What Are The Orcs In Lord Of The Rings Exactly?
Everyone and their mother knows what an Orc is. J.R.R. Tolkien popularized the term in "The Lord of the Rings," and since then, it has become part of the modern vernacular. In the Oxford English Dictionary (which Tolkien helped write), since the year 1605, an Orc is referred to as "a devouring monster; an ogre; spec. a member of an imaginary race of subhuman creatures, small and human-like in form but having ogreish features." Tolkien refers to people as "Orcs" in his letters (usually as a knock on their integrity or behavior). People use the Orc concept across various fantasy media, too.
But what is an Orc? More specifically, what is a Middle-earth Orc? What are the creatures who started it all?
These questions are surprisingly complicated. The easiest answer is that an Orc is a twisted and perverted race bred from Elves who are captured early in Middle-earth history. This is the legendary explanation provided in "The Silmarillion," which gives it the authority of being the officially published and most widespread explanation.
However, it is by no means the only explanation. Orcish origins, lifespan, and afterlife are some of the topics that Tolkien struggled with to the end of his days. He came up with multiple possibilities but, in his typical style, tried to work existing writings into them rather than rework his entire legendarium after the fact.
Let's take a look at the different explanations of what Orcs are, where they come from, and how long they can live — starting with the most classic origin option of them all: Orcs come from Elves.
The obvious explanation: Orcs are Elves
The simplest Orc explanation is in "The Silmarillion," where it says some Elves are captured by the Dark Lord Morgoth (Sauron's original master, who is also called Melkor or Melko) shortly after their creation. Of the fate of these poor, unfortunate souls, nothing is known for certain. However, the book says that the wise Elves hold the belief that the captured ones were put in prison, adding, "and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes." The passage ends with the damning statement, "This it may be was the vilest deed of Melkor, and the most hateful to Ilúvatar."
The corruption of Elves is the classic Orc origin story. Amazon Studios' "The Rings of Power" series uses it to explain its Adar character. And yet, it leaves some question marks. If Orcs are just Elves, why are there so many of them? Most (but not all) of them have shorter lifespans, which doesn't compute. These are just some of the questions that J.R.R. Tolkien struggled with throughout his life, and they led to a number of fascinating — though equally unsatisfactory — hypotheses for the Orc genesis.
For example, in the earliest version of Tolkien's legendarium, he suggests that the races of Orcs and Goblins simply came from the earth. In "The Book of Lost Tales," we get the Orc creation line, "that race were bred by Melko of the subterranean heats and slime. Their hearts were of granite and their bodies deformed." While this is a straightforward solution, it isn't half as interesting as his other ideas.
Are Orcs soulless animals ... or Humans?
In the book "Morgoth's Ring," J.R.R. Tolkien's son published many notes and drafts of his father's writings. These were unpublished and unfinished when Tolkien died and contain ample debate about the origin of Orcs. One of the most interesting and believable alternatives to the warped Elves narrative is that Orcs are simply soulless animals functioning at a higher level.
Sure, they think and talk, but Tolkien says, "I think it must be assumed that 'talking' is not necessarily the sign of the possession of a 'rational soul' or fëa." He also says that Sauron devises a language for some of the Orcs, potentially indicating that they needed one to speak.
He explains that there is precedent in Middle-earth for this kind of thing. For instance, the eagles can talk and operate as conscious agents of change, and yet they likely don't have souls. The mighty hound Huan from "The Silmarillion" can talk at select moments, but is still likely just a dog.
We say "likely" because Tolkien waffled on all of these things. However, he seriously thought that a soulless Orc, trained to talk and function like a pet animal, was a genuine option for Orc origins. In "Morgoth's Ring," he even posits, "Orcs are beasts and Balrogs corrupted Maiar," adding that this animalistic loyalty means "Orcs can rebel against [Sauron] without losing their own irremediable allegiance to evil (Morgoth)."
Finally, Tolkien toyed with the chilling concept that Orcs came from Men. In "Morgoth's Ring," he admits that, while there are complications, "the theory remains nonetheless the most probable." This precipitates a slide into horrifying postulation, where Tolkien considers various combinations, including mating soulless creatures, Elves, Men, and even beasts.
Some Orcs are unusually long-lived, but most aren't
Two of the trickiest things that come with figuring out what Orcs are in Middle-earth are their lifespan and afterlife. While we don't get a specific average number of years, J.R.R. Tolkien repeatedly makes it clear that Orcs are short-lived individuals. They reproduce quickly and die off just as fast. Not very Elvish of them. Honestly, it isn't even very Human — at least by some Middle-earth standards. In "Morgoth's Ring," he sums this up by saying, "They could be slain, and they were subject to disease; but apart from these ills they died and were not immortal," adding, "indeed they appear to have been by nature short-lived compared with the span of Men of higher race, such as the Edain."
While most Orcs die quickly, there are specific cases where they're long-lived. For example, Bolg (one of the primary villains in "The Hobbit") lives at least into his 140s. Tolkien touches on these long-lived leaders in "Morgoth's Ring," saying, "Thus it was that the histories speak of Great Orcs or Orc-captains who were not slain, and who reappeared in battle through years far longer than the span of the lives of Men." His explanation, in this case, is that these unique individuals are Maiar (spirits) like the Balrogs who take on terrifying oversized Orc forms, since their job is to direct the armies.
With the exception of these leaders, Orcs appear to be mortal. They live short lives and it's unclear if Orcs can be redeemed. It's an unsatisfactory answer, but it comes from an authentic author reluctant to retcon existing material or to offer half-baked solutions. Regardless, one thing is clear. Orcs were and remain some of the most iconic and terrifying villains in all of fantasy media.
To read more about Middle-earth, check out 5 Lord of the Rings movie changes Tolkien hated — but Peter Jackson did anyway.