Balrog 'v' Moria orcs

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

What about scurvy and beriberi, though? Surely even Orcs couldn't subsist on just meat and Vitamin S(auron).

Well I don't know. I mean, a certain Elf - and potentially even a certain Man - could subsist on nothing whatsoever for years during the First Age when trapped in the Thangorodrim. (Though on the contrary it always bothered my sense of realism that Beren swore to kill no good creature and essentially became a vegetarian. Hard to do when you can't plant, have limited time to gather, and can't really make stocks because you're on the run/hunt from/for Morgoth's creatures.)

But point taken. Perhaps my perception of orcs has been influenced too much by the movies.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Well I don't know. I mean, a certain Elf - and potentially even a certain Man - could subsist on nothing whatsoever for years during the First Age when trapped in the Thangorodrim.

Which Elf? Who knows what Morgoth fed his thralls. Probably nothing particularly wholesome.
As for Húrin, if that's the Man you have in mind, I don't think he ate while imprisoned. Morgoth seems to have had him in some sort of stasis: he couldn't move, or even die, so lack of food shouldn't have been an issue.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

(Though on the contrary it always bothered my sense of realism that Beren swore to kill no good creature and essentially became a vegetarian. Hard to do when you can't plant, have limited time to gather, and can't really make stocks because you're on the run/hunt from/for Morgoth's creatures.)

Beren ate Orcs and the evil black squirrels.