2007-12-31 14:31:07 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
Orcs have been in European fairy tales as far back as the 16th century, primarily thanks to the author Straparola. J. R. R. Tolken's Lord of the Rings (written in the late 1930's through 1949), however, is the modern influence for various orcs (also spelled "orks" in some cases, such as the Warhammer games), including those of Warhammer, EverQuest, Shrek, and others.
2007-12-31 14:42:09 · answer #1 · answered by Berrex 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope. The original orc was a sea monster that was probably a kind of whale. Tolkein (a big fan of language) probably saw that an orc was some kind of monster, and used it to describe the huge "super-goblins" in "The Hobbit".
2008-01-02 05:47:28 · answer #2 · answered by morph_888 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The word "orc" is probably derived from the word "orcneas," which is found in the original text of the Old English poem "Beowulf." Orcneas probably means something along the lines of monster or demon, but has also been translated as walking dead. In his translation of the text, Seamus Heaney altered it into Ogre.
Tolkien popularized the term with "The Lord of the Rings," "The Hobbit," and "The Silmarillion."
2007-12-31 16:08:25 · answer #3 · answered by J. G. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
J.R. Tolkien did.
2007-12-31 14:38:31 · answer #4 · answered by Stephen L 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, that, as far as I know, was taken from Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit".
2007-12-31 14:35:30 · answer #5 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋