The origin of Orcs
by Calle Mattsson
 
A fundamental concept for Tolkien was
that Evil cannot create, only corrupt. In Letter 153 he explained that to
a first approximation, Treebeard was wrong:
 
"Trolls are only counterfeits, made by the Enemy in the
Great Darkness, in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of
Elves."
(The Two Towers, p. 89)
 
and Frodo was right:
 
"The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot
make: not real new things of its own. I don't think it gave life
to Orcs, it only ruined them and twisted them ..."
(The Return of the King, p. 190)
 
Tolkien:
"Treebeard is a character in my story, not me; and though
he has a great memory and some earthy wisdom, he is not
one of the Wise, and there is quite a lot he does not know
or understand."
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, p. 190;(
 
"Suffering and experience (and possibly the Ring itself) gave
Frodo more insight ..." The (Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, p.191.)
 
Tolkien stated explicitly that the Orcs are indeed
"a race of rational incarnate creatures,
though horribly corrupted". Also that "In the legends of the Elder Days it
is suggested that the Diabolus subjugated and corrupted some of
the earliest Elves, before they had ever heard of the 'gods', let
alone of God." (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, p. 191). In fact, the
The Silmarillion does state that Orcs were Avari (Dark Elves)
captured by Morgoth (p. 50, 94), though strictly speaking, the
idea is presented as the best guess of the Eldar, no more. Some
have rejected the statements on those grounds, that the Elvish
compilers of the The Silmarillion didn't actually know the truth but
were merely speculating. But since Tolkien himself, speaking as
author and sub-creator, more-or-less verified this idea, it's
probably safe to accept it, as far as it goes.
It has been widely noted that this conception leaves several
questions unresolved.
 
Re: procreation, the The Silmarillion says that "the Orcs had life
and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilúvatar" (p. 50),
but nevertheless people continue to raise questions. For one thing,
there was never any hint that female Orcs exist (there were two
apparent references to Orc children, but both were from the The
Hobbit, and therefore may be considered suspect).
There is the question of why, if Orcs were corrupted Elves, their
offspring would also be Orcs (rather than Elves - a somewhat
horrifying thought). This question leads to discussions of
brainwashing, genetics, which are not altogether appropriate to the
world of Middle-earth.
 
Finally there is the question of whether Orcs, being fundamentally
Elves, go to the Halls of Mandos when they are slain, and
whether, like Elves, they are reincarnated. (This last would explain
how they managed to replenish their numbers so quickly all the
time.) There is also some reason to think that Orcs, like Elves, are
immortal. (Gorbag and Shagrat, during the conversation which
Sam overheard, mention the "Great Siege", which presumably
refers to the Last Alliance; it is possible to interpret this reference
to mean that they were there and actually remembered it themselves.)
 
What Was the Origin of Trolls?
 
No one seems to know. Apparently, though, they were "made" (as
opposed to "created" like the orcs by Melkor. Said Tolkien:
"I am not sure about Trolls. I think they are mere
'counterfeits', and hence... they return to mere stone images
when not in the dark. But there are other sorts of Trolls,
beside these rather ridiculous, if brutal, Stone-trolls, for
which other origins are suggested."
(The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, p. 191)
"Counterfeits" here means more-or-less that the Trolls have
no independent life of their own but are puppets animated in
some way by an external Evil Will. As for the other kind of
Troll, the Olog-hai, no reference to their origin has been
found, except for Appendix F:
"That Sauron bred them none doubted, though from what
stock was not known."
However, they were definitely true Trolls, not large Orcs.
The Troll adventure in the The Hobbit should probably not be
taken too literally as a source of Troll-lore - it seems clear that it
was much modified by the translator's desire to create familiarity.
Thus, it seems unlikely that Trolls in Middle-earth spoke with
Cockney accents, just as it seems unlikely that one of them would
have been named "William".