[Mithadan]

<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Shade of Carn Dûm
Posts: 309</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE>
Re: Orcish Fear

Welcome again Black Lieutenant. There's an interesting discussion on how you forgot your name and whether your life was somehow extended in the Books Forum, Magic thread.

JRRT voiced his dissatisfaction with elvish origin of orcs in Letters and in a couple of Essays published in Morgoth's Ring. Concededly, he sounds pretty firm in his position that orcs don't come from elves. One of the things that this and the related thread have highlighted are the inconsistencies that such a change in position would create.

This is also an area that seems to generate strong opinions, right up there with whether Balrogs have wings, whether elves' ears are pointed, and the origins of Bombadil. The theoretical purpose of this forum is to try to hash through issues raised in HoME concerning the evolution of the Sil. This issue is kind of tough. The evidence of JRRT's intent to make a change is there. But the visceral response to such a change appears to be rejection due to individually held views rather than fact.

--Mithadan--
"The Silmarils with living light
were kindled clear, and waxing bright
shone like stars that in the North
above the reek of earth leap forth." </p>