Well eighty years have passed – and I haven't ever seen a decent explanation published on why Tolkien named
The Hobbit trolls – 'Bill, Bert and Tom'. Ms. Seth has come up with a brand new idea and claims it was based on a parody of three Elizabethan playwrights: William Shakespeare, Robert Greene & Thomas Nashe - apparently reflecting a famous incident. There are certainly strengths to the proposition; but I'll let the reader decide whether her solution
“fits like a glove”!
https://priyasethtolkienfan.wordpres...lorful-pair-4/