Finally getting to play this now for the last couple nights. Such an awesome game, there is so god damn much to do.
My first 'oh shit' moment was encountering the Mammoths and Giants (skyward Giant smack taught me not to fuck around >_< ) I did manage to kill two mammoths though with my bow, hiding up on a rock and plucking arrows down at them. Took a little bit, and they tried running away a couple times, but mission successful.
Playing tonight, I encountered a cave while riding my horse en-route to a quest, walk inside and bam, two trolls ready to fuck my day. After a couple failed attempts with my sword & shield, I remembered reading I think in this thread that Trolls don't like fire. Luckily a little while earlier in the game, I had bought as many spells from a vendor as I could afford at the time, and Summon Fire Atronach (spelling?) was one of them. That little bastard did most of the work for me as he took on both Trolls with fireballs while I hid back in a corner, once again, plucking arrows at them.
I've now discovered how awesome enchanting will be, and I'm planning to put a couple skills points into it before I enchant my main weapons with (hopefully) something good. I stole an Elven Sword from a display case in Dragonsreach in Whiterun because it looked too badass not to. I've now got a matching Elven Bow & Arrows, Elven Shield, and an Elven Warhammer that I plan to enchant.
Who knows where I can get a good amount of Soul Gems from? Empty or filled, doesn't matter. Vendors charge out the ass, and I don't want to have to ruin my releationship with the town just yet