I had a similar problem with the Elder. Used my re-spawned Viking to attract his attention. Led him a few dozen meters away from my corpse then just outdistanced him and circled back to my corpse. The Elder and trolls are both relatively slow-moving so you will get a few minutes to reclaim your stuff. If there are greydwarves, shamans, brutes, or skeletons in the area, dispose of them before engaging the troll.