Orcs of Middle-earth: photos, names. How do the Orcs of Middle-earth breed? How long do the Orcs of Middle-earth live?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For decades, Tolkien's fantasy world has found its die-hard fans and just admirers all over the world. The Universe itself was created over many years, resulting in multiple stories about the peoples inhabiting it, important events and territories. Fan debates about favorite races and their features continue to this day, and many questions remain open. Someone is most attracted to domestic and peaceful hobbits living in cozy minks, someone prefers refined and sublime elves, who are famous for their unprecedented beauty, someone likes bearded and funny gnomes, ready to do anything for treasures, but some remain true to their own nature and choose proud and warlike people. Unfortunately, the Orcs of Middle-earth are not very popular, but this does not reduce the interest in the secrets of their origin and main features.

Origin of the word

In Old English, orc means "demon" or "giant". However, in some worksmeet another spelling - ork. J. R. R. Tolkien himself assured that the orcs of Middle-earth owe their name to the poem "Beowulf" from the Middle Ages, in which the huge monster Grendel was so called. Different peoples of the fictional universe applied their designations to them, depending on their own languages and dialects. But the most common and accepted name among the masses is still simply "orc". Although it is noteworthy that, according to the creator himself, "goblin" is considered the correct translation.

Appearance

One has only to mention the orcs, as some ugly creature with a necessarily unpleasant smell immediately appears to the eye. However, contrary to the creative vision of Peter Jackson and the popular belief that they have an extremely repulsive and scary appearance, yet initially they did not differ much from other races. This is evidenced by many examples from the works of Tolkien, and even in the film adaptation, the ancient Ent first confuses Merry and Pippin with orcs, and disguised Frodo and Sam manage to outwit the horde of enemies, posing as their own. But if we return to the classical vision, then the orcs of Middle-earth, the photo of which is presented below, can be described as short, humanoid-like creatures with dark skin. They are distinguished by the presence of a flat nose and fangs of various sizes. Their limbs are not as straight as those of humans, but rather awkwardly curved. In addition, their appearance may vary depending on their tribe or origin. For example, their sizesrange from about the height of a hobbit to a large man and even higher. And their blood is black, which you will not find in other nations.

Characteristics

Since the very nature and origin of this race is shrouded in many mysteries, it is very difficult to formulate exact versions of the characteristics that the orcs of Middle-earth are endowed with. The duration of life, for example, according to some sources, is practically equal to the immortality of the elves. So, some fans interpret the conversation between Gorbak and Shagrat, overheard by Sam in the film The Two Towers, as proof of this theory. Officially, it is considered that their life cycle is somewhat superior to the human one. However, all this is just guesswork in an attempt to understand how long the orcs of Middle-earth live, because a direct answer has not been given. It is known that these insidious creatures are distinguished by hostility to everything beautiful and bright and are adherents of vandalism. But this does not prevent them from being great engineers and builders. Throughout history, they have actively opposed humans, elves, and dwarves, often entering into alliances with trolls and wargs. They are alien to any moral principles, so they can easily dine on human flesh or even the corpses of fallen comrades. Their native language is the Black Speech, invented by Sauron, however in the film, all orcs can be heard to communicate with each other in the Common Language.

Origin

Probably the most discussed question is howOrcs of Middle-earth. The list of all kinds of theories, fan and author, remains open, but there are several well-established versions. It follows from Tolkien's early writings that the ancient representative of evil Melkor, aka Margot, created this people from the void during the First Age. However, he later refuted himself, claiming that they were transformed into orcs from elves using black magic. How exactly, remains a mystery, but it was this version that was most widely used. And the fact that they were faithful servants of Margot remains undeniable.

Second Age

After his fall, the next milestone in the history of the wonderful world of Tolkien begins. As a people, the Orcs of Middle-earth began to gradually spread over vast territories. Some of them occupied the Misty Mountains, and most moved to Mordor to serve their new master, Sauron. The Second Age was marked by a war with the elves, as well as a confrontation with Gondor. In all battles, the orcs made up the bulk of the Dark Lord's troops, but, as you know, he was also defeated, despite the huge army. After its fall, many simply did not survive, and the rest were left to their own devices for the first time in a long time. Some of them captured Moria, from where the dwarves fled because of the coming of the Balrog. After the Battle of the Five Nations, one of Bilbo's companions on his journey, named Balin, tried to retake the territory, but failed, as a result of which he died along with his army. Some tribes settled near Gundabad, which inThe Misty Mountains, where they were surprised by Thorin's party and their leader was killed.

War of the Ring

When forces gradually began to return to Sauron, many orcs again joined him. Some of them came into the possession of Saruman, who chose the dark side. In the Peter Jackson trilogy, more than once you can see scenes of how the orcs of Middle-earth breed in Isengard, around which there is also a lot of controversy. During the Third Age, they also took part in major battles, including the Battle of Helm's Deep and the Battle of Pellenor Fields. The troops of Sauron and Saruman consisted of both ordinary orcs and hybrids, however, the large numerical superiority did not play an important role here either, since the fighters from them are far from being as good fighters as from elves or people.

Uruk-hai

It was during the Battle of the Ring that the Uruk-hai became known. For the first time they set out from Mordor and defeated Ithilien, and also captured Osgiliath. Consequently, they were created precisely by Sauron and were distinguished by greater strength and extremely high growth for their race. However, the orcs of Middle-earth, known as the Uruk-hai, judging by the film, are the creation of Saruman, who crossed ordinary representatives of the race with people. Because of this, much controversy about the divergence of concepts has been generated, and many believe that the creations of the white magician should be called half-orcs. Outwardly, they really resemble people. In addition, they are distinguished by: special endurance, largedimensions, great strength and the ability to be under the sun, because ordinary orcs come out only at night. In the Lord of the Rings films, they are marked with a white hand, making them instantly stand out from the rest.

Goblins and orcs

Many believe that representatives of the races of goblins and orcs are fundamentally different from each other. This is true of many works and creations in the fantasy genre, but in Tolkien these words are synonymous. According to the original idea, he should translate orcs exactly as goblins, but in some texts they are still different creatures. If you are familiar with the book about the journey of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins to the Lonely Mountain, then you probably remember that the term "goblin" is used everywhere. This is due to the fact that the work "The Hobbit" did not immediately become part of the universe of Middle-earth. Yes, and in the Lord of the Rings itself, this name was first used, later replaced by orcs. In the film adaptation of the trilogy, this designation is found, but in the adaptation of The Hobbit, they decided to move away from habits and stick to the original. Thus, all creatures here are goblins, not the orcs of Middle-earth. Azog, who is one of the antagonists in the paintings, does not even look like representatives of the race that can be seen in The Lord of the Rings, although, in fact, he is an orc.

Famous representatives of the race

The list of these creatures is not as huge as the same list of famous elves or gnomes, howeverrepresentatives who left a mark in the annals of history, of course, can be found here. The orcs of Middle-earth, whose names are presented below, lived in various eras of the world, but mostly belong to the Second and Third. Azog, mentioned above, is famous for capturing Moria and cutting off the head of the Dwarf king Thror. His son, Bolg the Cruel, was killed by Beorn during the Battle of the Five Nations. In The Hobbit, Thorin's party meets with the Goblin High in the Misty Mountains, resulting in their deaths. As for The Lord of the Rings, readers and viewers remember the commander of the Uruk-hai detachment, Saruman Ugluk, who was killed by Eomer. It is also known that several orcs were absent from the Tolkien universe and were introduced into the plot specifically for the Jackson trilogy. The most memorable was Lurtz, who killed Boromir. But it is fair to say that the names, and indeed the representatives of this race in general, are not given much attention, and this happens extremely rarely. Perhaps that is why the tangle of secrets and intrigues around them is still impossible to unravel.