page_title: Orc
section_title: Tolkien
hierarchical_section_title: Orc / Tolkien
caption_attribution_description: English: The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1920
context_page_description: An orc is a fictional humanoid monster akin to a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially The Lord of the Rings. In Tolkien's works, orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly and malevolent race, contrasting with the benevolent Elves and serving an evil power, though they share a human sense of morality. His description of them has been criticised as caricature-like, even racist by some commentators, though others have noted that Tolkien was clearly anti-racist by intention.
  Mythological monsters with names similar to "orc" can be found in the Old English poem Beowulf, in Early Modern poetry, and in Northern European folk tales and fairy tales. Tolkien stated that he took the name from Beowulf.
  Tolkien's concept of orcs has been adapted and imported into the fantasy fiction of other authors, and into role-playing and strategy games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, and Warcraft.
caption: Tolkien wrote that his orcs were influenced by the goblins in George MacDonald's 1872 The Princess and the Goblin.[T 1] Illustration "The goblins fell back a little when he began, and made horrible grimaces" by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1920
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