NP Tolkien Picks Up A Few More Bits Of Cultural Baggage

[jbor]

So, your argument now is that the orcs are a "race" of humans, members of
the human race, is it? Sorry, that simply doesn't gel with the text or film
at all, as the quotes illustrate.

The orcs, just like the dwarves, elves, trolls etc, are *not human*.

best


on 7/1/03 9:46 PM, Dave Monroe at davidmmonroe at yahoo.com wrote:

>> God no. Life's too short. Just pointing out the
>> obvious. I.e., that "race" does not equal "species".
>> And that "racism" is a *human* phenomenon.
>
> "Yet it is held by the wise of Eressëa, that all those
> of the Quendi who came into the hands of Melkor, ere
> Utumno was broken were put there in prison, and by
> slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and
> thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in
> envy and mockery of the elves." (Silmarillion, p. 50)
> 
> http://www.fortunecity.com/athena/emerald/236/fateoforcs.html
> 
> "... a race of rational incarnate creatures, though
> horribly corrupted." (Letters, p. 287)