Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-24264910-20140218194152/@comment-24590102-20140321090401

Actually, this is an interesting question. LOTR Orcs are deliberately bred, in a Eugenic sense. So, they are portrayed as purveyors of evil according to the counter-Eugenic themes expressed by the story. One of the most important counter-Eugenic theme-related quotations associated with the series (including The Hobbit and The Silmarillion) is introduced in The Silmarillion's sketch of the drama unfolding around the Rings of Power:

"Yet in that hour was put to the proof that which Mithrandir had spoken, and help came from the hands of the weak when the Wise faltered." [Sic.] - Tolkien, 1983, The Silmarillion, 2nd Edition, p. 366.

This pretty much nails Tolkien's colours (and one of his themes) to the mast. And it is carried by the stories of the "weak" doing great deeds because the strong faltered and no other course is left. In doing so, Tolkien contrasts the vulnerabilities of the mighty and, particularly, of those bred for a purpose, with the unexpected strengths of the "weak".

The same theme has been picked up and presented from another angle by Salvatore, who presents us with a race which subject to a culture of evil (the Drow) from which individuals emerge and find their own way - one, in particular, breaking away to do what good he can in the world (Legend of Drizzt).

However, I suspect TES overlaps with a generation who were not aware of the role of Orcs in portraying this theme - and it may well have been taken as racist. Either way, the TES Orcs are not automatically villainous yet the theme of counter-racism is still carried by the series - just differently and, perhaps, in a more homogeneous way (which avoids the thematic misunderstandings which can arise more easily from Tolkien's and Salvatore's work).

