From: Michael.P.Colburn@dartmouth.edu (Michael P. Colburn)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.tolkien
Subject: Melkor: Genetic Engineer? (was: Origin of Orcs) and other 
 musings
Date: 22 Dec 92 00:55:22 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0a5@newshost.dartmouth.edu

After reading several threads concerning how orcs were created and the
disposition of orcs when they are killed, I got to thinking...(uh oh)

Now, I could be wrong (and probably am), but none of the Valar could
actually create life...however, Aule created the race of dwarves.  I'm
guessing (and I think I read something that inferred this) that
Iluvatar knew what Aule was up to all along and it was only when
Iluvatar saw no harm in Aule designs that he gave the dwarves 'souls'
and life of they own.  The creations of Aule, without the blessing of
Iluvatar would have been little more than puppets who could only be
animated through the mind of Aule (I believe this is also inferred in
_Quenta Silmarillion_), much like Pinocchio was, at first, only
animated in Geappeto's (sp) mind (*see note below regarding the puppet
idea). Otherwise, what would have kept Melkor from creating life
himself...after all, Iluvatar himself said that Melkor was the
mightiest of all the Ainur (_Ainulindale_).  

Now obviously, the Valar had powers that cannot easily be explained by
science, nor can science explain the many of the wonders they created,
but I believe that Melkor could have been the orginal 'mad
scientist'...Melkor was none to happy that he, the mightiest of the
Ainur, could not create life and it really twisted him.  Once he found
out that Iluvatar meant to partially populate Middle Earth with elves,
a race of striking beauty, he became bent on creating a race in direct
mockery of these elves...orcs.  Melkor could have been the first
genetic engineer, grafting and/or mutating the genes of the elves he
held prisoner in Utumno with other genetic material and, for the lack
of a better description, created a test tube race.  This theory could
also be used for his creation of the Firedrakes (snakes, lizards,
birds), Wargs (wolves, hounds), etc.  Now, whether the souls of the
captive elves were some how passed along to the orcs via this
theoretical genetic experiment is anyones guess...IMHO, it's possible. 
I remember reading that the newly bred orcs knew only the hatred and
fear they had for their creator, Melkor...something I suppose they
could have easily from the tortured elves.  Yet if the orcs had elvish
souls, I'd have to think that they too were perverted and changed so
they were nothing like the soul of an elf...how else could the orcs be
so inherently cruel and hateful?  At any rate, since the orcs were
never 'sanctified' by Iluvatar (as he did for Aule's dwarves), I
believe that when an orc dies, he/she (hey, anybody remember references
to female orcs?) simply dies and rots...at best, their pervert souls
are sent packing into the void with Melkor in preparation of the Last
Battle (ah, another 'gray' area). 

* A note on the puppet metaphor...one intersting parallel I've drawn
from the idea that Aule's dwarves would have amounted to no more than
puppets with out Iluvatar's blessing is what happened to the Uruk-hai
and the Olog-hai after Sauron died with the destruction of the Ring. 
The Uruk-hai and the Olog-hai were the genetic work (using my theory of
genetic engineering ;-)) of Sauron, who took orcs and trolls and made
hybrids that were more powerful, durable then conventional orcs and
trolls and bred them so they could stand the light.  As soon as the
Ring was destroyed and Sauron's control of these creatures was
shattered; they stopped fighting and wandered about the battlefield
aimlessly.  Both hybrid races were totally destroyed by the allies of
Gondor.  This example also shows how much more of a powerful force
Melkor was than Sauron (and a better scientist, too;-)).  When Melkor
was exiled from Middle Earth, his 'creations' didn't become mindless
like Sauron's hybrid's...this, of course, is assuming Melkor didn't
have some sort of control over his minions from the void (I certainly
haven't read anywhere that this was possible).


> BTW: If Trolls are the mockery of Ents ( as Orcs are to Elves ), then why
>      do they return to stone and not wood upon being exposed to the
>      light? 

Good one, Thorongil...however, I think this is just a small oversight
on JRRT's part as I'm sure he borrowed from Scandanavian (I believe)
troll mythology in which any troll exposed to sunlight is turned to
stone.  Here's one of my hairbrained theories, though...perhaps the
exposure to sunlight instantaneously turns them to pertified wood which
is as hard as stone.

> Thorongil
> 

Here's something a bit different:  any thoughts on why JRRT didn't
include the dwarves in the original plan for Middle Earth?  Could this
be because he had written dwarves into the Hobbit, but didn't have them
include yet in his early writings of the Silmarillion...in other words,
did he go back and put them in Silmarillion later to account for their
presence in the Hobbit?

Anyway, I've certainly babbled long enough...hopefully, there's enough
fodder here for you folks to chew on 'though.  Any thoughts on my
ramblings, pro or con?  Any other ideas or theories on any of the
subjects I've touched on?

Mike Colburn                         =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Dartmouth-Hitchcock                  "Pulu-see-ba-goomba" -- Gilligan 
Medical Center                       =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Lebanon, New Hampshire  03756        :-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-)
"Many are the strange chances of the world and help oft shall come from
the hands of the weak when the Wise falter." -- Mithrandir