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Orc
An orc (sometimes spelt ork; ), in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy fiction, is a race of humanoid monsters, which he also calls "goblin". In Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', orcs appear as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevolent race of monsters, contrasting with the benevolent Elves. He described their origins inconsistently, including as a corrupted race of elves, or bred by the Dark Lord Morgoth, or turned to evil in the wild. Tolkien's orcs serve as a conveniently wholly evil enemy that could be slaughtered without mercy. The orc was a sort of "hell-devil" in Old English literature, and the (pl. , "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. Tolkien's concept of orcs has been adapted into the fantasy fiction of other authors, and into g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tolkien's Moral Dilemma
J. R. R. Tolkien, a devout Roman Catholic, created what he came to feel was a moral dilemma for himself with his supposedly evil Middle-earth peoples like Orcs, when he made them able to speak. This identified them as sentient and sapient; indeed, he portrayed them talking about right and wrong. This meant, he believed, that they were open to morality, like Men. In Tolkien's Christian framework, that in turn meant they must have souls, so killing them would be wrong without very good reason. Orcs serve as the principal forces of the enemy in ''The Lord of the Rings'', where they are slaughtered in large numbers in the battles of Helm's Deep and the Pelennor Fields in particular. If Tolkien wanted killing Orcs not to be such a problem, then they would have to be without any moral sense, like ordinary animals. Both Tolkien and other scholars have been aware of the contradiction implied by this position: if Orcs were essentially "beasts", then they should not have had a moral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orcus Glossed As Orc, Thyrs, Or Hel-deofol In Cleopatra Glossary
Orcus was a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths in Etruscan and Roman mythology. As with Hades, the name of the god was also used for the underworld itself. Eventually, he was conflated with Dis Pater and Pluto. A temple to Orcus may once have existed on the Palatine Hill in Rome. It is likely that he was transliterated from the Greek daemon Horkos, the personification of oaths and a son of Eris. Origins The origins of Orcus may have lain in Etruscan religion. The so-called "Tomb of Orcus", an Etruscan site at Tarquinia, is a misnomer, resulting from its first discoverers mistaking a hairy, bearded giant for Orcus; it actually depicts a Cyclops. The Romans sometimes conflated Orcus with other underworld gods such as Pluto, Hades, and Dis Pater. The name "Orcus" seems to have referred specifically to the malicious and punishing side of the ruler of the underworld, as the god who tormented evildoers in their afterlife. Like the name Hades, "Orcus" could refer both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is the oecumene (i.e. the human-inhabited world, or the central continent of Earth) in Tolkien's imagined mythopoeia, mythological past. Tolkien's most widely read works, ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', are set entirely in Middle-earth. "Middle-earth" has also become Metonym, a short-hand term for Tolkien's legendarium, his large body of fantasy writings, and for the entirety of his fictional world. Middle-earth is the main continent of Cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium#Spherical-earth cosmology, Earth (Arda) in an imaginary period of the past, ending with Tolkien's Third Age, about 6,000 years ago. Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth mostly focus on the north-west of the continent. This region is suggestive of Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lord Of The Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, ''The Lord of the Rings'' is one of the List of best-selling books, best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold. The title refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who History of Arda#Second Age, in an earlier age created the One Ring, allowing him to rule the other Rings of Power given to Men in Middle-earth, men, Dwarves in Middle-earth, dwarves, and Elves in Middle-earth, elves, in his campaign to conquer all of Middle-earth. From homely beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land reminiscent of the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following Quests in Middle-earth, the quest to destroy the One Ring, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warcraft
''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of six core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'', ''World of Warcraft'', '' Hearthstone'', and '' Warcraft Rumble''. The first three of these core games are in the real-time strategy genre, where opposing players command virtual armies in battle against each other or a computer-controlled enemy. The fourth and best-selling title of the franchise is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where players control their character and interact with each other in a virtual world. Expansion sets were released for ''Warcraft II'' ('' Beyond the Dark Portal''), ''Warcraft III'' ('' The Frozen Throne'') and multiple expansions were released for ''World of Warcraft'' ('' The Burning Crusade'', '' Wrath of the Lich King'', '' Cataclysm'', '' Mists of Pandaria'', '' Warlords of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tolkien's Monsters
Tolkien's monsters are the evil beings, such as Orcs, Trolls, and giant spiders, who oppose and sometimes fight the protagonists in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Tolkien was an expert on Old English, especially ''Beowulf'', and several of his monsters share aspects of the ''Beowulf'' monsters; his Trolls have been likened to Grendel, the Orcs' name harks back to the poem's ''orcneas'', and the dragon Smaug has multiple attributes of the ''Beowulf'' dragon. The European medieval tradition of monsters makes them either humanoid but distorted, or like wild beasts, but very large and malevolent; Tolkien follows both traditions, with monsters like Orcs of the first kind and Wargs of the second. Some scholars add Tolkien's immensely powerful Dark Lords Morgoth and Sauron to the list, as monstrous enemies in spirit as well as in body. Scholars have noted that the monsters' evil nature reflects Tolkien's Roman Catholicism, a religion which has a clear conception of go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troll (Middle-earth)
Trolls are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, and feature in films and games adapted from his novels. They are portrayed as Tolkien's monsters, monstrously large humanoids of great strength and poor intellect. In ''The Hobbit'', like the dwarf Alviss of Norse mythology, they must be below ground before dawn or turn to stone, whereas in ''The Lord of the Rings'' they are able to face daylight. Commentators have noted the different uses Tolkien made of trolls, from comedy in Sam Gamgee's poem and the Cockney accents and table manners of the working-class trolls in ''The Hobbit'', to the hellish atmosphere in Moria (Middle-earth), Moria as the protagonists are confronted by darkness and monsters. Tolkien, a Roman Catholic, drew back from giving trolls the power of speech, as he had done in ''The Hobbit'', as it implied to him that they had souls – confronting him with Tolkien's moral dilemma, a moral dilemma, so he made the trolls in ''The Silmarillion'' and ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beowulf
''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translations of Beowulf, most often translated works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025 AD. Scholars call the anonymous author the "''Beowulf'' poet". The story is set in pagan Scandinavia in the 5th and 6th centuries. Beowulf (hero), Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes (Germanic tribe), Danes, whose mead hall Heorot has been under attack by the monster Grendel for twelve years. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother takes revenge and is in turn defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and becomes king of the Geats. Fifty years later, Beowulf def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir (; originally Melkor ) is a character, one of the godlike Vala (Middle-earth), Valar and the primary antagonist of Tolkien's legendarium, the mythic epic published in parts as ''The Silmarillion'', ''The Children of Húrin'', ''Beren and Lúthien'', and ''The Fall of Gondolin''. The character is also briefly mentioned in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Melkor is the most powerful of the Valar but he turns to darkness and is renamed Morgoth, the primary antagonist of Arda (Middle-earth), Arda. All evil in the world of Middle-earth ultimately stems from him. One of the Maia (Middle-earth), Maiar of Aulë betrays his kind and becomes Morgoth's principal lieutenant and successor, Sauron. Melkor has been interpreted as analogous to Satan, once the greatest of all God's angels, Lucifer, but fallen through Seven deadly sins#Pride, pride; he rebels against his creator. Morgoth has likewise been likened to John Milton's fallen angel in ''Paradise Lost'', again a Satan-figur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast, later a subsidiary of Hasbro, since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargaming, miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game ''Chainmail (game), Chainmail'' serving as the initial rule system. ''D&D'' publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, which also deeply influenced video games, especially the Role-playing video game, role-playing video game genre. ''D&D'' departs from traditional wargame, wargaming by allowing each player to create their own Player character, character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon adventures wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monster, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on the story and country of origin, ranging from mischievous Household deity, household spirits to malicious, bestial thieves. They often have magical abilities similar to a fairy or demon, such as the ability to Shapeshifting, shapeshift. Similar creatures include brownie (folklore), brownies, dwarf (mythology), dwarves, duendes, gnomes, imps, leprechauns, and kobolds, but it is also commonly used as a blanket term for all small, fay creatures. The term is sometimes expanded to include goblin-like creatures of other cultures, such as the pukwudgie, dokkaebi, or ifrit. Etymology Alternative spellings include ''gobblin'', ''gobeline'', ''gobling'', ''goblyn'', ''goblino'', and ''gobbelin''. The term "goblette" has been used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
