[2], Mythological monsters with names similar to "orc" can be found in the Old English poem Beowulf, in Early Modern poetry, and in Northern European folk tales and fairy tales. 37. An orc overlooking Draenor. So, weeks have passed and my new maybe-foolish question is here. Posted by u/[deleted] 4 years ago. orc (n.) "ogre, devouring monster," 1590s, perhaps a reborrowing of the same word that became Old English orcþyrs, orcneas (plural), which is perhaps from a Romanic source akin to ogre, and ultimately from Latin Orcus "Hell," a word of unknown origin. [T 13], Half-orcs appear in The Lord of the Rings, created by interbreeding of Orcs and Men;[T 13] they were able to go in sunlight. It's also the accepted origin for the movie versions as well. Click the button below to start this article in quick view. A variety of critics and commentators have noted that orcs are somewhat like caricatures of non-Europeans. [43], For the Love of Waaagh, an Ork from Warhammer 40,000, This article is about the fictional humanoid monster. [18] Stewart notes, too, that the geography of Middle-earth deliberately pits the good West against the evil East;[18] John Magoun, writing in the J.R.R. The conservation of orthologs of most subunits of the origin recognition complex (ORC) has served to propose that the whole complex is common to all eukaryotes. [16] Any moral bias towards a north-western geography, however, was directly addressed by Tolkien himself in a letter to Charlotte and Denis Plimmer, who had recently interviewed him in 1967: Auden has asserted that for me 'the North is a sacred direction'. [e], Tolkien began the modern use of the English term "orc" to denote a race of evil, humanoid creatures. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, "From the Shire to Charlottesville: How Hobbits Helped Rebuild the Dark Tower for Scientific Racism", "Demonizing the Enemy, Literally: Tolkien, Orcs, and the Sense of the World Wars", "Xenos: Seven Alien Species With A Shot At Conquering the 40k Galaxy", "Another orc enters the Heroes of the Storm battleground", 9 milestones in orcs history. The North-west of Europe, where I (and most of my ancestors) have lived, has my affection, as a man's home should. Orcs, also called Orsimer or "Pariah Folk" in ancient times, are the brusque elves of the Wrothgarian Mountains, Dragontail Mountains, Valenwood, and Orsinium (literally translated as "Orc-Town").They are noted for their unshakable courage in war and their unflinching endurance of hardships. [T 1] Origin of Orcs. [T 2][T 1] They had similar names in other Middle-earth languages: uruk in Black Speech (restricted to the larger soldier-orcs);[T 1] in the language of the Drúedain gorgûn, "ork-folk"; in Khuzdul rukhs, plural rakhâs; and in the language of Rohan and in the Common Speech, orka. [39] They are blue-skinned, with prominent tusks or horns. [38] RELATED: Tolkien Estate Reveals What Amazon Can & Can't Change In LOTR Series. Orc in reference to a vaguely cetacean sea monster is borrowed from one or more Romance words, such as the French orque or the Italian orca, all ultimately descended from the Latin orca, which probably denoted a small cetacean such as the killer whale. Whether that is true or spoken in malice is uncertain: an Orc flings Pippin stale bread and a "strip of raw dried flesh... the flesh of he dared not guess what creature". The first legends of orcs told of the wars between their primary god Gruumsh and Corellon Larethian, the creator of the elves and eladrin. Orcs have elven blood, but are usually considered to be both Beastfolk and Goblin-ken. The Elvish origin in The Silmarillion is criticized for being a rejected idea, while the Man origin is criticized because it would require a complete upheaval of the chronology as it was written. The orc as we know it came into being in the early 20th century, as the faceless minions of Tolkien’s original dark lord, Melkor, in the writings that would become "The Silmarillion." presents orcs as generic infantry, used as metaphorical cannon-fodder. However, various uncertainties have arisen concerning ORC subunit composition in a variety of lineages. In his view, Tolkien, as a Catholic, took it as a given that "evil cannot make, only mock", so orcs could not have an equal and opposite morality to that of men or elves. Tolkien stated that he took the name from Beowulf. And I intend to read the trilogy again as soon as I … Whether the Orcs were at this time a capable fighting force against the host of Valinor is not known. It is also possible that the word is a Common Tongue Version of 'orch', the Sindarin word for Orc. The orcs of Draenor had lived in a noble shamanistic society, roaming in tribes the grasslands of Nagrand on their dusty world of Draenor, for over 5,000 years. Straparola was translated into Spanish in 1583. "[3][4][b] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal defines ork in the closely related Old Dutch language as a verslindend monster ("devouring monster"),[5] and points at a possible origin in the Old Dutch nork "petulant, crabbed, evil person".[6]. The term is used just once in Beowulf as the plural compound orcneas, one of the tribes alongside the elves and ettins (giants) condemned by God: Orcneas is translated "evil spirits" above, but its meaning is uncertain. In QS the idea had already arisen that the Orcs originated in mockery of the Elves, but not yet that the Orcs were in any other way associated with them: they were a 'creation' of Morgoth 's own, 'made of stone', and he brought them into being when he returned to Middle-earth. "'Orc' (from Orcus) is another term for an ogre or ogre-like creature. 36. [T 8] In The Fall of Gondolin Tolkien wrote that "all that race were bred by Melkor of the subterranean heats and slime. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially The Lord of the Rings. [31] The D&D orcs are a tribal race of hostile and bestial humanoids with muscular frames, large canine teeth and snouts rather than human-like noses. The Orcs were bred by Melkor in mockery of the Elves, sometime during the Great Darkness. (In Tolkien's languages the letter c was always pronounced /k/.) Independent of this, there is in Spain to this day the folktale of the "huerco" or "güercu", a harbinger of impending death; a shade in the form of the person about to die. Also, Orcs apparently reproduce like humans. Tolkien stated in a 1962 letter to a Mrs. Munsby that Orc-females must have existed. A one-stop shop for all things video games. The origin of the Uruk-hai is therefore not clear. In real (exterior) life men are on both sides: which means a motley alliance of orcs, beasts, demons, plain naturally honest men, and angels. I think elves are very much like humans before the Biblical Fall, but they never actually fell, I don't think. The Orcs are the primary henchmen of the villains in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, yet not much is known about what they really are. Orlando furioso, 1516. [12] The Oxford English Dictionary records an Early Modern period orke, meaning "ogre", in Samuel Holland's 1656 fairy tale Don Zara, a pastiche of Spanish romances such as Don Quixote. [T 6] Orcs eat meat, including the flesh of Men, and may indulge in cannibalism: in The Two Towers, Grishnákh, an Orc from Mordor, claims that the Isengard Orcs eat orc-flesh. Tolkien played with the idea that at least some orcs were fallen Maiar (like the balrogs, but much less powerful.) [10] The usual Old English word for corpse is líc, but -né appears in nebbed 'corpse bed',[11] and in dryhtné 'dead body of a warrior', where dryht is a military unit. However, Tolkien's ideas about the Orcs seem to have evolved since then, since this theory is contradicted by another statement by Tolkien, which says that only Eru Illuvatar (Middle-earth's God) can create life. [21] In a letter to his son, Christopher who was serving in the RAF in the Second World War, Tolkien wrote of orcs as appearing on both sides of the conflict: Yes, I think the orcs as real a creation as anything in 'realistic' fiction ... only in real life they are on both sides, of course. [T 6] Most are small and avoid daylight. He sometimes used the plural form orqui in his early texts. Reply . In The Tale of Tinúviel, Orcs originate as "foul broodlings of Melkor who fared abroad doing his evil work". Rattnum (Hindi origin) meaning "jewel". The North was the seat of the fortresses of the Devil [ie. What seems to be the leading theory is that Orcs were originally humans or Elves who had been corrupted and tortured by dark magic. In Hasbro's Heroscape products, Orcs come from the pre-historic planet Grut. The word ultimately comes from Latin Orcus, the demonic Roman god of death, who should not be confused with Pluto, the god of the underworld, and has transformed by several stages from the meanings 'underworld', 'hell', 'devil', 'evil creature' to 'ogre'. [2] Shippey notes that in The Two Towers, the orc Gorbag disapproves of the "regular elvish trick" of seeming to abandon a comrade, as he wrongly supposes Sam has done with Frodo. As a tendency of their race, the Orcs are an extremely violent and brutish species in both mind, body and soul. Gyeong (Korean origin) meaning "respected". The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. [17] In The Two Towers, the Ent Treebeard says:[T 16], It is a mark of evil things that came in the Great Darkness that they cannot abide the Sun; but Saruman's Orcs can endure it, even if they hate it. "Ogre", to describe a large, hairy, tusked, mannish beast who could speak, lived in a dark forest or garden and might capture and eat humans. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Montevallo, and is the author of the psychological thriller and time travel novel, "A Man Against the World." What is perhaps the earliest explanation for the Orcs was published in the 1917 book, The Book of Lost Tales, where its stated that they were "bred from the heats and slimes of the earth." [T 17], In a private letter, Tolkien describes orcs as:[T 18], 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. They are variously savage or "savage but noble" warriors and shamans, prodigiously muscled, with broad noses and distinctive tusked mouths. The Latin: Orcus is glossed as "Orc, þyrs, oððe hel-deofol" ("Goblin, spectre, or hell-devil") in the 10th century Old English Cleopatra Glossary, about which Thomas Wright wrote, "Orcus was the name for Pluto, the god of the infernal regions, hence we can easily understand the explanation of hel-deofol. Are they Men he has ruined, or has he blended the races of Orcs and Men? I wonder what he has done? [33] The mythology and attitudes of the orcs are described in detail in Dragon #62 (June 1982), in Roger E. Moore's article, "The Half-Orc Point of View",[34] and the orc is further detailed in Paizo Publishing's book Classic Monsters Revisited (2008), on pages 52–57. 8 8. These monstrous, humanoid creatures, who are totally devoid of any redeeming qualities, are consistently portrayed as forces of war and destruction. [4][5] John Howe – Orc Swordsman. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially The Lord of the Rings. the underworld)", or "devil-corpse", understood as some sort of walking dead monster. [27], As a response to their type-casting as generic evil characters or antagonists, some novels portray events from the point of view of the orcs, or present them as more sympathetic characters. This was suggested in The Silmarillion , so it's likely the best answer for what created them. MORE: Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Confirms New Zealand Is Still Middle-earth. It's derived from Orcus, another name for Pluto, the Greek god of the dead. Robbin (Old German origin) meaning "bright fame", also refers to an English bird. [T 12] Or again, Tolkien noted, they could have been fallen Maiar, perhaps a kind called Boldog, like lesser Balrogs; or corrupted Men. The origin of the Orcs. Some individual elves fell (Fëanor!! Ils mirent fin à la domination des Ogrons et des Gronns, éliminant de ce fait deux des plus grandes menaces qui pesaient sur les Orcs de Gorgrond. They have low jutting foreheads, snouts, ray-green skin, reddish eyes, large canine teeth, and short pointed ears. [24], Shippey writes that the orcs in The Lord of the Rings were almost certainly created just to equip Middle-earth with "a continual supply of enemies over whom one need feel no compunction",[25] or in Tolkien's words from The Monsters and the Critics "the infantry of the old war" ready to be slaughtered. At the level of conscious intention, he was not a racist or an anti-Semite" and mentions his letters to this effect. He explained that his "orc" was "derived from Old English orc 'demon', but only because of its phonetic suitability",[T 1] and, I originally took the word from Old English orc (Beowulf 112 orc-neas and the gloss orc: þyrs ('ogre'), heldeofol ('hell-devil')). [T 7] In Isengard, the Wizard Saruman has bred a large and powerful kind of orc, the Uruk-Hai, who are not afraid of daylight. Orcs were slaves of Melkor and Sauron and have been called Melkorohìni; the Children of Melkor but they are not his children but corrupted Children of Elùvatar. But that is because of the similarity of the ancient English word orc, 'evil spirit or bogey', to the Elvish words. [29], Orcs based on The Lord of the Rings have become a fixture of fantasy fiction and role-playing games, where orcs and goblins are usually distinct races of goblinoids. The Gulguthra are members of the Brood, or En' Rauko, an evil race that occupy a post-apocalypse fantasy world. I hope you'd excuse my english language mistakes. The origin of the orcs was unknown, though they appeared to be non-native to either Abeir or Toril. [22] The Germanic studies scholar Sandra Ballif Straubhaar however argues against the "recurring accusations" of racism, stating that "a polycultured, polylingual world is absolutely central" to Middle-earth, and that readers and filmgoers will easily see that. In it is stated that Tolkien specifically noted about the reference in the Silmarillion "change this, orcs are not elvish". In Tolkien's works, orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly and malevolent race of monsters, contrasting with the benevolent Elves and serving an evil power, though they share a human sense of morality; there is a suggestion, among several somewhat contradictory origin stories, that they are a corrupted race of elves. [T 3], Tolkien also observed a connection with the Latin word orcus, noting that "the word used in translation of Q[uenya] urko, S[indarin] orch is Orc. Orcs > Orc Origins > "Origin of Orcs" Several versions of the origin of Orcs exists. "[21] He notes Tolkien's own description of them (quoted above), saying it could scarcely be more revealing as a representation of the "Other", says "it is also the product of his background and era, like most of our inescapable prejudices. [T 16]. Canavan: "Let's hunt some orc! Nicholas' love for telling stories is inspired by his love for film noir, westerns, superhero movies, classic films, and ancient history. [T 11] Or, they were "beasts of humanized shape", possibly, Tolkien wrote, Elves mated with beasts, and later Men. Orc, in Anglo-Saxon, like thyrs, means a spectre, or goblin. They are fanged, bow-legged and long-armed; some have dark skin as if burned. Published in 1977, Tolkien's The Silmarillion was a five-part collection of stories that told the history of Middle-Earth, beginning with the First Age. And Tolkien is undoubtedly the founder of this particular feast. All the latest gaming news, game reviews and trailers. In the tales, Basile used huorco, huerco or uerco, the Neapolitan form of Italian orco, lit. "[19] The literary critic Jenny Turner, writing in the London Review of Books, endorses Andrew O'Hehir's comment on Salon.com that orcs are "by design and intention a northern European's paranoid caricature of the races he has dimly heard about". I personally prefer leaving the origin of orcs somewhat unsolved, without clear cut answer, like it is in my opinion in later stages of the development of the legendarium. They are dark-skinned and slant-eyed, and although they possess reason, speech, social organization and, as the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey mentions, a sort of moral sensibility, they are inherently evil. The latter two races told of how Corellon defeated Gruumsh and took his eye; though many orcs denied this charge, they acknowledged Gruumsh as the one-eyed god. Origin of Orcs: alternate theory This is probably one of the most controversial issues in the whole of Tolkien’s works. 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