Orcs

The origin of the Orcs is genuinely uncertain and Tolkien revisited it repeatedly. The Silmarillion states that Morgoth bred and corrupted Elves into Orcs, but Tolkien later doubted whether Orcs could have souls or be wholly derived from Elves, and considered other accounts. This encyclopedia records the question as unresolved rather than asserting one answer.

Orcish society is militarised, fractious and dominated by fear and force. Tribes and captains vie for favour, and loyalty is generally to the strongest leader or the promise of plunder. Their language and customs are little recorded, and much of what is shown is filtered through the hostility of their enemies.

The Black Speech in Sauron’s service, along with debased Common Speech and many tribal jargons.

Bred in the Elder Days, Orcs served Morgoth through the wars of Beleriand and then Sauron in Mordor and beyond. They held the Misty Mountains and founded Gundabad and Moria’s later occupation. In the Third Age their hosts mustered for the War of the Ring, while Saruman bred the Uruk-hai at Isengard. They were broken but never wholly destroyed.