Orc

An orc /ɔːrk/[1] is a fictional humanoid monster akin to a goblin.

Orcs have been, alongside Dragons, the great antagonists, or the cannon fodder, in many fantasy series for a long time. Orcs have even inspired some “Sci-Fi Versions” of them on the run.

Contents

1 Etymology 1.1 Old English 1.2 Modern English 2 Tolkien’s Orc 3 Dungeon’s and Dragons Orc 4 Warcraft’s Orc 5 Warhammer’s Orc 6 Notes

   "Orkses is neva defeated in battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin' so it don't count. If we runz for it we don't lose eva, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!"
   — Common Ork saying

Etymology

   "The word as far as I am concerned actually derived from Old English orc, demon, but only because of its phonetic suitability."
   ― J.R.R. Tolkien in Letter 144

Old English

The Latin: Orcus is glossed as “Orc, þyrs, oððe hel-deofol”[a] (“Goblin, spectre, or hell-devil”) in the 10th century Old English Cleopatra Glossary, about which Thomas Wright wrote, “Orcus was the name for Pluto, the god of the infernal regions, hence we can easily understand the explanation of hel-deofol. Orc, in Anglo-Saxon, like thyrs, means a spectre, or goblin.” The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal defines ork in the closely related Old Dutch language as a verslindend monster (“devouring monster”), and points at a possible origin in the Old Dutch nork “petulant, crabbed, evil person”.

Modern English

A monster called Orcus is mentioned in Edmund Spenser’s 1590 Faerie Queene. The Oxford English Dictionary records an Early Modern period orke, meaning “ogre”, in Samuel Holland’s 1656 fairy tale Don Zara, a pastiche of Spanish romances such as Don Quixote. It is presumed that ‘orke’/’ogre’ came into English via continental fairy-tales, especially from the 17th-century French writer Charles Perrault, who borrowed most of his stories and developed his “ogre” from the 16th-century Italian writers Giovanni Francesco Straparola (credited with introducing the literary form of the fairy tale) and Giambattista Basile, who wrote in the Naples dialect, stating that he was passing on oral folktales from his region. In the tales, Basile used huorco, huerco or uerco, the Neapolitan form of Italian orco, lit. “Ogre”, to describe a large, hairy, tusked, mannish beast who could speak, lived in a dark forest or garden and might capture and eat humans.

Tolkien’s Orc

Orcs were created during the First Age by Morgoth, they served him and Sauron, his later successor, as primary soldiers in their aims to dominate Middle-earth. It was believed that Morgoth had kidnapped a branch of the Elven race known as the Avari and deformed them, twisting them into the first Orcs.

Appearance

Orcs were described as smaller in stature than Men on average, strong but crooked in frame and bow-legged. One "huge orc-chieftain" was described as "almost Man-high", but some must have been of a similar size to Hobbits (Frodo and Sam succeeded in disguising themselves as Orcs in Mordor). Their overall appearance varied: they had long arms and fanged mouths; Tolkien describes them as "swart" or "sallow", although one in Mordor is "black-skinned" and others are described generally as "black" (possibly not a reference to skin colour).

Uruk-Hai

The Uruk-hai are a lot taller than normal orcs, "the size of men" possibly because of the crossbred of Orc and Man.

In Black Speech of Mordor the word Uruk means "orc" and hai means "people". So all uruks are orcs but not every orc is an uruk. For some reason, maybe of orc supremacy, the non-uruks weren't called uruk. They were known for derogatory terms such as apes and maggots.

Uruk-Hai are a specific breed of Uruks, which is another word for Orc, or Ork. Essentially translated Uruk means “Goblin” or "Orc" (as the two words were used interchangeably) and Uruk-Hai means “Goblin-Man”, "Orc-Man" or even "Human Orc".

uruk, n. great soldier orc. (LOTR:III p.409. cf. S. orch) uruk-hai, nm. people. 'uruk-folk'.

Dungeons and Dragons Orc

"Orcs appear particularly disgusting because their coloration - brown or brownish green with a bluish sheen - highlights their pinkish snouts and ears. Their bristly hair is dark brown or black, sometimes with tan patches. Even their armor tends to be unattractive - dirty and often a bit rusty. Orcs favor unpleasant colors in general. Their garments are in tribal colors, as are shield devices or trim. Typical colors are blood red, rust red, mustard yellow, yellow green, moss green, greenish purple, and blackish brown. They live for 40 years." [Monsters Manual, Gary Gygax, TSR, 1977 p. 76 ]

Subraces and Related Races

Montain Orcs

This is very likely to be the most common subrace of Orc and can be found throughout Faerûn, as they travel along the montain ranges from the Spine of the World in the far north. Mountain Orcs are the first historicaly accounted for race of orc.

Ogrillons

Offspring of the breeding between Orcs and Ogres.

Warcraft’s Orc

   “Thok go through shiny hole. Then me fall down, but me good. Me find many good things to eat. We find village. We mash them and eat their food. Thok stop now. Head hurt from write.”
   ― Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Manual, p.17

Warhammer’s Ork

   "The Orks are the pinnacle of creation. For them, the great struggle is won. They have evolved a society which knows no stress or angst. Who are we to judge them? We Aeldari who have failed, or the humans, on the road to ruin in their turn? And why? Because we sought answers to questions that an Ork wouldn't even bother to ask! We see a culture that is strong and despise it as crude."
       — Uthan the Perverse, Aeldari Philosopher

In the Warhammer 40k universe the Orks are a biologically-engineered species, created more than 60 million Terran years ago as a warrior race originally called the Krork by the long-vanished reptilian alien species known as the Old Ones, whom the Orks refer to as the Brain Boyz, to fight the Necrons and their C'tan masters in the great interstellar conflict called the War in Heaven

  "Of all the races I have battled throughout the galaxy, the Ork is the hardest to comprehend. They wage war with machines that should not work, care little for strategic gains, and are just as likely to slaughter each other as the enemy. How does one battle an enemy that defies all logic?"
   — Rogue Trader Varnael Larik