Orcs of Middle Earth. See what "Orcs" are in other dictionaries

Orcs are known to us as characters from fairy tales, the novel “The Lord of the Rings” and the Warcraft universe. However, did these characters really exist, or is this just a promoted modern image?

In the article:

Who are the orcs?

This creature first appeared in literature in the 17th century. This essence is found in the popular storyteller Basile Giambattista from Naples in the book “The Tale of Tales, or Fun for Little Children.”

However, this literary scum became truly popular thanks to John Tolkien and his novel The Lord of the Rings. In his works, an orc is an evil entity that looks like a human, but is extremely ugly and extremely physically strong.

Such entities are very intelligent, but often predictable. In general, their race was not able to create anything, they were engaged in destruction, murder, robbery.

How did the orcs appear?

It is very difficult to answer this question right away, since there are several modern versions origin of such creatures:

1. Relatives of the elves. In ancient times, they were evil elves who separated from their good brothers and, through interbreeding with other species, acquired their terrifying current appearance. Kinship with the elves would imply immortality, but this is kept silent
2. Smart animals. Orcs are not actually as intelligent creatures as humans, but are simply intelligent animals that live in their pack. This theory explains why the orcs did not have their own culture, but were guided by basic instincts. They multiplied, defended their territory, killed those they considered enemies, and that was the end of their activities.
3. Orcs and goblins. The most popular theory is that orcs are relatives or even representatives of the same race. For example, in the original edition of The Hobbit and at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings, the term "goblin" was initially used for these terrible monsters, but then "goblin" was replaced by "orc". Most Tolkien fans argue that if these are not the same creature, then at least they are distant relatives.

Why are orcs green?

If you believe various sources, there is a kind of blood curse - the influence of the demonic blood of a representative of the underworld on these creatures. It allows orcs to become stronger, more resilient and agile.

After a creature drinks blood, its skin becomes green tint, it increases in size, and the eyes begin to glow bright red. Subsequently, the demonic blood continues to affect the orc's body, his skin turns dark red, he becomes even larger, and growths appear on his head.

Did female orcs exist?

One of the most common questions among fantasy lovers is how orcs reproduce, because there is practically no information anywhere about female individuals, the only thing that Tolkien noted in The Silmarillion:

For the Orcs were alive and multiplied, like the Children of Ilúvatar.

Still from the movie "Warcraft"

Not a single book, story, fairy tale, legend indicates that orc women existed in principle. But we know that some orcs were similar to representatives of other races. For example people.

It can be assumed that the children of these bloodthirsty monsters were carried by females of other races, as a result of which creatures with external characteristics of other races were born.

Orc language

Orcish is the language of the orcs, which is used by representatives of all subspecies, in fact it is a mixture of runes and alphabet. The language is very rough, the sounds are guttural. This language has a large number of dialects, which is why representatives often different types unable to understand each other.

Orcs - mythical creatures, which became popular thanks to Tolkien. However, in myths and legends there is so little information about these creatures that we can say with confidence that even if such monsters existed, they did not like to come into contact with people.

In contact with

Orcs - who are they? Countless hordes of ugly savages who kill people, burn their houses, destroy crops and steal cattle. The orcs of Middle-earth, photos of which can be seen not only on the pages of comics, have long conquered a good half of the entire fantasy world. They have been everywhere, even into space.

Origin of the word

Literally, the word “orc” means “foreigner”, “demon bringing evil and death.” During times Ancient Rome"Orcus" was one of the names of Hades, the god of death. In Italian mythology, the word "orcia" is found - a giant who loves to eat human children. Fun fact: in English, both orc and ork are correct. In Russian this word is read the same way.

Where did the word come from then? And why these gray-green savages began to be called orcs. It's very simple, the reason was Tolkien John Ronald Ruel. It was he who was the first person to call these savages orcs, and after him everything started happening. He named them that way before The Lord of the Rings, and not after the end of the film of the same name.

The name first appeared in a book called The Hobbit, or There and Back Again in 1937. This word The author took it from the medieval poem “Beowulf”, where the word orcnez appears, which means “underwater monsters”. Later, he himself noticed how similar this word is to one of the names of Hades.

The warlike peoples of Middle-earth - the orcs - became the main characters of the fantasy world and found their place in books, films, games and other genres.

Creation of Middle-earth

Where did the history of Middle-earth begin? Eru Ilúvatar is a creator who has the power of thought and embodies these thoughts with his will. He created the Ainur, the first people of Middle-earth. The Ainur are seers, weave the Song and can predict the fate of the world.

The Ainur people split, and the brave Melkor appeared in them, who wanted to rise above his people like Iluvatar. This dark desire has influenced future fate Middle-earth and led to the destruction of the world, destroyed the Song. Melkor dreamed of taking the world into his own hands, and many of the Ainur tribe followed him, who became the creators of Middle-earth: they created land and water spaces, air, and a new land.

Elder spirits lived in it - Valar and Maiar. They waged an endless war with Melkor, trying to disrupt his plans of conquest. But Melkor also did not give up his positions. This caused many disasters and cataclysms that affected later life mythical world.

Population

Who are the Orcs of Middle-earth? Peoples and races inhabiting fantasy world, had their own hierarchy, differed in their way of life and interacted with each other.

Among them are gnomes, elves, hobbits, people, orcs, trolls and other fairy-tale characters.

Gnomes - free people, born artisans and explorers of the treasures of the earth's depths. They live for about 500 years, and after death they turn into stones.

Elves are immortal, all-seeing creatures. Their essences are closely connected with nature, they are graceful, intelligent and have a well-developed sense of beauty.

Hobbits are short creatures, but at the same time quite strong, they know how to handle weapons.

Humans are the most numerous race. They have different nationalities, own customs, work as builders or traders. They live about 65 years.

Orc tribes in Middle-earth are a whole race that is characterized by particular viciousness and belligerence.

Tolkien's Orcs

Any fan of this author knows that in Tolkien's fantasy world, orcs are the ugly descendants of the first elves. This was written about in the book The Silmarillion in 1977 and mentioned in the film The Lord of the Rings. The Orcs of Middle-earth were terrible creatures and obeyed the dark lord Margoth. He captured the elves of Melkor, using dark magic to pervert them, change them and torture them until they became deformed orcs. These were dark-skinned creatures with black blood, as tall as an average man. However, the Dark Lord, Margot, made a mistake that was fatal for the orcs. After all, their creation took place in the dark, so they became very weak in the light.

Age

In the world of Middle-earth, orcs and goblins are one race. It’s common practice to call small orcs goblins, and larger ones simply orcs. Little is known about the durability of orcs. Some believe that they are immortal, while others believe that they are simply long-lived creatures. But one thing is certain - not a single orc has ever died of old age. For example, the leader of the Mari orcs, Pol, in the prime of his life, killed the leader of the dwarves Nain, and only 150 years later he died in the Battle of the Five Armies. His father, Azok, reportedly lived for over 300 years before also being killed.

The orcs of Middle-earth and their names smoothly migrated from Tolkien’s book into comics, cartoons, board and computer games, and became heroes of many fantasy worlds and civilizations.

Life

How did the orcs of Middle-earth live? Reproduction occurred very quickly. However, exactly as much is known about their women as about the women of the gnomes. They exist, but no one has ever seen them.

They live and build their cities most often in mountain dungeons, away from sunlight. However, most orcs still prefer the eternal darkness of Morter.

Language

The orcs did not have their own language. Each tribe spoke its own dialect, but everyone understood each other. They were united by one language, Westron. But Saruman developed a special dark dialect for them, which they occasionally used to reach peaceful agreements with the Wargs, Dwarves and people. The orc tribes often fought among themselves.

Main activities

The orcs of Middle-earth, in addition to war, were engaged in crafts and mastered them quite well. But the specificity of these activities was aimed at conducting military operations and destroying opponents. They made not only murder weapons, but also torture machines.

They learned to dig tunnels and develop mines. As for food, they can eat anything, but the greatest delicacy for them is game meat that they themselves caught. These can be people or animals. They usually carry out military operations in the dark. But there is an exception: the Uruk-hai are descendants of people and orcs who can be exposed to sunlight without hindrance.

Tolkien's orcs are orcs to all orcs. Middle-earth, the film about which has become a cult classic, is not just the habitat of dwarves and elves. This is a whole world in which there is even a place for love and compassion. You could say they are the progenitors of all fantasy orcs. It was Tolkien who was the first person to come up with them, after which all the other orcs appeared.

The list of Middle-earth orcs is not limited only to Tolkien's creatures, because over time this prototype has acquired new and improved capabilities.

Greyhawk Orcs

1974 Great Britain. This is where the fantasy tabletop role-playing game, developed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, was created. Dungeons of Dragons is a very popular board game. The player moved around the table, completed missions and leveled up. And it was there, in board and other games, that the orcs of Middle-earth first appeared.

Unlike Tolkien, in D&D, orcs and goblins are different species, but despite this, they often act together. Outwardly, orcs are similar to humans; they are distinguished only by dark gray skin, pointed protruding ears and fangs protruding from their mouths. If in Tolkien's world orcs are former descendants of elves, then in the world of D&D they are distant relatives of people. Confirmation of this is the considerable number of half-orcs who can live with orcs and be considered outcasts in the lands of people, or, conversely, unite into separate tribes. By the way, in one of the editions of Dungeons of Dragons, a half-orc is one of the available races.

Features of tabletop orcs

Every orc loves war very much. If he doesn't fight, he's either thinking about war or is already dead. Therefore, orcs' weapons training is a compulsory program. Despite the fact that they often do not know how to wield a weapon or look after it. Orcs are hostile towards people and strangers, but when they notice an elf or a dwarf, they rush into battle without hesitation, even if they have no advantage over the enemy. They also don't like light, but only because they are simply uncomfortable being in the sun's rays.

Complete patriarchy reigns in the orc tribes. Orc women are considered the property of their men. And their number is one of the indicators by which the position of an orc on the social ladder is assessed. Orcs do not disdain slavery. A tribe often has a shaman, whose power is comparable to that of the leader. If enmity arises between these two orcs, the tribe may split.

The largest tribes of orcs live in large cities, built both on the surface of the earth and under it. Here they have already begun to take on a familiar appearance to us.

The game became so popular that in 1980 Michael Murmac created a new hero, who was bought by Games Workshop in 1983. The slightly changed hero was called Warhammer, and it was he who gave the world those same green orcs.

Orcs of the Old World

It is unknown why orcs in Warhammer are green. However, some fans of the game are sure that the developers wanted to give them a visually memorable image. And they were right about this. However, green is not the only thing that makes Warhamer's orcs stand out from others. If in all other works they were by default an evil race and killed people, elves, gnomes they could meet, then here they kill, because war is their whole life and part of their culture. And perhaps at heart they are not such bad creatures.

Where did the orcs come from? Middle-earth, which was made into a film many years after the book was written, was not always their home. They have no sex, but reproduce very quickly through spores, like mushrooms. They live in tribes led by the healthiest and strong representatives. They are usually called leaders or warlords. The more successful the warlord, the more orcs will join his tribe, because a strong ruler will bring them much more more wins and trophies.

Teeth, which grow and fall out throughout life, are used as currency. How long they live is unknown, because just like Tolkien’s orcs, not a single Warhamer orc ever died of old age. Goblins returned to the race and Snotlings were added. These are the smallest of the greenskins, and also the stupidest. They are considered the lowest class, and the orcs entrust them with the easiest tasks. Goblins are weaker than orcs, but much more cunning and resourceful.

Black Orcs

How were the orcs of Middle-earth different from each other? The races of these creatures varied significantly. These were goblins - small orcs, Uruk-hai - half-orcs, black orcs are also known.

The greenest and largest individuals were created by the sorcerers of the Chaos Dwarves as cheap and submissive work force. Dwarves had used orcs as slaves before, but the green-skinned warlike creatures preferred to smash each other's faces instead of working. Therefore, the sorcerers bred a new breed - black orcs. They were smarter, healthier and stronger, but they also had a minus for the Chaos Dwarves - they rallied against their masters and threw off the shackles of slavery.

Usually it is the black orcs who lead the tribes and lead others into battle. They are the elite of the orcs and approach the issue of war thoroughly. They look at other orcs with contempt, especially goblins, because they often run away from the battlefield. They always carry the best weapons and armor.

The orcs have their own gods - Gork and Mork. One is strong and stupid, and the other is smart, but less strong. They love and honor their gods and wherever possible they build monuments and totems to them. Orcs love to tell each other about Gork or Mork beating Korn.

It was for Games Workshop that green orcs were invented, but they became popular thanks to another game.

Orcs of Draenor

In 1994, the first release of the legendary game was released. Orcs were not originally green in the world of Warcraft, but after being tricked by the demon Kel Je Den into drinking monoroth blood, they became green and went to war against their former allies. Later, a portal opened in Draenor, and the orcs moved to the New World, where they still live.

What other genres have fantasy characters mastered? "Middle-earth: Shadows of Mordor (Orcs)" is another computer game, but of the latest generation, with interesting story and new heroes. The player can become good hero and save the fictional world from disaster.

Orcs (English Orcs, self-name uruk) - in the works of John Tolkien - an evil, barbaric people who obeyed the dark lord and made up his hordes. Originally created by Melkor with the help black magic- mutants from the elves he captured. Later they became an independent people of Middle-earth, always serving the Darkness and distinguished by their malevolence. Orcs formed the basis of the armies of both Melkor-Morgoth and Sauron.

Orcs first appeared in Tolkien's earliest known texts, belonging to the Lost Tales group (1914-1917). Almost from the moment of their appearance, their image was in close interaction with the image of mythological goblins, and in Tolkien’s works these words are used interchangeably.

The image of orcs and the word itself became common in the fantasy works of other writers, although over time, ideas about orcs in literature have undergone significant changes.

Name The word "orc" comes from Old English, where it means giant or demon. Tolkien himself claimed to have taken it from the medieval poem Beowulf, where it is applied to the giant monster Grendel. IN later letters and in some unpublished works Tolkien wrote the word as "ork". Also, in ancient Roman mythology there was a dungeon demon named Orcus.

In Middle-earth, the word "orc" is of Rohan origin. The dwarves called these creatures rukh, the elves - yrchi. They were mostly called “goblins” by hobbits. In the black dialect, the self-name of orcs is uruk.

Appearance Orcs from the film trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" Orcs are described as dark-skinned, short creatures with flat noses and large fangs. They are awkwardly built, with crooked arms and legs, and they have no toes on their feet. Their ugliness is a consequence of Melkor's distortion of their originally elven essence. Orc blood is thick and black. Orcs see poorly in the light, are afraid of the sun and prefer to live in caves, dungeons, and mountain crevices.

CharacterOrcs are hostile to everything beautiful and pure, prone to vandalism - they dismantled all the monuments of the Dúnedain in Minas Ithil, ruining the fortress with dirty inscriptions. They do not shun cannibalism and happily eat corpses, even those of their own relatives. However, orcs are prone to engineering thinking: they can create complex mechanisms, especially combat and torture machines. In this image, it is believed that Professor Tolkien contrasted the unsympathetic technical progress high culture.

Orcs are at enmity with Westerners, elves, dwarves and most of the other "good" peoples of Middle-earth. Their allies, usually temporary, are trolls, Easterlings and Haradrim. Orc society is governed by hereditary monarchs, however, due to the people's tendency towards anarchy and strife, power among them rests only on force and fear.

Language The language of the orcs is the Black Speech, a language related to the Elvish Quenya. It was created for the orcs by Sauron, mixing into jargon from individual words of foreign languages, and each tribe subsequently developed its own special dialect. In the Black Speech, in particular, the famous inscription on the Ring of Omnipotence was made.

Ash Nazg durbatulûk, Ash Nazg gimbatul, Ash Nazg thrakatulûk agh Burzum-ishi krimpatul.

In translation:

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring will find them, One Ring will gather everything and bind them in the Darkness

In the Third Age, due to fragmentation and mass death of tribes, many orcs forgot the Black Speech, and it ceased to be theirs. common language. Instead, the orcs often used the human language Westron for conversations between different tribes. So, for example, the Mordorian orcs and the Uruk-hai, who captured Peregrin and Merry, spoke to each other in a language understandable to hobbits, no longer having a common orcish language.

Orcs were created by Morgoth in the First Age in Angband from the elves he captured. With the help of his black magic and torture, he perverted their essence, giving them an ugly appearance and an evil disposition. However, the orcs served their master out of fear, hating him deep down.

It is noteworthy that in Tolkien’s early drafts, published in the collection “The History of Middle-earth,” another theory of the origin of orcs was described, which was not included in the canonical publications. According to it, Melkor created his henchmen from stone and clay, and revived them, like Aule - the dwarves. Originally, orcs inhabited the fortress of Angband and its surroundings in the far north. Troops of goblins and trolls took part in the defense of Angband and the aggressive campaigns of Melkor. Their war crimes, such as the murder of civilians and the abuse of prisoners, are repeatedly mentioned in The Silmarillion.

Allied with dragons and balrogs, they defeated elves and men in the battle of Nirnaeth Arnoediad, bringing Melkor to power over all of Beleriand. However, a landing force of Valinor's troops stormed Angband (events known as the War of Wrath) and captured Melkor. As a result of the fighting, the north turned into a desert, and a significant part of it went under water. After the fall of Morgoth, the orcs spread throughout Middle-earth. The Valar and Maiar, the gods of Arda, turned away from them, coming to the conclusion that the evil in their souls was ineradicable.

Orcs as the people of Middle-earth

During the Second Age, orcs inhabited Mordor and served Sauron. They took part in his wars with the Elves, and two hundred years later with Gondor. Armies of Orcs captured Minas Ithil and ravaged Ithilien until the armies of the Last Alliance of Dúnedain Men and Elves launched a punitive campaign against them. The Battle of Dagorlad was won by the Elves, and the allied forces entered Mordor, laying siege to Barad-dûr. The armies of Mordor and the Last Alliance met in battle at Mount Orodruin. Sauron and the orcs were close to victory when Isildur cut off the dark lord's finger with the Ring, disincarnating him. The victorious armies ravaged Mordor and built fortresses guarding the exits from it. A detachment of surviving orcs killed Isildur on the way back.

After this, for several thousand years the orcs were left to their own devices, forced to fight for survival without help. higher powers. Some of the surviving orcs, under the leadership of King Azog, captured Moria, the ancient kingdom of the dwarves. Azog entered into an alliance with the Balrog, an ancient demon from the followers of Morgoth, who lived there, and executed the rightful king Thror. The Dwarves declared war on the Goblins and defeated them in the Battle of Azanulbizar, in which Azog died. However, the dwarves did not dare to storm the well-fortified Moria. Bolg succeeded Azog and was killed 150 years later at the Battle of the Five Nations near Erebor, but Moria remained under Orc rule for several more decades. Balin's attempt to recapture Moria ended in the death of him and his entire squad.

Several tribes of orcs lived in the north, in the mountains near Gundabad, in Misty Mountains. The expedition of Thorin Oakenshield encountered them during the campaign against Erebor, and killed the Chief Goblin. In alliance with Angmar, the orcs took part in the wars against Arnor, which ultimately led to the collapse and disappearance of this state.

With the rebirth of Sauron at the end of the Third Age, most of the orcs took his side. A new, stronger breed of orc, the Uruk, was bred in Mordor. On Sauron's orders, they raided Rohan and recaptured Ithilien. Having settled in Ithilien, the orcs destroyed the monuments of Dúnedain art. Gondorian rangers often carried out punitive raids across Ithilien, destroying the orcs and their allies, but did not dare to openly attack.

Saruman, having entered into an alliance with Mordor, continued to improve the Uruk tribe, creating from it his own army of half-orcs, the Uruk-hai. The Orcs and Uruk-hai were wary of each other, but were allies in the War of the Ring, serving on the side of the alliance of Mordor and Isengard and forming the backbone of both armies. Two allied detachments - Ugluk (from Isengard) and Grishnak (from Mordor) were sent by Sauron and Saruman in search of the Ring-bearer. But on the way back, the orcs fought over which of the lords to take the prisoners to.

Orcs fought on the side of the alliance of Mordor and Isengard in all the major battles of the War of the Ring, including Helm's Gulch and the Fields of Pellenore. The main tactics of the orcs was an attempt to suppress the enemy in numbers, but most of the key battles (except Osgiliath) were lost by them. After the destruction of the One Ring, the death of Sauron and the collapse of his fortress, the orcs fled. Apparently, they were almost completely destroyed by the Western alliance and became extinct in the Fourth Age.

Briefly about the article: Countless hordes of narrow-eyed half-beasts, long-armed, bent beasts flood a good half of fantasy universes. They trample crops, burn villages, rape cattle - they do all the dirty work of ferocious and low-intellectual antagonists entrusted to them by the authors. Who are they, where did they come from?

Greenskins

Orcs, goblins and all kinds of relatives

Countless hordes of narrow-eyed half-beasts, long-armed, bent beasts flood a good half of fantasy universes. They trample crops, burn villages, rape cattle - they do all the dirty work of ferocious and low-intellectual antagonists entrusted to them by the authors. Who are they, where did they come from?

Orcs, goblins and a dozen other names - similar as twins, distant relatives and completely different biological species - they are firmly established in fantasy worlds and sometimes penetrate both space science fiction and alternative modernity.

Now we’ve reached the “World of Fantasy”.

First of all, so that no one leaves offended, we will try to outline the range of topics raised in our presentation. We will talk about fictional creatures called either orcs or goblins (since these two concepts sometimes mean the same thing or almost the same thing), as well as their various relatives from the family tree. For this article we have selected what we believe are key sources. We will also try to answer the main questions of orcology: why do them green skin (and whether it is green) and why their that's their name. Let's start with the last one.

Whatever you call a race, that's what it is...

There are several main versions of the origin of the word “orc”. Most people agree on one opinion, which we will also adhere to: the word “Orc” in the meaning in which it is now most often used was introduced into literature by Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. And not in “The Lord of the Rings,” but earlier, on the pages of “The Hobbit.” When listing the dangers awaiting travelers in the Misty Mountains, mention is made of “goblins, hobgoblins, orcs.” Unfortunately, our most widespread translation by N. Rakhmanova does not say anything about orcs - and even the casually mentioned unfamiliar word would not have said anything to our reader in the distant seventies.

But did the Professor himself come up with it? Obviously not, because in one of his letters he himself noted that he used the Old English word orc(demon) for the name of the biological species he invented, since it seemed to him to sound good. Is this the end of the question? And again no. In Italy, we can hear about Orcs - bloodthirsty giants, whose favorite delicacy was human babies. The third thread may lead us again to the Apennine Peninsula, this time from the times of Ancient Rome. In Latin mythology, Orcus (orc for short) was the name of the goddess of death, and after her the entire afterlife. Even though she is a goddess, you will agree that she is an unpleasant person.

Let us identify these basic etymological hypotheses (leaving the reader to choose “the only true one”) and establish another distinction, this time between Orcs and Orcs. Both of them appear in military-tactical games “ Warhammer" companies Games Workshop : the first ones belong to fantasy “ Warhammer Fantasy Battles", and the second - to the fantastic “ Warhammer 40000". Since it is absolutely impossible to distinguish between orcs and orcs in the Russian language, we considered it our duty to warn the reader who may find the strength to turn to English-language sources.

Earthly roots

However, the human brain is designed in such a way that just a name is not enough for it. Give him the object itself. You can look at the illustrations scattered throughout these pages. And at the same time find out what Tolkien relied on when inventing his now classic orcs.

“The Hobbit,” as already mentioned, calls orcs goblins. In general, for Tolkien’s world the words “orc” and “goblin” are synonyms. Sometimes it is stipulated that goblins are called small orcs, and hobgoblins, on the contrary, large ones, but this is not the point.

The important thing is that the concept of “goblin” is obviously taken from European legends (and most likely got there from the name of the king of the dwarfs Goba, or Ghoba). In European mythology, they are small, hunched creatures with dark skin and long arms. They live in human houses or hollows, and wear caps on their heads. In this description, let us pay attention to three details: dark skin, long arms and stoop. These qualities would later pass on to Tolkien’s orcs. We will pay attention to them, and for those who want to study “historical” goblins in more depth, we recommend Christina Rossetti’s poem, which is called “The Goblin Fair”.

Orcs of Tolkien's Middle-earth

When orcs were elves...

Any person who has an idea of ​​Tolkien's world knows that the Mediterranean orcs are the disfigured descendants of the first elves. Even if you haven’t read The Silmarillion, which talks about this fact, Saruman’s short lecture to the Uruk-hai he had just raised from the first part of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy will probably come to mind.

For now, we will not examine the question of who actually brought out the Uruk-hai, although we will gradually get to it. As for the Orcs, they were indeed descended from the first Elves who awoke in the darkness of Middle-earth and were captured by the Dark Lord Morgoth. In the depths of his fortress Utumno, with spells and cruelty, he perverted and enslaved them, giving rise to new race intelligent beings. The elves called them orogs, as well as irchs, people called them orcs, and in the Black Speech their name was uruki.

What needs to be done here small retreat, answering the question “why”. Why did Morgoth catch the elves, drive them into dungeons, mock them there, waste his time - and all for the sake of obtaining such a low-quality product as orcs. Much, of course, can be attributed to the sadistic nature of the Dark Lord. But official reason is that Morgoth, after his rebellion, could not independently create anything living. So we had to break it and spoil it.

Information about the appearance, culture and social structure of orcs is scattered in small pieces throughout the pages of Tolkien’s numerous books. The average orc was shorter than a man in height, and in addition to this, he was stooped so that his long arms reached almost to the ground. The skin of Tolkien's orc is dark in shades (although in Peter Jackson's film, the coloring of these creatures varies from light gray to yellow and outright red; however, no green). Traditionally, orcs are depicted with slanted eyes, sharp and sparse teeth, and often without hair. In general, it must be admitted that Professor Tolkien left artists quite a lot of freedom to depict orc-goblins: starting from the ugly and bearded quasi-humans of the first Soviet publications“The Hobbit” and ending with the disgusting “insects” in the Jackson trilogy.

Populating Middle-earth

It is known that the orcs initially did not feel much love for their ruler, but they feared him like the devil making the sign of the cross, which means they respected him. Morgoth himself used them as cannon fodder, for which purpose he prudently built into the genetic program of the race the ability to reproduce no worse than rabbits (remember that the immortal elves had problems with this from the very beginning).

By the way, I don’t presume to say that orcs are immortal (although in Tolkien’s books it was not possible to find an orc dying of old age and sentimentally stroking the heads of his great-grandchildren), but some individuals lived a long time even by Dunedan standards. For example, the leader of the Morian orcs Bolg, in the prime of his life, killed the leader of the dwarves Nain, and only a hundred and fifty years later he died in the Battle of the Five Armies. His father Azog, according to some sources, lived more than three hundred years. But these are all rather exceptions to the rule, because over the course of three eras of Arda the orcs were brutally beaten, then they multiplied again, then they were beaten again, and so on. And the beginning of this glorious tradition was laid by the gentle Sindars (one of the tribes of elves) even before the first rising of the Moon and the Sun.

It is clear that the orcs did not want to love either Morgoth or the elves, so when Beleriand was flooded and the Dark Lord was cast out of the world, the surviving goblins did not fail to take advantage of the unexpected freedom and rushed to explore the expanses of Middle-earth. For some reason, they most liked the strip stretching from north to south on both sides of Anduin. At least by the end of the Third Age, several orc tribes stood out, divided by latitude: the orcs of the north, whose main settlements were under the mountains of Gram and Gundabad; the orcs of Moria, with the participation of the Balrog, seized the former dwarven possessions; the orcs of Isengard who served Saruman; as well as Mordorian orcs, among whom they distinguished those subordinate directly to Sauron and the nine Nazgul. There is no doubt that, in addition to those listed, there were other orc tribes, not so numerous.

Sociology and physiology

Tolkien, who relegated the orcs to the role of cannon fodder, did not delve into their social model. Let me roughly define it as a military dictatorship. At the head of the tribe was a leader (in “The Hobbit” the title “High Goblin” is mentioned), from whom the pyramid of the army hierarchy diverged. Naturally, the orcs had both females and young animals (the meat of which Gollum loved to feast on), but we know even less about orcish women than about dwarven ones.

The goblins had slaves, mostly prisoners. The orcs did not have their own language; different tribes spoke different dialects (often primitive versions of the common language of Westron), occasionally and under duress using the Dark Speech developed by Sauron. Orcs entered into alliances with wargs (intelligent wolves), some gnomes and people who served Evil. Orc tribes often fought among themselves.

Goblins mastered crafts, mainly those that were directly or indirectly aimed at destroying the enemy and causing suffering. They made hammers, axes, swords, daggers, hoes, pincers and instruments of torture. “It is possible that it was the goblins who invented some of the machines that cause trouble for humanity, especially those that are intended to destroy large number people at a time. Mechanisms, engines and explosions have always fascinated and fascinated goblins,” says The Hobbit. Orcs are skilled at digging tunnels and developing mines, second only to the most skilled of the dwarves. They use soft shoes to move silently.

Orcs are omnivores, but they prefer freshly caught meat, and it doesn’t matter who it belongs to: a horse or a human... Goblins have black blood. Orcs do not like sunlight, so they prefer to live in dungeons or in the eternal darkness of Mordor. They conduct ground operations at night or during favorable weather conditions. The exceptions are the Uruk-hai, a species of large sun-resistant orc bred by Sauron, and the half-orcs, most likely obtained by Saruman by crossing goblins and humans.

Orcs and goblins of classic “Dungeons&Dragons”

Over thirty years of existence “ Dungeons&Dragons" The game developers have done a tremendous job of streamlining fantasy. This also applies to goblin orcs, who quickly became a common obstacle in the path of adventurers. Into the 21st century D&D entered with three main races of goblinoids: orcs, goblins themselves and hobgoblins. Since these races, although they are different biological species, often act together and historically go back to Tolkien's orcs, we will consider them all. IN alphabetical order- why is he worse than others?

Goblins

Goblins are small, flat-faced humanoids with pointed ears, small, sharp teeth, and long, knee-length upper limbs. They have low foreheads and eye and skin color ranging from yellow to deep red. Public organization Goblin tribal, the leader of the tribe becomes the strongest of its members, sometimes this place is occupied by a hobgoblin. The concept of private property among goblins is not developed, unless it is private property leader. Knowing full well that in a world of big and strong, the small and weak cannot survive alone, goblins rely on their own numbers in all matters. Be it an ambush on the road, a night raid into the city, or a raid for slaves.

War with anyone and for whatever reason is the fixed idea of ​​every orc from the universe D&D. They are sure that the entire sublunary world belongs to them and only them, and everyone else, including the same orcs from enemy tribes, are arrogant conquerors. It is not surprising that in their pursuit of living space they settled in almost all climatic zones. If an orc does not fight, then he is either thinking about war, or sleeping, or dead. It is not surprising that mastery of a weapon is the duty of every self-respecting orc, although this mastery (like the weapon itself) may be far from perfect.

Outwardly, orcs would look like humans, if not for the grayish skin, erect ears and long, protruding lower fangs. Orcs and humans are approximately the same height and are obviously distant biological relatives. Confirmation of this is the considerable number of half-orcs who can live with orcs, wander as outcasts across human lands, or unite into separate tribes. By the way, the half-orc in latest edition D&D- one of the races available to characters.

Treating all strangers with initial hostility, orcs especially hate elves and dwarves, and engage in battle with them at every opportunity. It cannot be said that D&D Orcs, like their Tolkien predecessors, consistently avoided sunlight, but they suffered from minor photophobia: they fight a little worse in daylight than in other conditions.

Patriarchy reigns in the orc tribes. Orc women are considered the property of their men, and their number is one of the indicators by which the position of an orc on the social ladder is assessed. Orcs do not disdain slavery. A tribe often has a shaman, whose power is comparable to that of the leader. If there is enmity between these two, the tribe may split. The largest tribes of orcs live in large cities, built both on the surface of the earth and under it.

Distant relatives of goblins, reaching a height of two meters and combining the orcish views on war with good internal organization. Hobgoblins have dark and red-orange skin tones, and large males have red or blue noses (presumably not from drinking strong drinks). They treat weapons much more carefully than orcs, and store them in good condition. Many hobgoblins become well-paid mercenaries.

The leader of a hobgoblin tribe is usually the strongest and most warlike. Hobgoblins themselves often lead troops of goblins and orcs (although the latter often refuse to obey non-orc leaders). Each tribe is a well-organized fighting unit with its own banner and a strict hierarchy. Since such units care primarily about their own glory and loot, it takes remarkable organizational talent to force several hobgoblin tribes to fight on the same side. Quite often, such attempts end in banal inter-tribal battles.

Hobgoblin tribes settle in protected places: caves, ruins and forest thickets.

Greenskin Phenomenon: “Warhammer FB”

"Warhammer", the most popular military-tactical game with miniatures to date, originated in the bowels of the project “ Dungeons&Dragons". It is not surprising that from the very first steps of the “Hammer of War”, orcs and goblins became one of the main active forces.

Orcs, goblins and their relatives the Snotlings collectively form the greenskin race. Why green was chosen is a subject that can be debated for a long time. In my opinion, the decisive thing was that each of the sides of the “Hammer of War” needed to be given a characteristic and memorable visual image. This is in D&D you could get by with the words “you are being attacked by a gang of orcs.” The miniature is always in sight, it should look beautiful and expressive.

The regular parts of the human Empire and Bretonnia were opposed by hordes of green-skinned barbarians - you can’t confuse them with people, elves, or dwarves. Another aspect is that orcs have a much greater connection with the wild than humans. The greenskins cannot be unconditionally called a biological civilization, but the role of natural components, ranging from narcotic mushrooms to huge reptiles, wyverns, clearly surpasses technological inventions for them.

Racial composition

Greenskins are spread throughout the fantasy “Hammer of War” - you will find them in every forest and under every mountain. The most clear classifications distinguish three racial groups - orcs themselves, goblins and snotlings - among which individual tribes are distinguished.

The difference is in size: orcs are the largest and strongest, snotlings are the smallest and frailest. It is believed that greenskins grow constantly (perhaps sequentially moving from one group to another) until they meet someone along their life path who will put them in their place. Therefore, the position of each individual within the orc tribe is determined by eye in literally this word. The leaders and their retinue are the largest, followed by the so-called Big Orcs - the warrior elite of the tribe; prolific and evil goblins play the role of servants and cannon fodder, and the ridiculous Snotlings are the real scum of green-skinned society.

Among the orcs one can distinguish “just orcs”, black orcs and wild orcs. Black orcs are the largest, largest and most disciplined. There are not very many of them, so they rarely form their own tribes. Most often, black orcs become the ruling elite of a large tribe of ordinary orcs. Tribes of wild orcs inhabit the equatorial regions, where the heat and scorching sun cause their brains to decay. They are known for their ferocity and recklessness, and for their preference for war paint over all armor.

Within the goblins, one can distinguish night goblins - a special subspecies that, under normal conditions, lives exclusively in dungeons. If a night goblin comes to the surface, it usually wears thick black clothing to protect itself from sunlight. Other greenskins react completely normally to the sun.

Tactics and strategy

The meaning of life for the greenskins (and, in principle, other armies of the “Hammer of War”) is war. Most often, greenskin tribes fight with each other - and only the emergence of a truly strong leader (warboss) can unite them against another race. The campaigns of the combined forces of the greenskins against people, elves or anyone else are called Vaa-orc, or Waagh, and most often end after several successful battles with internecine massacres. Waagh rolls across the enemy's doomed lands in an unstoppable green wave, consuming the corpses of slain enemies and kin, and erecting huge monuments of excrement in its wake. In battle, orcs rush at the enemy with their entire mass, overwhelming in numbers. If the warlord holds back the greenskins, they will sooner or later fight among themselves. If they had not had internal strife, the world would have long ago belonged to the orcs.

The greenskin cavalry can be divided into four main components: orcs on wild boars, orcs on flying reptiles wyverns, goblins on wolves and night goblins on squiggs.

Special mention must be made about the latter. Squiggies are half-animal, half-mushroom cave creatures consisting mostly of teeth and claws. Only night goblins, intoxicated by mushroom spores, would think of riding them onto the battlefield. But a wildly jumping squigg is capable of causing serious damage to enemy units - and if you are unlucky, then to your own.

The fanatics of the night goblins are somewhat similar - mini-berserkers pumped up with narcotic mushroom beer, armed with huge chain balls. Released onto the battlefield, the fanatic rushes around, not making out the road and spinning his deadly ball - until he himself crashes against an insurmountable obstacle. The most interesting of the greenskins' equipment is the Doom Diver catapult, from which live goblins are launched (for aerial reconnaissance).

Orc killers from deep space

The second half of the “Hammer of War” universe was “ Warhammer 40000"- a bright fantasy world with elements of space fantasy and cyberpunk. There are enough similarities between the two Warhammers, but there are much more differences than it might seem at first. Take, for example, the same orcs. It would seem that orcs are orcs in Africa too: green skin, fangs, belligerence - but no, in the “forty thousandth year” everything is completely different. How?

About the difference in terminology ( Orc And Ork) we have already said. This time. As in WFB, in the “forty thousandth mountain” there are several varieties of green-skins, but you won’t find any goblins there. That's two. Then, in “ Warhammer 40000" An attempt was made to substantiate the green-skinned nature of orcs from a scientific point of view. Orcs of the distant future are symbiotic organisms, combining animal (almost identical to human) and plant (like primitive green algae and fungi) genes. From the latter, the orcs inherited green skin, with a protective layer that hardened throughout life. That's three. Five, eight and nineteen are technologies, spaceships, psionics, culture, destructive machines and other features imposed by the fantasy genre.

Plant genes determine character traits biology of the Orkoids, which hopelessly separates them from the fantasy greenskins. The circulatory system of the symbionts is combined with the digestive system, and they have two hearts, one of which is responsible for digesting food. Therefore, orcs can eat what is completely inedible for other intelligent races, and the color and consistency of their blood depends on what they eat. During his life (which usually ends with violent death) orcoid sheds spores, similar to how human skin exfoliates. These spores serve, firstly, for identification, and secondly, for reproduction. Once in a dark and damp place (for example, a cave or forest), the spore germinates like mushrooms, only instead of a mycelium, there is an orc embryo underground. It is clear that with this method of reproduction no females are required.

What types of orkoids are there?

Orcs are the most famous and main subspecies of Orkoids. They are the largest among their race - taller than a human when fully erect, although they constantly walk hunched over. The orc has a strong strong body with long arms, claws growing on his fingers. Orcs have no hair, although some of them create an imitation of facial hair with the help of special creatures - hair squiggs. The orc's speech is leisurely and laconic. Orcs consider other Orkoids as movable property, but the life of some without the others would be impossible.

Gretchins are similar in appearance to orcs, but are not as large and strong, but are smarter and more cunning than their masters. While the latter are engaged in war, the gretchin bear the burden of organization economic life tribe. They work day and night, but are completely satisfied own existence, although they often fall under the hot hand of the owners. The most enterprising of the gretchin can occupy a high position with their masters or achieve success in trade.

Snotlings are the most mysterious of the Orkoids. Many scientists believe that once these small and narrow-minded creatures, growing mushrooms and looking after livestock, were a highly intelligent race that, through genetic manipulation, created the rest of the Orkoids. Orcs were bred by the ancient Snotlings to perform military duties, and gretchins for official duties. However, due to an unknown catastrophe and the regression of the Snotlings, orcs, as the most powerful, became the dominant subspecies.

Whoever the ancient creator of the Orc race was, he turned out to be very prudent. IN genetic code Orcs are deliberately introduced with information about culture, technology, handling of weapons, etc. This is one of the reasons for the unheard-of adaptability of Orkoids. In addition, the sets genetic information serve as the basis for division into castes - warriors, technicians, doctors, psionics, etc.

Culture

The Orkoids have a developed, albeit rather specific, culture, with the Gretchin being its main figures. art represented by wall paintings and sculptures. Orcoids are preferred in painting bright colors using scenes from mythology or history, and as decorative elements- pictograms or runic inscriptions. Sculptures made of stone or stone wood are dedicated to the gods of war or famous military leaders. Monuments often mark the territory occupied by orcs, and they are also installed on conquered lands to intimidate the subjugated population.

Traditional Orc music is choral singing, during which thousands of Orkoids are divided into groups, each of which, at the command of a conductor, shouts a word in a certain key. The resulting effect is also used on the battlefield to demoralize the enemy. There is a legend that the walls of an enemy fortress collapsed due to the singing of orcs. Progressive music is inextricably linked to technological innovation and is most often a mix of recordings of traditional choirs, battle cries and other sounds.

Horde

10 years ago, an event occurred that had a huge impact on the industry. computer games and incidentally touched on the topic of our modest research. Company Blizzard released the first Warcraft. Warhammer fans walked around, glancing at the 256-color monitors and cryptically hinting that they knew very well where the blue-and-white Imperial men and wild green orcs came from. The rest were simply hacking away. After several sequels Blizzard took aim at a massively multiplayer online role-playing game “ World of Warcraft". Guess who will be one of the most popular races?

In the first Warcraft, everything was simple: here are the noble people, here are the orc invaders; Here are sets of units with identical functions, kill each other to your health. TO Warcraft'in the third (not to mention MMORPG) the game universe now has a multi-thousand-year-old and rich history, and again open facts forced us to look differently at the seemingly primitive plot of the first game in the series. Ten years later, it turns out that Warcraft is not Warhammer at all, mechanically transferred to computer screens, but quite a full-fledged and original world.

According to the generally accepted reconstruction of the history of orcs in Warcraft, the greenskins lived for millennia under the red skies of the planet Draenor, creating there a not at all aggressive patriarchal society that reached heights in shamanic magic and culture. The orcs were divided into clans - disparate groups of proud hunters who fought solely to survive in the unkind world of Draenor. The clans were headed by chiefs, assisted by shamans. The tranquil existence of the orcs ended with the appearance of the demons of the Burning Legion on Draenor. The latter made a deal with one of the orc shamans, who united the orcs and led several clans through dimensional gates to shed blood in the human-populated world of Azeroth. Not without demonic magic - the Burning Legion turned the orcs into bloodthirsty and thoughtless creatures, bringing only death and destruction.

After many victories and defeats, which probably played out on the monitors of a good half of those reading this article, the orcs almost captured the lands of people and elves. However, betrayal in their ranks tilted the scales in the other direction. The alliance of humans and elves destroys the interdimensional portal and imprisons the remaining orcs into reservations. Meanwhile, on Draenor, the shaman Ner-Zhul, trying to lead his people away from the demons of the Burning Legion, decides to open portals to other worlds and sends several clans back to the world of Azeroth. People pay a return visit to Draenor, during which Ner-Zhul opens portals, flees, but the energy released in this case tears the unfortunate Draenor to pieces. Several years of calm ensues, during which the orcs sit in their reservations.

Over time, scientists are surprised to discover that the orcs are becoming calmer and calmer. They no longer get into drunken brawls, take orders from their overseers, and generally bear little resemblance to the horde that invaded from Draenor. The Archmage of Dalaran, Antonidos, suggests that the orcs have begun to free themselves from the spell of the Burning Legion that has dominated them. Here Thrall (a young orc raised by humans as a slave) appears, welcomes the orcs’ new acquisition of their historical values ​​and starts an uprising in order to free themselves from human shackles. Then, anticipating the approach of the third Warcraft, he takes his people to the continent of Kalimdor in order to find a second homeland there instead of the destroyed Draenor.

The orcs of the third Warcraft are somewhat different from their predecessors from the first and second series - primarily this is due to their return to the mainstream of their native culture. Thrall established a ban on necromancy and demon magic, and ancient shamanic rituals came in their place. The ancient institution of wolf riders was restored - the orcs acquired their own cavalry. Finally, Thrall made an alliance with the minotaur race, and the bullheads now fight alongside the orcs.

Latest literary interpretations

If we talk about classic orcs, then the pages read are enough to form a more than superficial impression about them. In the end, I suggest a couple of non-classical orc-goblins. We will not consider very clinical cases in which orcs are equipped with butterfly wings and striped family underpants. Let's just show what else can be done with the term we are discussing.

In J. Rowling's book about Harry Potter, goblins are employees of the most reliable magical bank in the world, Gringotts. Goblin clerks have dark skin, long noses, fingers, nails and feet. Often their faces are burdened with the stamp of intelligence. They are small in height - about a meter. As befits goblins, they work deep underground, where the Gringotts vaults are located. However, they have nothing against sunlight. It is possible that, by placing goblins behind the bank counter, Rowling was thinking about Swiss financial tycoons from the real world, who are sometimes called gnomes in the West.

We meet completely different goblins in John Colfer's series about Artemis Fowl. The goblins there are one of the races of fairy people who live underground. In underground society, these reptilian creatures occupy the social niche of the marginalized - from smugglers to hooligans. One of the underground prisons is called “Goblin Silence”. Colfer goblins are not distinguished by their developed intelligence, so in complex enterprises they act, as a rule, under the leadership of scoundrels from other races - for example, elves or pixies. But goblins know how to shoot lightning and generally adore everything related to fire - this is one of the reasons for their thousand-year enmity with gnome burrowers.

Well, at the very end I would like to mention a book that has nothing to do with science fiction - rather, it can be attributed to the no less interesting genre of futurology. This is the work of Maxim Kalashnikov and Yuri Krupnov “The Wrath of the Orc”. The orcs in this case are ourselves, the inhabitants of the former Soviet Union, - but in the minds of the civilized West. According to the authors, this idea is metaphorically reflected in Tolkien’s orcs - here there is a “clinical” inability for Western-style democracy, Asian narrow-mindedness, and external sameness. Let me suggest that studying the orcs invented by Europeans can to some extent clarify their attitude towards us.

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Orcs, goblins, gretchins, hobgoblins, uruk-hai, snotlings; light-resistant and photophobic; cannon fodder of the Enemy, selfless servants of war and civilized barbarians, not to mention the many non-classical interpretations - it’s dizzying, but we haven’t even told a quarter of what humanity has come up with about goblin orcs. Undoubtedly, green-skinned (or grey-skinned) beasts are one of the favorite fantasy races, and we still have dozens and hundreds of encounters with them on the pages of books, monitors, movie screens and in board games. I hope this brief excursion into the history of the issue will make your meetings with orcs even more interesting.

For decades, Tolkien's fantasy world has found its avid fans and simply 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 their favorite races and their characteristics continue to this day, and many questions remain open. Some people are most attracted to domestic and peace-loving hobbits living in cozy holes, others prefer refined and sublime elves who are famous for their unprecedented beauty, others like bearded and funny gnomes who are ready to do anything for treasures, well... some remain true to their own essence and choose proud and militant people. Unfortunately, the orcs of Middle-earth are not very popular, but this does not at all reduce interest in the secrets of their origin and main features.

Origin of the word

Translated from the word orc, it means “demon” or “giant”. However, in some works you can find a different 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 nations fictional universe applied their own designations to them depending on 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 orcs, and one immediately sees some ugly creature with an obligatory unpleasant smell. However, contrary to the creative vision of Peter Jackson and the popular belief that they have an extremely repulsive and scary appearance, they were initially practically no different from other races. This is evidenced by many examples from Tolkien’s works, and even in the film adaptation, the ancient Ent first confuses Merry and Pippin with orcs, and Frodo and Sam, in disguise, manage to outwit a horde of enemies by posing as their own. But if we return to the classic vision, 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 crooked. In addition, their appearance may vary depending on their tribe or origin. For example, their sizes range from about the height of a hobbit to big man and even higher. And their blood is black in color, which is not found among other nations.

Character traits

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 endowed with the orcs of Middle-earth. Life expectancy, for example, according to some sources is practically equal to the immortality of elves. Thus, some fans interpret the conversation between Gorbak and Shagrat that Sam overheard in the film “The Two Towers” ​​as evidence of this theory. It is officially accepted that they life cycle slightly superior to human. However, all this is just guesswork in an attempt to understand how long the orcs of Middle-earth live, because a direct answer has never been given. It is known that these insidious creatures are hostile to everything beautiful and bright and are committed to vandalism. But this does not prevent them from being excellent engineers and builders. Throughout history, they 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 one invented by Sauron, but in the film you can hear that all orcs communicate with each other in the Common Tongue.

Origin

Perhaps the most debated question is how the orcs of Middle-earth first appeared. The list of all kinds of theories, fan and copyright, remains open, but there are several established versions. From Tolkien's early works it follows that ancient representative The evil Melkor, aka Margot, created these 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 is this version that has received the widest distribution. But the fact that they were Margot’s faithful servants remains undeniable.

Second Age

After his fall, the next milestone in the history of Tolkien's wonderful world begins. As a people, the Orcs of Middle-earth began to gradually spread over vast territories. Some of them occupied 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 is known, he was also defeated, despite a huge army. After his 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 due to the coming of the Balrog. After the Battle of the Five Nations, one of Bilbo's companions on his journey, Balin, tried to reconquer the territory, but failed, resulting in his death along with his army. Some tribes settled near Gundabad in the Misty Mountains, where they were surprised by Thorin's detachment and their leader was killed.

War of the Ring

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

Uruk-hai

It was during the Battle of the Ring that such a variety as 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 differed greater strength and extremely tall for his race. However, the orcs of Middle-earth, known as the Uruk-hai, according to the film, are the creation of Saruman, who crossed ordinary representatives of the race with humans. Because of this, many disputes have arisen about the discrepancy in concepts, and many believe that the creations of a white magician should be called half-orcs. Outwardly, they really resemble people. In addition, they are distinguished by: special endurance, large dimensions, great strength and the ability to be under the sun, because ordinary orcs only come out in dark time days. 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 people believe that representatives of the goblin and orc races are radically different from each other. This is true for many works and creations in the fantasy genre, but in Tolkien these words are synonymous. According to his original plan, orcs should be translated exactly as goblins, but in some texts they are still different creatures. If you are familiar with the book about the hobbit's journey to the Lonely Mountain, then you probably remember that the term “goblin” is used everywhere. This is due to the fact that The Hobbit did not immediately become part of the Middle-earth universe. 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 very designation is found, but in the adaptation of “The Hobbit” they decided to break away from habits and stick to the original. Thus, all the creatures here are goblins, not orcs of Middle-earth. Azog, who is one of the antagonists in the films, does not even look like the 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, but representatives who left their mark in the annals of history will certainly be found here too. The Orcs of Middle-earth, whose names are presented below, lived in the most different eras world, but mostly relate specifically to the Second and Third. The aforementioned Azog is famous for capturing Moria and cutting off the head of the Dwarven 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 the High Goblin in the Misty Mountains and is killed. As for The Lord of the Rings, readers and viewers remember the commander of the Uruk-hai squad, Saruman Ugluk, who was killed by Eomer. It is also known that several orcs were absent from Tolkien's universe and were introduced into the plot specifically for the Jackson trilogy. The most memorable was Lurtz, at whose hand Boromir died. But it is fair to note that not much attention is paid to names, and indeed to representatives of this race in general, and this happens extremely rarely. This is probably why the tangle of secrets and intrigue around them is still impossible to unravel.