Ogres

Ogres
Examples	Ulbandi
Divisions	Hongwir, Sarqindi
Lifespan	Unknown
Height	Large
Weight	Heavy

Ogres were a mysterious and seldom-mentioned race of creatures primarily in legends and folklore of Middle-earth.

History

Ogres were mentioned in the context of the Riddle-game between Bilbo Baggins and Gollum. After Gollum asked a fifth riddle about what "ruins kingdoms" and "beats tall mountains down", Bilbo tried to think of the many "horrible names of" Ogres and Giants from tales he "heard of". None of them, however, were destructive enough to meet the description of the riddle, as the answer was time itself.

It is possible that Ogre was just another name for Trolls. It is also possible that Ogres were a mythical race in Hobbit folklore rather than a real creature. It is also possible that, like Giants and the term "fairy", they were simply omitted from Tolkien's legendarium as it progressed and expanded.

Etymology

Ogre derives, through French, from the Greco-Latin name Orcus, which may have also been the origin for the Old English word Orc, although Tolkien doubted that etymology.

In other versions

In an early manuscript, the Ogres were counted among the Úvanimor along with Giants and Gongs, servants of Melko that were bred from the earth. They feared the sinews of Tulkas' arm and "his iron-clad fist" when he was wrathful.

In a later manuscript, Túvo is said to have protected the Children of Illuvatar from the Úvanimor, "evil fays", and Orcs.

In the The Lay of the Children of Húrin, it was noted that the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin "was hewn in war" whilst Húrin fought beside Beren "against ogres and Orcs and evil foemen" in the first version; and emended slightly to "hewn in wars when he battled with Beren as brother and comrade against ogres and Orcs and evil foes" in the second.

During one of the voyages of Voronwë and Eärendil in Vingilot, a wind drove them south to dark regions and fire-mountains, where they encountered southern ogres known as the Sarqindi, alongside Tree-men and pygmies. Sarqindi ("Cannibal-ogres") is comprised of the word sarqa ("fleshy").

There were also northern ogres named the Hongwir, a name possibly related to the Quenya word ongwe meaning "pain".

Gothmog had first been a son of Melkor and the ogress Ulbandi, and his name meant "strife-and-hatred". He was Captain of the Balrogs and lord of Melkor's hosts until Ecthelion slew him in the fall of Gondolin.^{[citation needed]}

Inspiration

In his childhood, Tolkien and his brother Hilary gave a miller and a farmer, who frightened the boys and lived near the Sarehole Mill in the Moseley area of Birmingham, the nicknames "White Ogre" and "Black Ogre", respectively. These characters also appear in stories written by Hilary Tolkien.

Tolkien enjoyed reading E.A. Wyke-Smith's The Marvellous Land of Snergs (1927) to his children. The book recounts the adventures of two children and a Snerg ("a race of people only slightly taller than the average table"), and their tale include meeting the vegetarian ogre Golithos.

In adaptations

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Ogres appear briefly in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). They are stated in to have been based off Half-trolls, suggested to be somewhere between the largest Orcs and the smallest Trolls at nine to ten feet and 550 - 650 lbs. They had grayish whiteish skin and lived in Gundabad in the Misty Mountains. It is said that they were molded by Sauron and answered his call to arms eagerly. They served in Azog's Army as both shock troops and Troll commanders. One commanded a team of Catapult Trolls. Several Ogres appear in Dale and two are killed by Bard the Bowman. One of them, notably, had an abnormally small left arm, while his right arm that held his club was more proportionate to the size of his body.

In the extended edition, Azog orders a group of Ogres to destroy the Dwarvish war chariots at the beginning of the battle. The Ogres successfully accomplish their mission, knocking down the machines and killing Dwarves with their maces. Some time later, Azog sends another group of Ogres to bring down the chariot used by Dwalin, Balin, Fíli and Kíli on their way to Ravenhill. However, the spiked wheels of the chariot behead all the attacking Ogres.

The Lord of the Rings Online

In The Lord of the Rings Online, the Earth-kin, also known as Ogres or Jorthkyn (pronounced Yorkin, as they called themselves), were a peaceful, tribal, Giant-type of beings. They mostly inhabited Eriador and were scattered around the Lone Lands and North Downs.

They were hunter-gatherers and shepherds, and made dwellings around ancient stone structures like henges. They kept flocks of aurochs, A robust breed of wild boar. and fiercely defended against any attack made on their livelihood of herding. The importance of hunting in the life of the Earth-kin was symbolized by the figure of the First Hunter, one of the most important roles within the tribe. Although peaceful in nature, they were ready to stand up against any who threatened their homes.

The Earth-kin stressed to visitors and diplomats sent by the Free Peoples of the World that they wished to remain practicing their way of life as they always did, and that meddling in the affairs of the "little ones", as they called Men and other folk, was not their interest. Yet some Earth-kin, like the tribe of Suuri-lehmä, were persuaded to join in the affairs of Middle-earth, specifically, Angmar. Indeed, it saddened the hearts of all the other tribes of the Jorthkyn to find out that the Rauta-lehmäa, a neighboring tribe of Earth-kin that lived in the North Downs, had sided with the Witch-king of Angmar. Many attempts were made by the Rangers of the North to bring back this vital tribe of Jorthkyn to the Free Peoples, although whether the Rangers succeeded is not told.

The Suuri-lehmä were one of the main tribes of Earth-kin. Headed by Elder Tahvo, allies of the Free Peoples, they lived in the village of Rusfold, in the woods of Nan Amlug in the North Downs. Their symbol was the skull of a Great Auroch. The Suuri-lehmä also inhabited the village of Lehmä-koti, in Ram Dúath, Angmar, where an offshoot of the main tribe, led by Chief Tuokki, had found some shelter from the terrors of Angmar. Another tribe of good Jorthkin, headed by Kekkonen, lived in the Tornstones of Lone Lands.

Gallery

Strategy Tabletop Game Ogres

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Огрите
Czech	Zlobři
Danish	Ogrere / Menneskeædere
Dutch	Ogers
Finnish	Hirvitykset
German	Ogers
Italian	Orchi
Polish	Ogry
Portuguese	Ogros
Romanian	Căpcăunii
Russian	Огры
Spanish	Ogros