An orc (sometimes spelled ork; /ɔːrk/, adjective: orkish,[1][2] orcish),[3] in general, is a hideous creature such as an ogre, a sea monster, or a giant in literature.[4] An orc, in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth fantasy fiction, is a race of humanoid monsters, which he also refers to as "goblin"-kind.
The orcs appear (especially in The Lord of the Rings) as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevolent race of monsters, contrasting with the benevolent Elves. They are a corrupted race of elves, either bred that way by Morgoth, or turned savage in that manner, according to the Silmarillion.[5][6]
The orc was a sort of "hell-devil" or giant in Old English literature, and the orc-né (pl. orc-néas, "demon-corpses") was a race of corrupted beings and descendants of Cain, alongside the elf, according to the poem Beowulf. Tolkien adopted the term orc from these old attestations, which he professed was a choice made purely for "phonetic suitability" reasons.[T 1]
The use of the term orc in the sense of "sea monster" or "devouring monster, ogre" already occurred in Early Modern English (ca. late 16th cent.), according to the Oxford English Dictionary presumably consulted by Tolkien.[7] The orc "sea monster" derived from orca, was unconnected to Tolkien's orc,[8] but the other orc monster had the same Old English origins as Tolkien's orc, but also influenced by ogre (Italian: orco) of Northern European folk tales and fairy tales.
Tolkien's concept of orcs has been adapted into the fantasy fiction of other authors, and into games of many different genres such as Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Warcraft.
