orcs and goblins- what's the difference??? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Aiwendil · 03-30-2006, 10:26 AM

Neither goblins nor orcs ever climbed up walls in anything Tolkien wrote.

It's interesting to hear people's opinions, but can anyone actually provide evidence suggesting that "orc" and "goblin" are not synonyms? All that I can think of is the quote about "hobgoblins and orcs of the worst description", which might (possibly) suggest that there is a distinction, at the least, between hobgoblins and orcs - though it's quite hard to say, as the word "hobgoblin" is not used elsewhere by Tolkien, as far as I can recall.

I think that, at the very most, the distinction is a loose, "racial" one. I don't think there's any doubt that the Great Goblin, Azog, Grishnakh, Ugluk, and the rest belong to a single class of creatures called yrch.

03-30-2006, 10:26 AM	#10
Aiwendil Late Istar Join Date: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,224	Neither goblins nor orcs ever climbed up walls in anything Tolkien wrote. It's interesting to hear people's opinions, but can anyone actually provide evidence suggesting that "orc" and "goblin" are not synonyms? All that I can think of is the quote about "hobgoblins and orcs of the worst description", which might (possibly) suggest that there is a distinction, at the least, between hobgoblins and orcs - though it's quite hard to say, as the word "hobgoblin" is not used elsewhere by Tolkien, as far as I can recall. I think that, at the very most, the distinction is a loose, "racial" one. I don't think there's any doubt that the Great Goblin, Azog, Grishnakh, Ugluk, and the rest belong to a single class of creatures called yrch.