Orc (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Orcs or Orks are a race of creatures who are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings—Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman.

Although not entirely dim-witted and occasionally crafty, they are portrayed as miserable beings, hating everyone including themselves and their masters, whom they serve out of fear. They make no beautiful things, but rather design cunning devices made to hurt and destroy.

In some of his unpublished early work, Tolkien appears to distinguish orcs from goblins. By the time of his published work, however, the terms had become synonymous. The Hobbit generally uses the term goblin, while the Lord of the Rings prefers orc. The opponents of the dwarves in "Dwarf and Goblin War" of The Hobbit are described as orcs in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings. No distinction is made by size; large orcs, including the Uruk-hai, are just as much goblins as are smaller ones.

Orc

An orc /ɔːrk/ (also spelled as ork, orch, or yrch) is a fictional humanoid creature that is part of a fantasy race akin to goblins.

While the overall concept of orcs draws on a variety of pre-existing mythology, the main conception of the creatures stems from the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, in particular The Lord of the Rings. In Tolkien's works, orcs are a brutish, aggressive, repulsive and generally malevolent species, existing in stark contrast with the benevolent Elvish race (from which their own ancestors may have been developed and corrupted) and generally pressed into the service of an evil power. Tolkien's concept of orcs has subsequently been adapted and imported into other works of fantasy fiction as well as into fantasy role-playing and strategy games (such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer and Warcraft), broadening the recognition of the creatures in popular culture.

Earlier references to creatures etymologically or conceptually similar to orcs can be found in Old English and Anglo-Saxon sources; including Beowulf and 16th-century Italian folk tales, in particular those of Giambattista Basile.

Orc (disambiguation)

Orc or ORC may refer to:

In fiction

Mythical races

Other fictional uses

In Popular Culture

Other meanings

Orc (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, orcs are a primitive race of savage, bestial, barbaric humanoid.

Publication history

The orc was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game. The D&D orc is largely based upon the orcs appearing in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974–1976)

The orc was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they were described as tribal creatures that live in caves or villages.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977–1988)

The orc appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a fiercely competitive bully, a tribal creature often living underground.

The mythology and attitudes of the orcs are described in detail in Dragon #62 (June 1982), in Roger E. Moore's article, "The Half-Orc Point of View".

In the article "Hey, Wanna Be a Kobold?" by Joseph Clay in Dragon #141 (January 1989), kobolds, xvarts, goblins, and orcs were presented as player character races along with two new character classes the "Shaman" and the "Witch Doctor".