster saying it. When I get home I'll have a look about.

 

 

[Paxam]

I'm quite sure that all Myrdraal are male, though for reasons unknown to the Forsaken. I think a great deal of things about Myrdraal are a mystery to even those who indirectly created them. WRT Female Trollocs, this was one of the questions in the Knife of Dreams book tour:

 

Q: What are female Trollocs like?

RJ: They are basically breeding machines. They give birth to litters, and are quite fierce in defense of their children.

 

So, we can assume that every so often a band of the males will go back to the blight and rut, producing many offspring. Or perhaps ones that have yet to leave the Blight.

 

Luckers: Myrdraal aren't quite sterile, just there's no females so they've nothing to breed with, and their sperm kills human ova. (from http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/Letter_to_Pat_Korda_1995)

[MrAdams]

Considering Trollocs are made out of alot of different creatures it isnt totally out of line to belive they are created by the power?

 

[Paxam]

Trollocs were created using the True Power, I believe.

[Quorothorn]

Re: How do Trollocs breed?

 

Very carefully.

 

Trollocs were created using the True Power, I believe.

 

The True Power might have been involved, but I believe the actual method was old-fashioned Evil Mad Scientist genetic tampering by Aginor.

 

Of course, according to the WoT game (1999), they were created out of nightmares, IIRC.  ;D

[Catiendha Myerin]

Aginor--the original Mad Scientist!  I deduce he was a biologist.

 

He tested the Fades to destruction, yet could not fully comprehend how they did what they did.  That is evil genius.  His creations got away from him.

 

As a geologist, I sympathize with his curiosity, but not with his evilness.  I play with rocks and dirt.  I have no compuctions to make evil rock or mud critters!  Although if I was turned to the Shadow, I could probably make a gholem.  I know where to get the clay, heh heh he he he he!  jk.  ;D 

 

I still think everyone is ignoring my questins about who teaches the shadowspawn to read and write?  Female Trollocs?  Myrdraal?  Darkfriends?  I think all you fellow WoT fans are as confounded as I am.  Or else involved in some sekret plot.  dang old game of houses! 

 

I just cannot wrap my mind around little baby Trollocs or little baby Fades learning to read and write!  How scary would their teachers have to be to keep them in line?  There is only 1 Mesaana, and she was bound up for a long time, so there must have been other evil teachers.     

 

 

[MrAdams]

Aginor--the original Mad Scientist!  I deduce he was a biologist.

 

He tested the Fades to destruction, yet could not fully comprehend how they did what they did.  That is evil genius.  His creations got away from him.

 

As a geologist, I sympathize with his curiosity, but not with his evilness.  I play with rocks and dirt.  I have no compuctions to make evil rock or mud critters!  Although if I was turned to the Shadow, I could probably make a gholem.  I know where to get the clay, heh heh he he he he!  jk.   ;D 

 

I still think everyone is ignoring my questins about who teaches the shadowspawn to read and write?  Female Trollocs?  Myrdraal?  Darkfriends?  I think all you fellow WoT fans are as confounded as I am.  Or else involved in some sekret plot.  dang old game of houses! 

 

I just cannot wrap my mind around little baby Trollocs or little baby Fades learning to read and write!  How scary would their teachers have to be to keep them in line?  There is only 1 Mesaana, and she was bound up for a long time, so there must have been other evil teachers.     

 

 

 

First of all, i love thea idea of "trollocs school" Pit of Doom junior high school mouhaha. Tho i am not sure that they can read and write, cant recall any referance to it.

 

Tho now that i mention it the only thing i can recall is when Padan faine is rescued in Fal dara (dammit cant remember which book) and the writings appear, the "dark prophecies". Tho it just might have been Padan faine who wrote that.

[dgd3]

First of all, i love thea idea of "trollocs school" Pit of Doom junior high school mouhaha. Tho i am not sure that they can read and write, cant recall any referance to it.

 

Tho now that i mention it the only thing i can recall is when Padan faine is rescued in Fal dara (dammit cant remember which book) and the writings appear, the "dark prophecies". Tho it just might have been Padan faine who wrote that.

 

This happens in tGH 6 "Dark Prophecy" & 7 "Blood Calls Blood".  Rand sees the writing on the wall as a mixture of Trolloc and human (Common?) script, of which he can read only the latter, apparently written by Padan Fain.  The Trolloc writings are deciphered as Dark Prohphecy by Serafelle and Verin and recited by Verin to Siuan and Moiraine.

 

http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/books/tgh/ch7.html

 

It seems like Trolloc/Shadowspawn mumbo jumbo, but who knows for sure?  There are two complicating factors here:  

 

This happens in Book 2, when RJ seemed to still be puzzling out the mythology of his WoT world, and

 

REMOVED. TGS COMMENTS ARE STILL NOT ALLOWED ON THIS BOARD!!!!

 

So,  all sorts of hijinks could have ensued.

 

And to answer the question about Trolloc education..... Magical Dark One Dark Shadowness Magic.  Trying to analyze the metaphysics/theology/logistics of the Shadow/DO is definitely an excercise in futility.  These are just fantasy novels, no matter how engrossing...

[Durinax]

I wish they would show the trolloc culture it would be pretty interesting

 

especially since the ruling class (myrrdraal) would be impotent how would they decide whom rules, would it be somewhat animalistic where the strongest leads or what.

[Mr Ares]

How do Trollocs breed? The same way everyone does--internet dating.

Now you're just being silly. Everyone knows that far more breeding is done by picking up drunk students at bars than through the internet. Well, known by everyone other than students, as they're usually too drunk to remember all the breeding they were doing last night.

[Catiendha Myerin]

Evidence of Shadowspawn reading and writing:

 

Book 2, The Great Hunt.  Chapter 6.

 

Page 92, 2nd paragraph in my paperback (Rand's POV):

 

. . . blood covered the walls too, but in scrawled letters, single words and whole sentences splashed on every which way.  Some were harsh and angular, in a language he did not know, though he recognized Trolloc script.  Others he could read, and wished he could not.  Blasphemies and obsceneties bed enough to make a stablehand or a merchan't guard go pale.

 

soon after, Rand took straw from the floor and went to scrub away words written in blood

 

We will meet again on Toman Head

It is never over, al'Thor

 

Liandrin interrupts him. . . .Moiraiane confronts Liandrin . . .

 

 

Book 2, The Great Hunt.  Chapter 7.  page 105 in my paperback

 

Verin speaking to Siuan . . .

 

I thought you might wish to see this, Mother. . . . .What was written on the walls in the dungeon.  There were few problems with translation.  Most of the usual-blasphemy and boasting; Trollocs seem to know little else-but there was one part done in a better hand.  An educated Darkfriend, or perhaps a Myrddraal. . . .

 

these accounts support my idea that Trollocs and Myrddraal can read and write.  Verin at least can translate, which means that the language of the Shadowspawn is known and translatable.  She can distinguish "a better hand" from the normal Trolloc writing.  By stating that the "better hand" might be from an educated Darkfriend or a Myrddraal, that implies that some Darkfriends know Shadowspawn language as well. 

 

[Beer Rot]

just the fact that trollocs base themselves in clans supports the idea that they have a type of intelligence.

 

lets not forget that narg knew two languages and did his best to persuade a dumb sheepherder into sticking around for the fade.

[Catiendha Myerin]

Very good point Beer Rot!  (btw, lurves the name!  beer, hells yeah!)

 

Narg, at least, could speak in the common language and have the cunning and restraint to overcome the Trolloc blood-lust of just killing for a time.  Was he bi-lingual?  Wow!  He was probably a genius amongst Trollocs! 

 

The fact that Trollocs are organized into clans, with distinct insignia, also supports your idea Beer Rot!  1st book, when Lan muses over the different insignia gathered from the dead Trollocs. 

 

Who makes the trolloc insignia?  Who makes their clothing, boots and weapons?  We see later how Myrddraal swords are forged on the slopes of ThakanDar.  Trolloc weapons, clothing, etc. should be much more common-place in the Blight.  Interesting things to ponder!

 

How do Trollocs breed?  I think any chance they get, roughly, dirty with no romance at all!  There are no romantic dinners, no flowers and no candy.  Just Narg and his buddies rutting with female Trollocs until they fall over from exhaustion.  It's all a Trolloc booty-call, since we have read that female Trollocs enjoy being preggers.  Which leads to more questions, like who feeds the pregger Trollocs?  And my insatiable question of who instructs the baby Shadowspawn in reading and writing?  AGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!     

 

But what really goes on in the day to day life of Trollocs, unarguably the most common of the Shadowspawn?