Female Orcs?

[Meneldil]

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Re: Female Orcs?

I don't think this question can be answered without considering the question of the origin of Orcs (there's a wonderful thread titled &quot;Orcish fear&quot; in the Silmarillion board). Orcs must, ultimately, either have been 'puppets' animated by Morgoth's power, in which case I'd question whether they'd have been able to reproduce - they might have hatched from pods (I seem to remember a contrary reference in a footnote in HoME X), or have been corruptions of Eru's creatures (Eruhini or lesser creatures, genetically-engineered apes, perhaps). If the latter is true, they'd probably have reproduced in the same manner as the Eruhini or the animals from whom they were derived.

The references to forced cross-breeding between humans and orcs in /Late Writings/ also supports the theory of sexual reproduction.

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