The Details of Tolkien’s Tales

Chapter 17-22 of The Silmarillion expand upon and add a layer of depth to previous conversations about the morality of orcs themselves, and to what degree they were responsible for the pain and suffering they caused as a collective. While it remains true that the majority of these creatures were created through torture and coerced into following evil, nearly all-powerful leaders, one cannot ignore the sheer amount of pain they caused in some of these most recent chapters. They tortured and terrorized others in the same ways they experienced constantly, seemingly going above and beyond the call of duty even of their evil overlords.  Chapter 20 in particular stood out to me, since in the beginning of this chapter the orcs’ role as sacrificial pawns is made clear when they are sent out in small, hopeless groups to be slaughtered as a distraction. In this moment, we can easily see how they were being used by more powerful, conscious leaders against their will. Even slightly later on, w...

            The orcs are known most widely as the primary soldiers of the Dark Lord’s army, created by Morgoth. They are believed to have originally been elves that were kidnapped, tormented and twisted into darker, monstrous beings to better suit his evil purposes. The first species they encountered after this transformation were the dwarves, who ran to inform the King of Doriath of this new and terrifying threat. This led the king to seek new weapons and weapon-making methods for the first time, leading to an even further increase in the violence and destruction in the world than would have been caused by the creation of the orcs alone. After fighting in one of their major battles, the Battle of Powers, they scattered to like in dark underground environments like caves and tunnels, mysterious and secluded from the outside world. Later on, they went on to serve Sauron, although many clung to their previous ways of life and at first, resisted joining his ar...