| Revision as of 14:37, 29 January 2020 editChiswick Chap (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers297,000 edits →The origin of Orcs: rm WP:OR← Previous edit | Revision as of 15:01, 29 January 2020 edit undoChiswick Chap (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers297,000 edits all that can reasonably be cited is in the other article, so let's end this WP:FORK nowTag: New redirectNext edit → | ||
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| {{Infobox fictional race | |||
| | name = Orcs | |||
| | other_names = Goblins, Yrch, Rakhâs, Gorgûn | |||
| | image = | |||
| | alt = | |||
| | caption = Artist's impression of an Orc of ] with the Eye of Sauron on its shield | |||
| | iu_created_date = ] | |||
| | iu_creator = ] | |||
| | leader = The Great Goblin (in ''The Hobbit'') | |||
| | capital = ], ], ], ] | |||
| | home_world = ] | |||
| | base_of_operations = ], ], ] | |||
| | language = ], ] | |||
| }} | |||
| {{Me races}} | |||
| In ]'s ] writings, '''Orcs''' are a race of creatures who are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of '']'', '']'' and '']''—], ] and ]. | |||
| Although not entirely dim-witted and occasionally crafty, they are portrayed as miserable beings, hating everyone including themselves and their masters, whom they serve out of fear. They make no beautiful things, but rather design cunning devices made to hurt and destroy. | |||
| In some of his unpublished early work, Tolkien appears to distinguish orcs from goblins. By the time of his published work, however, the terms had become synonymous. '']'' generally uses the term ], while ''The Lord of the Rings'' prefers ''orc''. The opponents of the dwarves in "Dwarf and Goblin War" of ''The Hobbit'' are described as orcs in Appendix A of ''The Lord of the Rings''. No distinction is made by size; large orcs, including the Uruk-hai, are just as much goblins as are smaller ones. | |||
| Tolkien's '']'' also features goblins; they share traits with those in his Middle-earth writings, including being the arch-enemies of elves. | |||
| ==Tolkien's influences== | |||
| ''Orc'' is from ] ''orcneas'', which appears in the epic poem '']'', and refers to one of the races who are called the ''offspring of ]'' during the initial description of ] ("Þanon untydras ealle onwocon,/eotenas ond ylfe, ond orcneas", ll. 111–112). In a letter of 1954 Tolkien gave ''orc'' as "demon" and claimed he used the word because of its "phonetic suitability"—its similarity to various equivalent terms in his ].<ref name = "MELetters#144">{{harvnb|Carpenter|1981|loc=Letter No. 144}}</ref> In an essay on Elven languages, written in 1954, Tolkien gives meaning of 'orc' as "evil spirit or bogey" and goes on to state that the origin of the Old English word is the Latin name ]—god of the ].<ref>{{ME-ref|XI}}</ref> | |||
| About the goblins of '']'', Tolkien acknowledged influence from ].<ref name = "MELetters#144"/> | |||
| ==Middle-earth terms for Orcs== | |||
| In the High-elven tongue ], the word for "Orc" was ''urco'', plural ''urqui'', meaning "bogey", or "]", that is, something that provokes fear. In the ] tongue ], it was ''orch'', plural ''yrch''. In the ] tongue ], it was ''rukhs'', plural ''rakhâs''. In the language of the ] or Wild Men, it was ''gorgûn''. In the ] of ], the equivalent was ''Uruk'', as can be seen in '']'', "Orc-folk". ''Orc'' itself is from ]<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc="Appendix F: The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age": "Orc is the form of the name that other races had for this foul people as it was in the language of Rohan."}}</ref> and the ]-language,<ref name = "faq"> from by Steuard Jensen. Brackets by eds.</ref> which shared linguistic roots, but the term is clearly related to the older Elvish words. | |||
| ''Uruk'' and ''Uruk-hai'' were reserved for the Uruks themselves, a special breed or breeds of Orc; they called smaller, weaker Orcs ''snaga'', "slave". The ] also referred to the Orcs as a whole as the ''Glamhoth'', "noisy horde".<ref>{{ME-ref|UT|"Of ] and his Coming to ]"}}</ref> The word "]" is used to represent the original Hobbit ''Orc''. In '']'' Tolkien writes about an Orc captain named ''Boldog''<ref>{{ME-ref|Lays|"]"}}</ref> but later specifies that ''Boldog'' may have been either a term or a title for ] instead of a personal name.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|loc="Myths Transformed"}}</ref> | |||
| ===Orcs, Goblins, and Uruks=== | |||
| <!-- Note: "Uruk-hai" is _plural_. "Uruks" is Anglicised and acceptable.--> | |||
| The earliest appearance of goblins in Tolkien's writings is the 1915 poem '']'', his first published work, which appeared in the annual volume of Oxford Poetry published by ]. | |||
| In '']'' the names ''Orcs'' and ''goblin'' are given to creatures who enslave and war with the ]. Christopher Tolkien notes that while the author clearly differentiates between "goblins and Orcs" in the ''Tale of ]'', the two terms appear to be synonymous in the ''Tale of Turambar''. The word ''Gongs'' is also used on a few occasions; it appears both distinct from ''Orcs''<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|loc="The Nauglafring"|ref=Lost Tales II}}</ref> and as a sub-type of Orc.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|loc="Gilfanon's Tale"|ref=Lost Tales II}}</ref> Christopher Tolkien remarks that ''Gongs'' are "evil beings obscurely related to Orcs".<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|loc="The History of Eriol or Aelfwine"}}</ref> Both goblins and Orcs are occasionally mentioned as being "of ]" and also acting independently. Orcs, goblins, and gongs appear in Tolkien's two lexicons of elvish languages. The ''Qenya Lexicon'' from approximately 1915 defines ''Orc'' as meaning "], ]", and the ''Gnomish Lexicon'' dated 1917 defines ''Orc'' as "]" and ''Gong'' as "one of a tribe of the Orcs, a goblin". Christopher Tolkien also notes that in the latter lexicon, the word '']'' (later '']'') is an emendation from ''Goblin''. | |||
| In '']'' the inhabitants of the ] who capture ], and who later fight the Men, Elves, and ] at the Battle of the Five Armies, are identified as '']s'', which is largely consistent with the usage in ''The Book of Lost Tales''. The term ''Orc'' does occur twice; once in an instance where ] is trying to scare Bilbo by mentioning creatures of the wilderness "goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs of the worst description," and again when the narrator mentions the large goblins ("great Orcs of the mountains"), as well as in the Elvish name of ]'s sword, '']''. | |||
| In ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''Orc'' is used predominantly, and ''goblin'' appears mostly in the ]s' speech. The second volume of the story, ''The Two Towers'', "goblin" is applied to large orcs of the Uruk-hai: | |||
| {{quote|There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant-eyed, with thick legs and large hands. They were armed with short broad-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with Orcs: and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc="The Departure of Boromir"}}</ref>}} | |||
| And: | |||
| {{quote|Upon a stake in the middle was set a great goblin head; upon its shattered helm the white badge could still be seen.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc="The Riders of Rohan"}}</ref>}} | |||
| The "white badge" mentioned in the latter passage makes it clear that the beheaded goblin was one of Saruman's Uruk-hai. Tolkien writes that these bore a white ] with the value of "S" on their helmets. | |||
| Tolkien also wrote the following note, appearing in some editions of ''The Hobbit'': | |||
| {{quote|''Orc'' is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated ''goblin'' (or ''hobgoblin'' for the larger kinds). ''Orc'' is the hobbits' form of the name given at that time to these creatures, and it is not connected at all with ''orc'', ''ork'', applied to ].<ref name = "faq"/>}} | |||
| The original edition of ''The Hobbit'' and early drafts of ''The Lord of the Rings'' first used ''goblin'' everywhere and used ''hobgoblin'' for larger, more evil goblins. While investigating possible sources for the word "Hobbit", Tolkien realised he had made a mistake in using ''hob-'', which is traditionally used to mean a smaller entity, not a larger one. | |||
| In later writings, after ''The Lord of the Rings'', (including '']'' and many essays published in ''])'', Tolkien preferred the spelling ''Ork'', evidently mainly to avoid the form ''Orcish'', which would be naturally pronounced with the c as /s/ instead of /k/ in English. Tolkien indeed used the adjective ''Orkish''.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1996}}</ref> | |||
| According to ] in '']'', Tolkien answered a letter on this subject, confirming that Orcs and goblins were indeed identical. | |||
| ==Physical appearance== | |||
| Orcs are described as ugly and filthy fanged humanoids. The largest can reach near-human height, but they are almost always shorter, and some are as small as ]s (since ] and ] disguise themselves as such when they enter Mordor). In contrast, crossbreeds between Men and Orcs are called "man-high, but with goblin-faces."<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc="Flotsam and Jetsam"}}</ref> However, some Orcs are very broad, if not tall. Many Orcs have long arms, like monkeys or apes. Many of them also have crooked backs and legs. | |||
| Tolkien describes Orcs explicitly in one of his ''Letters'': | |||
| <blockquote>...they are (or were) squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types.<ref>{{harvnb|Carpenter|1981|loc=Letter No. 210}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| Readers have debated at length the extent and meaning of the racial imagery in Tolkien's writings, including ],<ref>{{cite book |title=J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment |last=Drout |first=Michael D. C. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Inc |location= |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0 |page=558 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&dq=9780415969420 |accessdate=25 March 2014}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite journal|first=Helen |last=Young |journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |title=Diversity and Difference: Cosmopolitanism and The Lord of the Rings |volume=21 |issue=3 |year=2010 |url=http://www.faqs.org/periodicals/201009/2224380021.html}}</ref> ],<ref name="Dimitra. 2009">{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/222251097|title=Tolkien, race, and cultural history : from fairies to Hobbits|last=Dimitra.|first=Fimi,|date=2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=0230219519|location=New York|oclc=222251097}}</ref> Stephen Shapiro<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm |title=The Lord of the Rings rooted in racism: Academic |first=Shyam |last=Bhatia |date=8 January 2003 |work=] }}</ref> and ] professor Anderson Rearick III.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/177550 |first=Anderson |last=Rearick |title=Why is the only good orc a dead orc? The dark face of racism examined in Tolkien's world |journal=] |volume=50 |issue=4 |year=2004 }}</ref> Fimi has linked Tolkien's reference to "Mongol-types" with early ideas on racial degeneration and mental disability, pointing especially to ], widely known as "Mongolian idiocy" or "Mongolism" before 1961.<ref name="Dimitra. 2009"/> | |||
| ==Types of Orcs== | |||
| There is much variation among Orcs. The '']'' are larger, more powerful and cruel and "black"; they call smaller and weaker Orcs ''snaga'' ("slave"). Sauron apparently bred specialized types, such as the "super-soldier" Uruk-hai, and smaller tracker Orcs or "Snufflers" (described as "of a small breed, black-skinned").<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc="The Land of Shadow"}}</ref> Early texts in ''The History of Middle-earth'' mention ] incarnate in Orc-bodies called ''Boldogs''. | |||
| Tolkien wrote of Saruman crossbreeding Orcs and Men, producing ''Men-orcs'' and ''Orc-men''.<ref>J. R. R. Tolkien. '']'', "Myths Revisited".</ref> The '']s'' and ''goblin-men'', mentioned by Gamling at Helm's Deep, seem likely to have been crossbreeds, and they are not described much beyond being "creatures of Isengard", "that the foul craft of Saruman has bred", and that "they will not quail at the sun". The first encounter with one of these half-goblins occurs in ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' when the Hobbits encounter a suspicious character they refer to as the Southerner who is in cahoots with Bill Ferny (the Southerner turns out to be a spy of Saruman and possibly Sauron, and possibly a double spy for both as Aragorn suggests). Half-orcs are described later on by ], who saw them marching out of Isengard, as "horrible: man-high, but with goblin-faces, sallow, leering, squint-eyed." In the ], the ruffians include half-orcs and more of the sallow-skinned, slant/squinty-eyed folks like the Southerner spy. | |||
| The Uruk-hai of Saruman, exemplified by Uglúk, are shown to be physically different from the regular Orcs of Sauron. They are taller and have more human-like proportions while the latter are shorter and have longer arms (according to the description of Grishnákh). They also grudgingly tolerate the sunlight better. The Uruk-hai are different from most of the "Northerners", who came down from the Misty Mountains. These are said to be smaller than Grishnákh, who is "a short crook-legged creature".<ref name="ReferenceC">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc="The Uruk-hai"}}</ref> | |||
| ==Orcish culture== | |||
| Tolkien does not elaborate on Orc culture and customs. Orcs know some form of healing arts (as the Orc-band apply harsh but effective Orkish medicine to Pippin's and Merry's injuries while they are in their captivity). Also their armour, though inferior to that of Elves and Dwarves, is serviceable. Orcs often use ]ed blades (as ] observes while inspecting a wound received by ])<ref>Tolkien, ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', "Lothlórien".</ref> and arrows (as they use on ]). They like to sing horrible songs (as in ''The Hobbit''). The Orcs of the Misty Mountains were smaller than the Orcs of Mordor and Isengard, and invented horrid machines used to torture and kill things. In some texts,{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} Tolkien suggests that after the fall of ], some of his Orcs set up petty kingdoms of their own. | |||
| Tolkien indicates that Orcs are "always hungry".<ref>{{cite book |first=J. R. R. |last=Tolkien |authorlink=J. R. R. Tolkien |title=The Hobbit |page=60 |publisher=] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-54795-197-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pD6arNyKyi8C&pg=PA60&dq=The+Hobbit+%22they+are+always+hungry%22&sa=X&ei=vpqZVIGwGYGzPZCTgJgJ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=The%20Hobbit%20%22they%20are%20always%20hungry%22&f=false}}</ref> Orcs eat all manner of flesh, including men and horses, and there are frequent hints of ] among Orcs. Grishnákh, leader of the Mordor Orcs, accuses Saruman's Uruks of eating Orc-flesh, which they angrily deny.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> In ], Gorbag suggests that ] (recently poisoned by ]) should "go in the pot"; Shagrat indicates that Gorbag could be "for the pot" for making such a suggestion.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc="The Choices of Master Samwise"}}</ref> Shagrat threatens to eat a disobedient orc, and after killing Gorbag he licks his blood from the blade.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc="The Tower of Cirith Ungol"}}</ref> | |||
| ==Orcish language== | |||
| The Orcs had no language of their own, merely a pidgin of many various languages. However, individual tribes developed dialects that differed so widely that ], often with a crude accent, was used as a common language. A few words of the ] are common among Orcs: ''ghâsh'' ("fire"), ''sharkû'' ("old man", leading to Saruman's nickname "Sharkey"), ''snaga'' ("slave"), and ''Uruk'' ("orc"). Another Orkish word is ''tark'' ("Man of ]") from Westron and ultimately Quenya ''tarkil''. | |||
| When Sauron returned to power in Mordor in the ], Black Speech was used by the captains of his armies and by his servants in Barad-dûr. A substantial sample of debased Black Speech/Orkish can be found in '']'', where a "yellow-fanged" guard Orc of Mordor curses Uglúk of Isengard: | |||
| :''Uglúk u bagronk sha pushdug Saruman-glob búbhosh skai!'' | |||
| In '']'',<ref name="PoME_Part One: the Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings. Draft of Appendix F.">{{Harvnb|Tolkien|1996|loc=Part One: the Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings. Draft of Appendix F.}}</ref> Tolkien gives the translation: "Uglúk to the cesspool, sha! the dungfilth; the great Saruman-fool, skai!". However, in a note published in '']'' he gives an alternative translation: "Uglúk to the dung-pit with stinking Saruman-filth, pig-guts, gah!"<ref>{{cite journal|first=Carl F. |last=Hostetter |title=Ugluk to the Dung-pit |journal=Vinyar Tengwar |issue =26 |date=November 1992 |publisher=The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship}}</ref> | |||
| Alexandre Nemirovsky speculates that Tolkien may have drawn upon the language of the ancient ] and ] for Black Speech and Orkish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/orkish.htm |title=Orkish and the Black Speech – base language for base purposes |work=Ardalambion |first=Helge K. |last=Fauskanger |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| ==The origin of Orcs== | |||
| The origin of Orcs is an open question. Tolkien developed various origins for his Orcs throughout his life. | |||
| No female Orcs are ever mentioned by Tolkien in any publication. However, in the published ''Silmarillion'' it is stated that Orcs "had life and multiplied after the manner of the ]", implying that they exist; in ''The Hobbit'' the Orc Bolg is the son of one Azog, while ] is described as having eaten a young Goblin-imp (Goblins often being synonymous with orcs) shortly before he first met Bilbo. | |||
| In an unpublished letter, written in 1963 to a Mrs. Munsby (and auctioned in 2002 at ]), Tolkien confirmed that female Orcs did exist. He wrote: | |||
| <blockquote>"There must have been orc-women. But in stories that seldom if ever see the Orcs except as soldiers of armies in the service of the evil lords we naturally would not learn much about their lives. Not much was known."<ref name="munsby">{{cite web|url=http://greenbooks.theonering.net/guest/files/041305.html|title=The Science of Middle-earth: Sex and the Single Orc|work=TheOneRing.net|accessdate=29 May 2009}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| It is said in ''The Silmarillion'':<ref name="Silm 2004 p. 40">{{cite book |first=J. R. R. |last=Tolkien |authorlink=J. R. R. Tolkien |title=The Silmarillion |page=40 |publisher=] |year=2004 |isbn=0-00-717302-4}}</ref> | |||
| <blockquote>"But of those unhappy ones who were ensnared by Melkor little is known of a certainty. For who of the living has descended into the pits of Utumno, or has explored the darkness of the counsels of Melkor? Yet this is held true by the wise of Eressëa, that all those of the Quendi who came into the hands of Melkor, ere Utumno was broken, were put there in prison, and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes."</blockquote> | |||
| ===A list of origins, proposed by Tolkien=== | |||
| ====Made from the earth==== | |||
| According to the oldest idea proposed by J.R.R. Tolkien (found in '']'', from '']'', circa 1917—the first tale of Middle-earth to be written in full), Orcs were made of slime through the sorcery of ]: "bred from the heats and slimes of the earth".<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|p=159}}</ref> | |||
| ====East Elves (Avari)==== | |||
| ''The Silmarillion'' contains a suggestion that Orcs are descended from East Elves (]) captured by Melkor, their minds and bodies distorted and corrupted.<ref name="Silm 2004 p. 40"/> | |||
| This corrupted elves origin is probably the one used in ]'s live action films. In the film of '']'', ] says: | |||
| <blockquote>"Do you know how the Orcs first came into being? They were elves once, taken by the dark powers, tortured and mutilated. A ruined and terrible form of life..."</blockquote> | |||
| ====Sentient beasts==== | |||
| Another of Tolkien's theories proposes that Orcs may have begun as soulless beasts of vaguely humanoid shapes, empowered by the ] of the Dark Lord (Morgoth) and learning language only as parrots do: | |||
| <blockquote>"The Orcs were ''beasts'' of humanized shape (to mock Men and Elves) deliberately perverted / converted into a more close resemblance to Men. Their 'talking' was really reeling off 'records' set in them by Melkor. Even their rebellious critical words – he knew about them. Melkor taught them ''speech'' and as they bred they inherited this; and they had just as much independence as have, say, dogs or horses of their human masters. This talking was largely echoic (cf. parrots)."<ref name="ReferenceA">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|loc="Myths transformed", text VIII}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| Later in the same text he theorizes that some Orcs may have been Elves, who then mated with these beasts and with Men. | |||
| <blockquote>"It remains therefore terribly possible there was an Elvish strain in the Orcs. These may then even have been mated with beasts (sterile!) – and later Men. Their life-span would be diminished. And dying they would go to Mandos and be held in prison till the End."<ref name="ReferenceA"/></blockquote> | |||
| ====Fallen Maiar==== | |||
| There are hints in the '']'' series of books, (especially in '']'' in the section "Myths Transformed"), that some Orc leaders, such as the ]'s Boldog, or the Great Goblin encountered by ] and the ], may in fact have been fallen ] which had taken Orc form: | |||
| <blockquote>"Some of these things may have been delusions and phantoms; but some were, no doubt, shapes taken by the servants of Melkor, mocking and degrading the very forms of the Children . For Melkor had in his service great numbers of the Maiar, who had the power, as had their Master, of taking visible and tangible shape in Arda."<ref name="MRMT X">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|loc="Myths transformed", text X}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>"''Boldog'' (…) is a name that occurs many times in the tales of the War. But it is possible that ''Boldog'' was not a personal name, and either a title, or else the name of a kind of creature: the Orc-formed Maiar, only less formidable than the ]s".<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|loc="Myths transformed", author's footnote to the text X}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>"Melkor had corrupted many spirits—some great, as ], or less so, as Balrogs. The least could have been primitive (and much more powerful and perilous) Orcs; but by practising when embodied procreation they would (cf. Melian) more and more earthbound, unable to return to spirit-state (even demon-form), until released by death (killing), and they would dwindle in force."<ref name="ReferenceA"/></blockquote> | |||
| ====Corrupted Men==== | |||
| While Tolkien at some point saw all Orcs as descended from the original corrupted and tortured Elves, later comments of his indicate, according to ] in ''Morgoth's Ring'' "Myths Transformed" text X, that he began to feel uncomfortable with this guess. At about the same time he removed the references to the ], he also began searching for a new origin for the Orcs. It seems Tolkien wanted to change the origin of the Orcs to make them corrupted and twisted Humans. | |||
| He says of this Human origin view of the Orcs: | |||
| <blockquote>"This view of the origin of the Orcs thus meets with difficulties of chronology. But though Men may take comfort in this, the explanation remains nonetheless the most probable. It accords with all that is known of Melkor, and of the nature and behaviour of Orcs – and of Men. Melkor was impotent to produce any living thing, but skilled in the corruption of things that did not proceed from himself, if he could dominate them."<ref name="MRMT X"/></blockquote> | |||
| Also in ''Unfinished Tales'' there is a passage about the ] which says : | |||
| <blockquote>"To the unfriendly who, not knowing them well, declared that Morgoth must have bred the Orcs from such a stock the Eldar answered: 'Doubtless Morgoth, since he can make no living thing, bred Orcs from various kinds of Men, but the Drúedain must have escaped his shadow; for their laughter and the laughter of Orcs are as different as the light of Aman from the darkness of Angband.' But some thought, nonetheless, that there had been a remote kinship, which accounted for their special enmity. Orcs and Drûgs each regarded the other as renegades."<ref>'']'', "The Drúedain"</ref></blockquote> | |||
| Tolkien would have had to change the prehistory of Arda, for the awakening of Men to happen earlier, for there to have been Men for Morgoth or Sauron to corrupt. | |||
| ====A mix of corrupted Elves and Men==== | |||
| A late idea of Tolkien seems to be that Orcs had a mixed origin of Elves and Men. | |||
| Text IX of the "Myths Transformed" section of ''Morgoth's Ring'' shows this view. The text has no date, but uses the late spelling "Ork" instead of "Orc". This new spelling was adopted in a note of 1969:<ref name="MRMT X"/> | |||
| <blockquote>"Since Melkor could not 'create' an independent species, but had immense powers of corruption and distortion of those that came into his power, it is probable that these Orks had a mixed origin. Most of them plainly (and biologically) were corruptions of Elves (and probably later also of Men). But always among them (as special servants and spies of Melkor, and as leaders) there must have been numerous corrupted minor spirits who assumed similar bodily shapes. (These would exhibit terrifying and demonic characters.)"<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|loc="Myths transformed", Text IX}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| ====Some cross-bred with Men==== | |||
| Tolkien also suggested that ] were cross-bred with Orcs under Morgoth's lieutenant, Sauron (and possibly under Morgoth himself). The process was later repeated during the ] by Saruman. | |||
| This possibly refers to the way the ] and the ]s were created, in ''The Lord of the Rings''. | |||
| <blockquote>"There is no doubt that long afterwards, in the Third Age, Saruman rediscovered this, or learned of it in lore, and in his lust for mastery committed this, his wickedest deed: the interbreeding of Orcs and Men, producing both Men-orcs large and cunning, and Orc-men treacherous and vile."<ref name="MRMT X"/></blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>‘But these creatures of Isengard, these half-orcs and goblin-men that the foul craft of Saruman has bred, they will not quail at the sun,’<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2009|p=536}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| The first appearance of these half-goblins occurs in ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' in describing one known as the Southerner, a spy of Saruman's; | |||
| <blockquote>In one of the windows he caught a glimpse of a sallow face with sly, slanting eyes; but it vanished at once. ‘So that’s where that southerner is hiding!’ he thought. ‘He looks more than half like a goblin.’<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2009|pp=180–181}}</ref> </blockquote> | |||
| Further description follows in ''The Two Towers''. | |||
| <blockquote>But there were some others that were horrible: man-high, but with goblin-faces, sallow, leering, squint-eyed. Do you know, they reminded me at once of that Southerner at Bree; only he was not so obviously orc-like as most of these were.’<ref name="J.R.R. Tolkien p. 566">{{harvnb|Tolkien|2009|p=566}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>We had many of these half-orcs to deal with at Helm’s Deep. It seems plain now that that Southerner was a spy of Saruman’s; but whether he was working with the Black Riders, or for Saruman alone, I do not know. It is difficult with these evil folk to know when they are in league, and when they are cheating one another.<ref name="J.R.R. Tolkien p. 566"/></blockquote> | |||
| In the 'Scouring of the Shire', there is further mention of the half-orcs under Sharkey's control, and they are described as men having squinty (or slanty) eyes and sallow complexion (a description used to describe the Southerner, Saruman's spy in ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', as well as some of the orcs in ''The Two Towers''). Which seems to suggest that they look mostly human but share some of the features of the orcs. | |||
| <blockquote>they were disturbed to see half a dozen large ill-favoured Men lounging against the inn-wall; they were squint-eyed and sallow-faced. ‘Like that friend of Bill Ferny’s at Bree,’ said Sam. ‘Like many that I saw at Isengard,’ muttered Merry.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2009|p=1004}}</ref> </blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>‘Of all the ends to our journey that is the very last I should have thought of: to have to fight half-orcs and ruffians in the Shire itself - to rescue Lotho Pimple!’<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2009|p=1006}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| ==Influence on later fantasy== | |||
| Tolkien's Orcs have been a major influence on fantasy fiction and games; they are the literary precursors of the Orcs (and similar races) of many different settings. The Orcs of '']'', '']'' and other games most often differ from Tolkien's Orcs in that they are taller than Humans and usually have green or greyish-green skin rather than dark or yellowish skin. A notable exception are the Orcs in the most popular German role playing game '']'', which like Tolkien's orcs are small and dark, but also furry. The world of ] has an Orc-inspired race known as Gargun, whose name recalls the term ''gorgûn'' ("orcs") from the language of Tolkien's ]. In the '']'''s Magnamund, there is a race of small orc-like people called Giaks. | |||
| ] may have inserted a nod to his friend's Orcs in '']''. When Aslan goes to his death on the Stone Table, the narrator mentions various evil creatures gathered around the White Witch—including "Orknies". (The name is also directly based on the Old English term above). | |||
| ==Adaptations== | |||
| Orcs have been featured in many adaptations of Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, from film to stage to video games. The Goblins in the ] were likened to the work of ].<ref>{{cite news|last=O'Connor |first=John J. |title=The Hobbit (review) |work=] |date=November 25, 1977}}</ref> They are portrayed in exactly the same manner as the Orcs in the sequel '']''. | |||
| Some adaptations have made Goblins distinct from Orcs. This was implied in ]'s ] directed by ], and made explicit in '']'', where orcs and goblins are portrayed as distinct races. Elven blades are described as turning blue when "orcs or goblins are near", a departure from the source text, and goblins have a notably different appearance in the film from orcs. | |||
| This distinction can also be seen in the real-time strategy games '']'' and '']''. In the former, Goblins can be used alongside common Orcs and Uruk-hai, while in the latter Goblins get their own playable faction. The same is true for the MMORPG '']''. Goblins are depicted as a race distinct from Orcs. | |||
| In the film '']'' some Uruk-hai are seen being birthed full-grown from what appear to be sacs in muddy pits. (This is used as a device to allow ] to build his army practically overnight, as opposed to taking the time to breed his "improved" Orcs through more conventional means.) | |||
| In '']'', an expansion pack for ''The Battle for Middle-earth II'', the Angmar faction uses "Gundabad Orcs" as ordinary foot soldiers, referring to their capital of Mount Gundabad. Like the Goblins of the ], they sometimes ride ]s into battle. | |||
| In the video game '']'', the Orc hierarchy in Mordor plays a pivotal role in both the story and gameplay, and some orc dialogue mentions being born from "vats". | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| {{Portal|Speculative fiction}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==Notes and references== | |||
| {{reflist|30em}} | |||
| ===Works cited=== | |||
| *{{ME-ref|letters|ref=harv}} | |||
| *{{ME-ref|ttt|ref=harv}} | |||
| *{{ME-ref|RK|ref=harv}} | |||
| *{{ME-ref|BOLT2|ref=harv}} | |||
| *{{ME-ref|MR|ref=harv}} | |||
| *{{cite book |first=J. R. R. |last=Tolkien |authorlink=J. R. R. Tolkien |year=2009 |title=] |publisher=] |edition=Kindle |ref=harv}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{commons category|Middle-earth Orcs}} | |||
| * {{Tolkien Gateway|Orcs}} | |||
| {{Middle-earth peoples and animals}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Orc (Middle-Earth)}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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