Orcs Are People by cuarthol

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Fanwork Notes


‘Whence [Orcs] came, or what they were, the Elves knew not then, thinking them perhaps to be Avari who had become evil and savage in the wild; in which they guessed all too near, it is said.’ 
The Silmarillion, “Of The Sindar”

What are Orcs? Instruments of evil which can—nay, must—be destroyed? A morally uncomplicated enemy which absolves the hero’s need to feel guilt? That is certainly one view.

Another less common but no less compelling view is of Orcs as people, themselves brutalized by that same evil. It is an idea which tantalizes some fans, skillfully crafting a person-shaped mirror to hold up to the audience so that we may see ourselves in them.

Tolkien struggled with his ideas for Orcs. In later years he looked for an alternate origin to account for them, no longer content with ‘corrupted Elves’. This proved difficult as their appearance pre-dates the awakening of Men. If he intended Orcs only as assurance for the protagonist’s unsullied conscience, it seems the author was not so fortunate.

Whatever Tolkien’s final thoughts, his works depict Orcs with an undeniable humanity—they sing songs, chafe against Big Bosses, and even seek vengeance for deaths of family or comrades. Whether by intent or no, they were people beyond being mere pawns driven by a Dark Lord’s will.

Though within Tolkien’s world ‘Evil cannot create,’ it would do to remember that Morgoth was not wholly evil in his beginning. If they exist beyond Morgoth’s will, then by some measure they must also be Children of Eru. Even Finrod argued against the power of Morgoth to so wholly alter The One’s design. While the deepest philosophical questions of Orcs may remain unanswered by the Professor, his fans may, if not restore a lost humanity, firmly bestow one upon them.

This collection was made by Cuarthol who has taken a special interest in the topic of Orcs as people, though is by no means an authoritative voice on the subject nor is this collection intended to encompass the breadth of the fandom’s interaction with the topic.

Any collection will necessarily and unfortunately be limited, missing many worthy additions, especially those not yet created or beyond the knowledge of the collector. If you know of other works which feature Tolkien’s Orcs as people, especially as told from their POV or heavily featuring them as primary characters, please add them in the comments so the collection can grow.

Eternal gratitude to Anérea for reaching out to the artists for permissions, Melesta’s guidance on creating the collection, and Dawn’s work on formatting and publishing.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Part of our Themed Collection series for our newsletter, this collection features fiction, artwork, and essays that transcend the idea of Orcs as the enemy, instead considering their humanity.

Major Characters: Orcs

Major Relationships:

Genre: Fanwork Collection

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Themed Collections
Posted on 4 October 2024 Updated on 5 October 2024

This fanwork is complete.

Fanworks

"Grishnákh" by Suwi

It’s so rare that fanart is done of Orcs, and even less so of named Orcs.

Format: Art 
Warnings: None

"elves, once" by Scedasticity

"elves, once" puts terrifying and too often familiar faces to Orcs, delving into their nature, their societies, and their brutal submission to the wills of the Dark Lords.  Draws on established characters to really drive the lesson home (oftentimes, straight into the heart).

Format: Fiction
Word Count: 43,562
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn
Summary: They were elves, once.
All of them.

"Knight Roland's guts, strewn all over the marble ground" by Angamaite

"Knight Roland's guts, strewn all over the marble ground" follows on its heels with a very focused look at how the followers of Celegorm saw Orcs, and how it affected the life of one in particular.

Format: Fiction
Word Count: 3,516
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Summary: Orcs: a treatise on dissection.

"Two Angbandian Women" by Celebbun

Outstanding representation not only of Orcs but of Orc women!  Their jewelry, embroidery, and expressions bring them to such beautiful life.

Format: Art 
Warnings: None

"Death of an Orc" by Himring

"Death of an Orc" explores an underlying humanity that reaches across the divide, proving they are not so very different in the end.

Format: Fiction
Word Count: 1,233
Rating: Teens
Warnings: Major Character Death
Summary: Sometime in the Fourth Age, Maglor, wandering along the shore, comes across a dying orc.
This leads him to question some of his beliefs and reconsider earlier experiences.

"And Now for Something Completely Different ..." by Grundy

"And Now For Something Completely Different …" presents in vivid detail Orc culture and family dynamics, and the first tentative steps of bridging what once was an uncrossable chasm.  Post War of the Ring. 

Format: Fiction
Word Count: 6,283
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings, Mature Themes
Summary: The world changed when Sauron fell. Orcs have to adapt to survive, and the elves may have to try new things too.

"The Vilest Deed of Melkor" by Quinn Thomson

The terror and agony of their being comes through so clearly in their expressions, how they cling to one another and wail, their bodies already scarred.

Format: Art
Characters: Melkor and the first Orcs
Warnings: None

"On the Origin and Nature of Orcs" by Anna_Wing

"On The Origin And Nature Of Orcs" is a nonfiction essay which looks at Tolkien’s writings, letters, and histories and coalesces them into a cohesive theory. Included for the fantastic research and citations, though the conclusion may provoke disagreement.

Format: Essay
Word Count: 2,452
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: None
Summary: A speculative essay on the origin and nature of Orcs.

"Of Melkor and the Creation of Orcs" by cuarthol

I’ll end with a fic that attempts to reconcile Tolkien’s later dislike of Orcs’ origins.

"Of Melkor and the Creation of Orcs" seeks to answer the question of how Orcs came to be, if not from Elves?

Format: Fiction
Word Count: 650
Rating: General
Warnings: None
Summary: "To Melkor among the Ainur had been given the greatest gifts of power and knowledge, and he had a share in all the gifts of his brethren. He had gone often alone into the void places seeking the Imperishable Flame; for desire grew hot within him to bring into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that Ilúvatar took no thought for the Void, and he was impatient of its emptiness…

… for Aulë was most like [Melkor] in thought and in powers"

The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

Beyond Fandom

"Let Us Now Praise Famous Orcs: Simple Humanity in Tolkien's Inhuman Creatures" by Robert T. Tally, Jr.

For a more scholarly look at the subject, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Orcs: Simple Humanity in Tolkien's Inhuman Creatures," written by Robert T. Tally, Jr., published in Mythlore, Volume 29, Number 1, explores this topic in great detail, including references to Tolkien’s dilemma regarding Orcs.

I'm just adding a link to the current Orctober challenge here, as several great pieces from orcish perspective have been posted to the challenge already and I expect there will be more! (Readers not familiar with the site: scroll down to find the posted stories below the challenge prompts.)

cuarthol encouraged me to share my newest fic here.

Against Expectation by chrissystriped
A fic I wrote for the Orctober prompt "buried alive". I write Orcs often as pessimistic -- or realistic, as they'd say. They don't expect good things to happen to them, so for this one the turn of events is a surprise.

Format: Fiction
Word Count: 309
Rating: General
Warnings: None
Summary: He is dead. His heart is still beating, but he is dead.

 

Not sure what the etiquette is on adding on to my own collection but:

Know Our Names by lemurious

Format: Fiction
Word Count: 700
Rating: General
Warnings: None
Summary:
The line between an Elf and an Orc, between a neighbor and an enemy, was not always clear in the North.
 

What a great collection with samplings from all over! I wasn't expecting to find essays in here but I am excited to read one or both of them, as well as some of the fics I have not yet read. 

I enjoyed your thoughts in the introduction too: "Whatever Tolkien’s final thoughts, his works depict Orcs with an undeniable humanity—they sing songs, chafe against Big Bosses, and even seek vengeance for deaths of family or comrades. Whether by intent or no, they were people beyond being mere pawns driven by a Dark Lord’s will."

Orcs, and Tolkien's complicated thoughts about who they were, are such fertile ground for the creation of transformative works. I hope the works in this collection inspire more. It certainly has me thinking...

And I'm back with another rec: All Living Things by Keiliss, which she says is more correctly called Eklach's Story, or An Orc's Tale, because that is what it is.

This story is about overcoming stereotypes (Eklach wasn't too sure about elves either). It contains non graphic injuries, unexpected babysitting, and a hopeful ending. Just another day really. 

Also on AO3.

I'd like to add what I consider to be an early, seminal work on orcs in Tolkien's milieu, namely the excellent Orc-brat series by thelauderdale.  Thelauderdale's stories originally appeared on Fanfiction.net in 2003, and are also available on AO3 (see aforementioned link).