What Is The Origin Of Orcs In Tolkien’s Universe?

J. R. R. Tolkien’s works on Middle-Earth and their live-action from Peter Jackson adaptations feature Orcs as a significant part of their stories. However, none

By Mohit Srivastava
October 6,2022
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J. R. R. Tolkien’s works on Middle-Earth and their live-action from Peter Jackson adaptations feature Orcs as a significant part of their stories. However, none are able to explain their origins in the entire Middle-Earth history. So, let us all dive into the details of these malevolent fantasy creatures of Tolkien’s world and try to understand their origin.

1. What are Orcs?

Orcs in the Lord of The Rings movie

Throughout Tolkien’s works (Lord of the Rings and Hobbit books), Orcs are described as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevolent race of monsters. They generally are depicted as contrasting with the benevolent Elves and are shown to be serving an evil power. They are cruel, sadistic, black-hearted, and vicious creatures. Tolkien began the modern use of the English term “orc” to denote a race of evil, humanoid creatures. His earliest Elvish dictionaries include the entry Ork or “monster”, “ogre”, “demon”, together with orqindi and “ogresse”. He even was found to sometime use the plural form – Orqui in his early texts. He even at a time mentioned that his Orcs are inspired by the Goblins in George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin.

They are depicted as ugly and filthy, with a taste for human flesh. They are revolting in their appearance and are fanged, bow-legged, and long-armed. Most are small and avoid daylight. The orcs from Mordor speak the Black Speech, a language invented for them by Sauron, while those from Isengard speak other tongues; to understand each other, they use the Common Speech (Westron). Although untidy and dirty in their ways, Orcs can manufacture many clever types of machinery, tools, and weapons. They can also make tunnels and dig mines, as skilled as any dwarf. Tolkien even states that Orcs have a wicked and violent nature and they even sometimes have a tendency of killing each other in bitter quarrels.

2. Origin of The Orcs?

Azog the defiler with an army of Orcs in The Hobbit movie series

Throughout Middle Earth history, Orcs had unchangeable disdain for all Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Although they fought alongside wicked men under Morgoth and then Sauron in the First, Second, and Third Ages, Orcs were also said to have made alliances with wicked Dwarves. The exact origin of the Orcs was never explicitly mentioned by Tolkien. He died without deciding on a final explanation, leaving the origin of Orcs becoming a popular debate among his fans. However, one can pick up the bread crumbs left by him in his many texts to arrive at some of the most satisfactory explanations.

Creation from Stones

Orcs

J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Book of Lost Tales clearly states that Melko was the first person to create Orcs directly from the Earth. Melko even twists another Gnome race called Noldoli and mixes them with the Orcs so as to confuse their origins.

Created from the Elves

Adar In Rings of Power

In the Quenta Noldorinwa (1930) it is mentioned that Morgoth created the Orcs in Utumna, long before the Awakening of the Elves. It is said that “the hordes of Orcs he (Morgoth) made of stone, but their hearts of hatred“. However, in another work of his (The Earliest Annals of Beleriand), Tolkien states that Morgoth makes Orcs after the theft of Silmarils.

Morgoth used to capture the Elves who have ‘strayed too far,’ bring them to Utumno, torture them, and later twist them into Orcs. This was further explored in Quenta Silmarilion (1937). It states that Morgoth made many different creatures among which were the Orcs. Quoting the book – “…yet the Orcs were not made until he had looked upon the Elves, and he made them in mockery of the Children of Ilúvatar” – Quenta Silmarillion.

Soulless creatures

Orcs could be Soulless creatures

In his other texts, Tolkien further attempted to change the origin of the Orcs. During several instances, some of the Orcs often rebelled against their masters like Morgoth and Sauron. They even criticized their ways of doing things. In Tolkien’s early essays, it is clearly mentioned that only Eru is capable enough to grant free will to new creatures. This would indirectly imply that Orcs preexisted their masters and were not entirely in control of them. They had the capacity for speech but did not possess rational souls.

From Corrupted Men

Orcs could be corrupted Men

In later texts of Tolkien, it is even proposed that Orcs could have come from a twisted corrupted race of Men. When Melkor was still in Middle Earth, the Awakening of Men happened. Elves met the orcs only after the Great March (the journey of Elves from Cuivienen to Valinor)Tolkien goes as far as to state that – “…undoubted Men could under the domination of Morgoth or his agents in a few generations be reduced almost to the Orc-level of mind and habits; and then they would or could be made to mate with Orcs, producing new breeds, often larger and more cunning.”

3. Morgoth to Sauron

Sauron’s army of Orcs

Morgoth, while making Orcs convinced them that the race of Elves and Men were cruel and deserve torture and death. However, when Morgoth left Arda, they scattered uncontrollably. Nobody was there to pull their strings unless Sauron came along. As can be inferred from Tolkien’s many works, Melkor (or Morgoth) was indeed the one who had the idea to breed Orcs in mockery of Men. But only Sauron had the patience and cunning to accomplish this.