Orcs

At the world-famous storyteller Jambattista Bazile from Naples, who lived in the 17th century , in the book "Tale of Tales, or Fun for Young Children" we read the following description of the orc:

And he came to the foot of the mountains, so high that they were playing leapfrog with clouds, someone higher. And here, on the roots of a poplar, near the mouth of a cave carved into the rock, an orc sat; and - my mother - how terrible he was!

He was small in stature and ugly in body, with a head larger than an Indian pumpkin . The face is bumped, the eyebrows are fused, the eyes are sloping, the nose is flat, the nostrils are like two holes in a latrine, the mouth is like a mill, with two fangs up to the knees, the chest is furry, the arms are like a weaving reel, the legs are crooked, and the feet are wide, like goose paws. But in short, he looked like a demon, as they paint in pictures where his archangel Michael strikes with a spear, a garden scarecrow, sleepy obsession, an evil ghost, which can not be described with words, but could it only be said that he would tremble Roland would have horrified Skanderbeg and made the most inveterate village brawler go pale.

"Orcneas" in the poem "Beowulf"

John Tolkien introduced the Orc fantasy genre in The Lord of the Rings . Tolkien himself claimed that he took the word “orc” from verse 112 of the medieval poem “ Beowulf ”, where there is the word “orcneas” - “Underwater monsters” ^[1] (the word is a hapax of the poem, interpretations of its meaning and etymology diverge: for some of them the part -neas comes from the Gothic naus or Old Norse nár , meaning “corpse” and “dead man” ^[2] , or from the Old English -né , derived from nebbed - “dead man on the bed” ^[3] ). In later letters and some unpublished works, Tolkien wrote this word as “ork”. Curiously, the Latin name for killer whale Orcinus orca is supposedly derived from Greek. ὄρυξ - with this word Pliny the Elder designated a certain predator, which could be both an orca and a sperm whale.

The classic of American children's literature, Lyman Frank Baum, introduced the extravagant-looking, flying, kindly creature Ork (in the original - the Ork) into his works on the country of Oz . According to Orc, acquainted with the main characters, he lives in his own country of Orkonia (in the original - Orkland). He helps the heroes, transporting them on himself across the sky. In particular, this can be read in the story “Scarecrow from the country of Oz”, published back in 1915 .

Orcs in England were called Normans. Literally, orc means a stranger who brings evil and death (see the poem “The Battle of Hastings”) ^[4] . In ancient Roman mythology, Orcus is one of the names of Pluto , the god of the underworld ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]} . According to a common version, the English orcneas may be associated with the Latin orcus, although Tolkien expressed doubts about this.

The Orcs of Middle-earth were an evil nation, subordinate to the Dark Lord and making up his hordes. They were dark-skinned creatures with the growth of the average man, created from the most bloodthirsty animals and tortured by torture of the Melkor elves . When they were created, the Dark Lord - Morgoth - made a mistake fatal for orcs and trolls . Their creation took place in the dark, so the orcs, although, unlike trolls, do not stone, but they greatly weaken in the light. Subsequently, this flaw was corrected by Sauron , who created the variety - Uruk-hai .

Later, orcs became popular in fantasy novels and games based on them, often as a separate view from goblins. The traditional description of the orc in modern fantasy works is markedly different from the Tolkien goblins and comes mainly from the rules of the board games D&D and Warhammer (The reason is green). Orcs are described as tall, strong, warlike creatures with olive-green skin, large fangs and flat noses, like in monkeys ^[10] . They are often endowed with barbaric culture and stereotypical attributes of Vikings or nomadic peoples (for example, Huns or Mongols ), often in combination with elements of Indian culture (such as worship of totems and the presence of shamans). In most cases, orcs have a large physique and well-developed muscles.

Traditionally, orcs act as elf antagonists , they are attributed to various negative characteristics: bloodthirstiness, meekness, militancy, treachery, treachery, a tendency to cannibalism , etc. In some settings , such as Gothic , orcs are human antagonists. In most cases, the danger emanating from the orcs is in their quantity, strength and rage, and not in military skill. An orcish army is most often a poorly organized, chaotic force. Orcish commanders are often described as strong charismatic leaders, but bad strategists .

Recently, both in the literature of the fantasy genre and in computer games , the stereotype of orcs as “ monsters ” is often violated, and this view appears in a more positive light. In the games of the Allods series, The Elder Scrolls, the orcs act as friendly enough creatures that do not differ morally from other species, they can also be played for, although they still have a barbaric culture and paraphernalia. In the Lineage II universe, orcs are a species that has large sizes (a cut above human), gray-green skin, remarkable strength, but not too dexterous. In literature, orcs first emerged as positive creatures in the orcish cycle of Stan Nichols' novels.

In Might & Magic Series Games

A separate, non-standard image of the orcs is observed in the second and fourth games of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, as well as in the games Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World and Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen . There, the orcs are depicted in the guise of ugly pig-like humanoids. In the other games of the “heroic” series, the orcs look different: in Heroes of Might and Magic III they have a completely traditional look and green skin; in Heroes of Might and Magic V they are an independent species of creatures with a good mindset, have orange or brown skin and are positioned as semi-human-semi demons . In addition, the culture of these orcs resembles the Turkic and Mongolian cultures. And the orcs here appear in the form of the most sworn enemies of demons and are, in general, positive characters ^[11] .

Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East tells the story of the origin of the orcs. During the war with the demons in the city of Shahibdia, the blood of demons was poured into the criminals to create the appearance of warrior slaves . When the war ended, the orcs were made slaves, but the wise orc Kunyak, together with the Batu shaman, managed to free themselves from the shackles of the "Steel Men" and founded their own tribe . His descendant Kurak continued the work of his ancestor: he freed the remaining orc slaves and destroyed the city of the Duchy of Raven. Under the new Khan Gotay, they united with other races of Ashan and knocked out the demons that they hated.

In the game Might & Magic Heroes VI, orcs play the same role as in the previous game in the series, while being true friends of the Duchy of Griffin. In this game, the orcish culture is created with an emphasis on the Aztec, possibly due to their living on the islands in the jungle. This is especially pronounced in the guise of Dreamers and Warriors-Jaguars.

In Might and Magic Heroes VII, the orcs return as a playable faction. Their role is similar to that in Heroes VI. But this time there is a new variety of them - "Desert Orcs", wandering in the Sahaara desert to the south of the country of magicians. These orcs were created under the influence of Arab and Bedouin culture (turbans on the heads of warriors, attributes of protection against heat, covering the faces of the harpies of the veil, and so on).

Thus, at the moment, in the renewed universe of Heroes of Might and Magic, there are three varieties of orcs: Steppes, living in the open spaces of Ranaar; Island living on the Pao archipelago; and Deserts roaming the Sahara sands.

In the Warcraft Universe

In Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, orcs are portrayed as ruthless monsters obsessed with capturing the world of Azeroth . They enter into a fierce war with the Alliance, which originally inhabits Azeroth. In both games, the orcs are lucky in the beginning, but in the end they endure the final rout.

In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, it is learned that the orcs were seduced and enslaved by the demonic Burning Legion , who used them as puppets to destroy Azeroth. Orcs are originally a noble race, having its own laws, foundations and rules. And they, reviving their noble beginning, are freed from the harmful influence of the Legion. Starting from this game, the orcs appear as positive characters. It is noteworthy that in Warcraft III, some orc leaders (sword masters) resemble samurai and even bear names similar to Japanese ones (Samuro, Genjuros, Jubei).

In World of Warcraft, orcs are offered to the player as one of the races for which you can play.

• Orcs (Warhammer 40,000)
• Goblins
• Trolls

• Tyulenev P. Bestiary. Orcs and goblins // World of fiction . - No. 6; February 2004.