In The Lord of the Rings, the villain armies were primarily made up of Orcs. Goblins, Uruks, Uruk-hai—all of these terms are used to identify different versions of the evil beasts of Middle-earth that seem to want nothing more than to murder Men, Elves, Dwarves, and anything else they can get their hands on. Throughout Tolkien’s works, there has never been any instance of a “good” Orc, which has made the subject of their race all the more curious. Where do they come from? Why are they so evil? Though Tolkien left most details regarding the Orc’s origin story a mystery, the combination of information from The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion has allowed for a common belief.
Lord Of The Rings Hints Orcs Originated From Elves (But Doesn’t Confirm It)
It’s important to remember when looking at Tolkien’s lore that the author never finished the works that outlined the beginning of his universe. The Silmarillion is a collection of Tolkien’s notes, many of which contradict each other since he had taken issue with his own ideas. The origin of Orcs is among the information that was never definitively outlined. However, a passage from The Lord of the Rings hints at the idea Tolkien seemed to lean toward the most, and fans have picked this up as the most likely answer for where Orcs came from.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Treebeard tells Merry and Pippin about Trolls, stating that they were “made by the Enemy in the Great Darkness, in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves.” This is all that was ever said on the matter in the original books, and the comment indicates that the “Enemy,” who would have been Morgoth, created Orcs to be the opposite of Elves.
A passage in The Silmarillion takes this further by stating that Morgoth captured and imprisoned the Elves and “by slow arts of cruelty [they] were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves.” However, Tolkien’s notes later contradicted this, saying that the Dark Lord wouldn’t have had the ability to take the Elves immortality. Ultimately, Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R.’s son, noted in The Silmarillion that the idea that Orcs were created from Elves is “held true by the wise of Eressëa,” as a way of saying “no one actually knows, but this is what they think.”
How Orcs Developed & Evolved In Middle-earth History
The reason that Tolkien took issue with his Orc origin story is the already established lore for the creation of the universe. The author described how the god of The Lord of the Rings was called Eru Ilúvatar, and, thanks to the Flame Imperishable, he was the only being capable of creating life. The conflict with Morgoth, one of Eru Ilúvatar’s demi-gods, began with the being’s jealousy since he desired the ability to create life himself. Since this was impossible, the Dark Lord decided to capture Ilúvatar’s children and twist them into beings of his own design.
So, during the early years of Middle-earth’s existence, Morgoth twisted Ents into Trolls, Maiar (like Gandalf, Saruman, and Sauron) into Balrogs, Elves into Orcs, and so on. Thus, all the evil beings of Tolkien’s world were created. However, this doesn’t mean that all the Orcs in The Lord of the Rings used to be Elves. After the first batch was corrupted, the Orcs began to breed on their own. At first, they might have looked more like the Elves, but after thousands of years, they evolved into the beings seen during Frodo’s journey.
Why Lord Of The Rings’ Orc-Elf Origin Makes Sense
Based on Tolkien’s notes, he was never entirely happy with his Orc-origin story. His first idea revolved around Morgoth creating the Orcs out of stone, but he scrapped this when it was established that Ilúvatar was the only being capable of creating life. Then, once he came up with the corrupted Elf idea, Tolkien remained unconvinced since the Orcs were not immortal like the Elves were, which means Morgoth would need a way to strip the Elves of this life force. This led to the suggestion that the Orcs were instead created from Men, Ilúvatar’s other children, but this contradicted what Treebeard said in The Lord of the Rings about Orcs being the antithesis of Elves.
Despite Tolkien’s hesitancy, Orcs being the opposite of Elves is accepted because it aligns with the religious parallels of The Lord of the Rings. The Elves were meant to be the pure potential of life created by Ilúvatar. Just as Adam and Eve of the Judeo-Christian theology were perfect until they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, Elves were perfect in contrast with their corrupted counterparts. These same concepts are present throughout other religious stories that Tolkien drew inspiration from, such as Greek and Norse mythology. Ultimately, this brings balance to the lore of The Lord of the Rings.
Orcs Beginning As Elves Makes Lord Of The Rings’ Biggest Battles Better
There is a certain poetry to the idea that Orcs were created from Elves. Without knowing where these villains came from, it’s easy to see The battles of the Lord of the Rings as simple conflicts between those that are definitively good and definitively evil. However, things in the real world are rarely that black and white, and this is part of the tragedy of war and battle. Orcs may be lacking in compassion and goodness, but the fact that their ancestors were Elves who were forced to be evil by a jealous Dark Lord makes the constant fight between these beings of Middle-earth that much more impactful.
Amazon’s The Rings Of Power Confirms LOTR’s Orc-Elf Theory
Despite the debate surrounding the origin of Orcs, Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has embraced the idea that the beasts were created from corrupted Elves. In season 1, the character Adar revealed to Galadriel that he had been one of the early Elves captured and tortured by the Dark Lord Morgoth. As a Dark Elf, this made Adar one of the fathers of the Second Age’s Orcs, which was why he was referred to as such, since “adar” means “father” in the Silvin Elvish language. Of course, this is not a strictly canon character, but The Rings of Power‘s Adar is sure to solidify the common belief about Orcs and Elves in Lord of the Rings lore.
News
Star Wars: The Acolyte Gives Reylo Fans The Romance They Always Wanted
The Osha and Qimir romance in the Disney+ series fills a gap left by Kylo Ren and Rey The Star Wars fandom is a fraught, fervent place. In the modern age, online communities rallying around franchises are often composed of numerous splinter…
Concord’s Biggest Fans Talk About Loving A Game Everyone Else Loved To Hate
When they learned that Concord would be shutting down in as little as 72 hours, some of its biggest fans rushed to immortalize their time with the embattled Sony exclusive in a way only PlayStation players can: by earning a Platinum Trophy. The…
The Star Wars Fandom’s Biggest Problem Has Nothing To Do With Disney
The problems within the Star Wars fandom go far beyond mere criticism of Disney’s output. There’s no denying that Star Wars has, to a certain extent, faltered since Disney first took the reins in 2012. Though some of Disney’s earliest Star Wars productions, like Star Wars Rebels (which premiered…
Three Weeks Later, The Acolyte’s Cancelation Triggers A Surprising Civil War In The Star Wars Fandom
The Acolyte may have been canceled, but the Star Wars fandom is still divided over the show – and now the controversy has erupted into a full-on social media civil war. Helmed by showrunner Leslye Headland, The Acolyte swiftly proved to be one of the…
Disney Remake Trailer Hits A Milestone With One Million Dislikes
Sometimes, movie audiences feel that Hollywood should leave well enough alone. That seems to be the current sentiment among the millions of viewers who have streamed the trailer for Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White, set for release in 2025….
A ‘Star Wars: Revan’ Movie Starring Brie Larson as a Female Revan?! We Have Checked What Is Fact and What Is Not!
The Star Wars universe is one of the largest fictional universes in existence. George Lucas’ original movie idea has since expanded and become a vast universe with thousands, if not millions, of stories. Aside from the main movies, series such as The Mandalorian and The…
End of content
No more pages to load