Orcs

Orcs were warlike beings that served Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman and lived in Middle-earth.

Orcs were described as man-shaped, roughly man-sized, ugly and filthy. Although not dim-witted and somewhat caring towards their own, they are portrayed as dull and miserable beings, which corrupt words (an insult to a philologist like Tolkien) and are only able to destroy, not to create. They have sour black blood; suggestive of reanimated corpses. Orcs are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings — Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman. The Orcs, here called goblins, also work independently as the common antagonists in The Hobbit. Orcs are cannibalistic creatures that seem to feel no pain in battle.

Some were said to make alliances with wicked Dwarves, others with Men or at least tribute.

In Tolkien's Sindarin language, "Orc" is orch, plural yrch. In his late, post-Lord of the Rings writings (published in The Peoples of Middle-earth), he 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 Tolkien's languages the letter c was always pronounced /k/.) It is also possible that the word is a Common Tongue Version of 'orch', the Sindarin word for Orc. The original sense of the word seems to be "bogey", "bogeyman", that is, something that provokes fear, as seen in the Quenya cognate urko, pl. urqui. In the old English Orc means "demon."



The Origin of Orcs
The origin of Orcs is an open question. In Tolkien's writings, evil is not capable of independent creation, making it unlikely that the Vala Morgoth, who was obviously the first to produce them, could do that ex nihilo (Lat. "out of nothing"). Unlike the orc-néas ("orc-corpses") of Beowulf, no female Orcs are ever mentioned by Tolkien, and likewise Peter Jackson's films never show any of the Orcs as female. Presumably, an all male race would be incapable of sexual reproduction. However, one of Tolkien's theories possibly contradicts this (see below), and, in The Silmarillion, Tolkien stated, "For the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of "Illuvatar". It is also stated that Bolg was the son of Azog, which would probably mean Bolg had a mother.

Corrupted Elves
But, Tolkien later changed the legendarium so that Morgoth could no longer produce life on his own, and amended the origins to the "theory" that would eventually be published in The Silmarillion: that the Orcs of Angband were transformed from Elves — the purest form of life on Arda (the Earth) — by means of torture and mutilation; and this "theory" would then become the most popular. This theory is also stated in the live action film version of the Fellowship of the Ring. Saruman explains to the Uruk-Hai leader Lurtz the history of the Orc's origins. On the other hand, if Orcs were in fact Elves at their core, this could perhaps mean that they were also immortal — a fact which, if true, would seem inconsistent with Tolkien's treatment of Orcs, although the books do not openly confirm or deny it. If Orcs indeed were immortal, it holds no doubt that their fëar would not be allowed reincarnation by Mandos, if they even answered the calling. Most Orcs would probably fear the calling of Mandos, and therefore would see their fëar diminished to evil spirits. These may have been some of the evil spirits occasionally described in the books, such as the spirit which tempted Gorlim of Barahir's company, or the Barrow-wights. There is some evidence for the immortality, or otherwise long life of Orcs in The Two Towers: Gorbag and Shagrat, during the conversation which Sam overheard, mention the "Great Siege" of the Last Alliance. It is possible to interpret from the sentence that they were actually there and remembered it themselves: an event which lay millennia in the past. Another interpretation of this conversation is that this "Great Siege" could have instead been merely the current siege ongoing at Minas Tirith, or the siege of Minas Morgul. This is consistent with a statement made in the "Myths Transformed" essay of Morgoth's Ring that the Orcs had shorter lifespans in relation to the Númenóreans. However, the pair also seems to pine for the "good old days" when Uruk-Hai captains such as themselves could operate independently with a small band of followers. This had not been true in Mordor for many lives of Men.

Fallen Maiar
There are hints in the History of Middle-earth series of books, (especially in Morgoth's Ring in the section "Myths Transformed"), that some Orc leaders, such as the First Age's Boldog, or the Great Goblin encountered by Bilbo and the Dwarves, may in fact have been fallen Maiar which had taken Orc form:


 * 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 Maiar, who had the power, as their Master, of taking visible and tangible shape in Arda. (Morgoth's Ring, "Myths transformed", text X')


 * 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 Balrogs (Author's footnote to the text X)


 * Melkor had corrupted many spirits - some great as Sauron, or less as Balrogs. The least could have been primitive Orcs. (Author's note to text)

Some cross-bred with Men
Later under Morgoth's lieutenant, the necromancer Sauron, it has been suggested that Men were cross-bred with the Orcs. This process was later repeated during the War of the Ring, by the Wizard Saruman the White, creating the fierce Orcs known as Black Uruks. This could suggest that there were, in fact, female Orcs. Alternately it could suggest that human females were forced to breed with the all male race of Orcs. It also may suggest that men instead of Elves were used in the same way as Orcs. Men working for Morgoth after many generation's would have been almost orc like, then forced to breed with them, making new breeds. The Drugs may have be those that escaped and repented. Evidence is both they and orcs consider each other renegades.

Sentient beasts
Yet another of Tolkien's theories proposes that Orcs may have begun as animals of vaguely humanoid shapes, empowered by the will of the Dark Lord (first Morgoth, later Sauron):


 * The Orcs were beasts of humanized shape (…). ('Morgoth's Ring', "Myths transformed", text VIII')

It is certain all Orcs were dependent on the Dark Lord in various ways: after their leader was defeated, the Orcs were confused and dismayed, and easily scattered by their enemies. In the millennia after Morgoth's defeat and banishment from Arda, they were without a leader, and degenerated to small, quarrelsome tribes hiding in the Misty Mountains. Only when Sauron returned to power did they begin to reclaim some of their old power. The same happened after Sauron's defeat by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men: only when Sauron returned as the Necromancer of Mirkwood did the Orcs become a real danger for Middle-earth again.

While Tolkien originally saw all Orcs as descended from tortured Elves, later comments of his indicate, according to Christopher Tolkien in Morgoth's Ring ("Myths Transformed, text X"), that he began to feel uncomfortable with this theory. At about the same time he removed the references to the Thrall-Ñoldorin, he also began searching for a new origin for the Orcs. The Orc origin question may have been one of the problems Tolkien tried to solve by completely changing the cosmology and prehistory of Arda. By setting the origin of Men back to almost the same time as the Elves, he possibly allowed for Men to be the origin of Orcs all along. Tolkien died before he could complete this upheaval of the cosmology, however, so the Elf origin was adopted in the published version of The Silmarillion.

It is interesting to note that to an extent, Tolkien did not regard Orcs as evil in their own right, but only as tools of Morgoth and Sauron. He wrote once that "we were all Orcs in the Great War", indicating perhaps that an Orc for him was not an inherent build-up of personality, but rather a state of mind bound upon destruction.

Orcs and Goblins
In The Hobbit, Tolkien used the word "goblins" for Orcs, because he had not yet identified the world of The Hobbit with Middle-earth (which predated The Hobbit by several decades, in early writings which would later become The Silmarillion). Fortunately Tolkien did include some references to his mythology in the Hobbit, which later allowed him to identify the lands of the Hobbit with his Middle-earth. The term "Orc" does occur, but only in an instance where Gandalf is trying to scare Bilbo by mentioning creatures of the wilderness, and it also is mentioned by Professor Tolkien when Bilbo is fleeing the Misty Mountains and Professor Tolkien says that Bilbo does not know that the "big goblins," the Orcs of the mountains, run along at such a speed that they are almost bent double; perhaps implying that hobbits do not know of Orcs or if they make no connection between the goblins of the Battle of Bywater and the Orcs which almost conquered Middle-earth in the War of the Ring.

In The Lord of the Rings, "Orc" is used predominantly, and "goblin" mostly in the Hobbits' speech.

This change can be seen either as a part of the shift towards the use of Elvish words that occurred during the period between the writing of The Hobbit and the writing of The Lord of the Rings, or a translation of the Hobbits' more colloquial manner (if we "accept" the books' authenticity and regard Tolkien merely as a translator). So essentially the race is correctly named "Orc", and "goblin" is a colloquial slang term for Orcs used by Hobbits and sometimes picked up by Men and Elves. This theory is supported by the name of the sword Thorin Oakenshield claims from the Trolls' den, Orcrist, which contains the root word 'Orc', and translates to "The Goblin Cleaver."

It is possible that "goblin" refers to those of the orcish race who are not under the control of Sauron (or Morgoth), whereas using "orc" directly would refer to servants of (whichever) Dark Lord, but this is only readers' conjecture. Tolkien did mention several times that Orcs were not inherently evil, something this theory would partly emphasize.

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: when "goblin" and "goblins" were replaced with "Orc" and "Orcs", Tolkien invented the term Uruk-hai for his stronger Orcs.

Other possible variations and Cultures

 * Mordor orcs
 * Cirith Ungol orcs
 * Moria Goblins
 * Goblins/Orcs of the Misty Mountains

Other names
Gorgûn was the name that Ghân-buri-Ghân of the wild men of the Drúadan Forest used for the orcs in their own language.

Azog
Azog was the name of a Goblin chieftain who lived in Moria from about 2480 to 2799 of the Third Age.

He started the War of the Dwarves and Orcs in TA 2790 by killing Thrór, who came to revisit the ruins of Khazad-dûm.

In the following years, he was the common enemy of all Dwarves, and the war he started climaxed in the Battle of Azanulbizar, where he killed Náin, only to be himself slain by Náin's son Dáin.

His son, Bolg, inherited the rulership in Moria and continued it for another 150 years.

Balcmeg
Bazdmeg was one of the Orcs killed in the Fall of Gondolin by Tuor, according to The Book of Lost Tales. Tolkien wrote the story of the fall of the city in 1917 and never fully revised it, and Balcmeg does not appear in the published Silmarillion, although he was obviously of some importance, for only three orcs out of many that Tuor slew in Gondolin were named.

Boldog
Boldog was a formidable Orc-captain of a Host of Angband that was sent to attack Doriath and capture Lúthien mentioned in The Lay of Leithian in The History of Middle-earthVol. III, Lays of Beleriand.

Bolg
Bolg was a Goblin chieftain, the son of Azog, who came to power in Moria after Azog was killed in the war with Dwarves.

Bolg ruled Moria for some 150 years and led an army of Orcs in the Battle of Five Armies. He was crushed to death by Beorn's bear form.

Bolingúl
Bolingúl was the captain of the orcs marching to the black gate. Like Figwit, his name was fan-made.

Golfimbul
Golfimbul was a chieftain of the Goblins of Mount Gram, who led his band in an invasion of The Shire. He was defeated at the Battle of Greenfields by Bullroarer Took. His head was clubbed off by the Bullroarer and fell into a rabbit's hole. According to Hobbit folklore, the name of golf is therefore a shortening of his name. Some fansconsider his name specifically constructed for this pun.

The Orc incursion in the northern Shire occurred during the reign of Arassuil as Chieftain of the Dúnedain, and the Orcs led by Golfimbul were but the most western pack of Orcs which had left the Hithaeglir. The only reason Golfimbul could make it all the way to the Shire was that the Rangers at the time were fighting many battles with Orcs, preventing them from settling all of Eriador.

Gorbag
Gorbag was an Orc, the captain of an Orc troop of Minas Morgul, who was slain by Shagrat in the Tower of Cirith Ungol in a dispute during the War of the Ring.

In Peter Jackson's film version, Gorbag is killed by Sam during Frodo's rescue.



Gordmúl
Gordmúl was an Orc, the general of the orcs on the way to the Black Gate.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game), there are many Gordmúls, who are orc brutes.

Gorgol
Gorgol was an Orc chieftain, also called the Butcher, who lived in Middle-earth during the First Age. He was slain by Beren.

Gothmog
Gothmog is the Witch-King's loyal commander, likely named after the Balrog Gothmog of the First Age. It is unclear what species he truly belonged to, with possibilities of being Orc, Haradrim, Easterling or even Undead. Some confusion also arose because Gothmog is a name carried by the Lord of Balrogs; showing that he was probably meant to be a Ringwraith. However, In Peter Jackson's film Return of the King, Gothmog was portrayed as a hideously deformed one-eyed Orc with his mouth crooked, only one nostril, and one ear. He also was castellan of Minas Morgul. He served as the top orc commander at the siege of Minas Tirith, ordering the use of catapults and siege towers as well as the Grond siege engine. He was caught up in the retreat when the riders of Rohan plowed through the orc army.

In the extended edition, Gothmog is seen attempting to kill Éowyn, but his arm is chopped off by Aragorn and he is cut in the stomach by Gimli son of Gloin and then slain by Aragorn.

The Great Goblin
The Great Goblin was a Goblin leader who lived in the Misty Mountains during the Third Age, as recounted in The Hobbit. His followers captured Thorin, Bilbo and company during the quest for the Lonely Mountain, and took them to their underground stronghold, Goblin-town. He was slain by Gandalf. He may have been a Maiar himself, because many Maiar could take on any physical form they desired (and often reflective of their personalities).

Grishnákh
An Orc captain from the ashen wastes of Mordor, Grishnákh was part of a group of Orc hunters under Sauron's dominion that joined Uglúk's Uruk-hai troop on the plains of Rohan. Grishnákh's plans for the troops' captives, Merry and Pippin, were in conflict with Uglúk's orders to deliver them to Saruman. Believing they might have the treasure his lord sought, he tried to steal the Hobbits away from the Uruk-hai in order to take what they had for himself; eventually leading to his death. In The Lord of the Rings movies, he first was wounded by a Rider's spear, afterwards he chased the hobbits into Fangorn Forest and was crushed when stepped on by Treebeard.

In Sierra Entertainment's War of the Ring real-time strategy game, he is a playable hero.

Lagduf
Lagduf was an Orc of the tower of Cirith Ungol under the command of Shagrat; he and Muzgash were killed by Gorbag's Orcs in the battle over Frodo's mithril-shirt.

Muzgash
Muzgash was an Orc of the tower of Cirith Ungol under the command of Shagrat; he and Lagduf were killed by Gorbag's Orcs in the battle over Frodo's Mithril-shirt.

Radbug
Radbug was an Orc, probably of a patrol from the tower of Cirith Ungol, who was killed by Shagrat in the battle over Frodo's Mithril-shirt. Shagrat had squeezed his eyes out, according to the aforesaid.

Shagrat
Shagrat was the Orc in command of the tower of Cirith Ungol, which guarded a pass into Mordor. In the movie, he is portrayed as an orc with bluish paint on his face. After the discovery of the unconscious Frodo, he had Frodo put into the highest room of the tower. In a dispute over Frodo's Mithril Shirt, most of Shagrat's and Gorbag's Orcs were killed. Shagrat was one of only two Orc survivors. He took the mithril-shirt, as well as Frodo's Elven cloak and Sam's sword, to the Barad-dûr. These were used by the Mouth of Sauron as evidence of Frodo's capture. Shagrat may have been killed for his failure by Sauron or died at the Black Gate.

Snaga
Most minor Orcs were called Snaga, but Snaga is the name of two different Orcs actually mentioned in The Lord of the Rings:

1. Snaga was an orc that accompanied Grishnakh to make sure Lurtz and his raiding party completed the task of bringing the One Ring to Saruman in The Two Towers.

2. In Return of the King, Snaga is the only surviving subordinate of Shagrat after the battle over Frodo's mithril-shirt at The Tower of Cirith Ungol. He dies after falling through the trap-door.

Ufthak
Ufthak was in the service of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, under the command of Shagrat. He was captured, poisoned, and then forgotten by Shelob. Nonetheless, his fellow Orcs who discovered him made no attempt to rescue him, for they were humored at his hanging and they didn't want to interfere with Shelob.

Gorkil
Gorkil is a hero in the game Battle for Middle-earth II for the goblin faction and rides a rare giant scorpion. He was killed by Glorfindel and Gloin during an assault on his fortress in the Ettenmoors.

Murgash
This orc only appears in the films as a non-canon character. He was a Morannon Orc under the command of Gothmog at the Battle of Pellenor fields. He was ordered by Gothmog to break down the gates of Minas Tirith, but complained that they were too strong, making Gothmog order Grond to be brought up to the gates. He survived the Rohirim charge and went with Guritz to the docks. He was killed when the Army of the Dead swarmed on to the Corsair ships.

Sharku
Appearing only in the film adaptation of The Two Towers, Sharku is the leader of Saruman's Warg-riders. Sharku means "old man" in the language of Saruman's servants and may be a designation that he is an elder. However, in the book Sharku refers to Saruman himself, modified to "Sharkey".

Trivia

 * In the film adaptation of The Return of the King, when the orcs breach Minas Tirith (shown after Shelob is defeated by Sam), at least four of the orcs have a color sheme like that of Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace with red and black faces resembling the character.
 * The term "Ork" is an Old English term for a dirty creature which is used occasionally in the epic poem Beowulf. Tolkien clarified the similarity to Orcus (as in Killer Whales) was coincidental.
 * Much like Halflings, Tolkien's orcs for the basis for many modern fantasy interpretations of the same name (D&D's orcs, Wacraft's Horde, Dragon Age's Darkspawn, etc.). They are generally depicted as fierce fighters and hot-blooded whether they are vicious monsters, honorable heroes, or even comic relief.
 * Possibly because "Porc" is a cognate of "orc", it was common to see orc-type monsters depicted with piglike faces.