Hur ser orcs och trollar ut, eller hur mår Tolkien dem?

I Brev 144 säger Tolkiens att Orcs

...owe a good deal to the goblin tradition, especially as it appears in George MacDonald.

Dessa goblins är groteska humanoider, något mindre än människor, hatar solljus, sång och har svagheter i sina fötter. Tolkien kommenterade i brev 144 att han inte tyckte om denna sista aspekt av dem.

Senare i Brev 210 beskriver Tolkien Orcs som sådan:

...they are (or were) squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types

I Brev 153 tillkännagav Tolkien följande om Trolls

I am not sure about Trolls

Och hur trollen förändras från de tråkiga trollkarlarna från Hobbit till de ogenomträngliga solljusbrutarna som är Olag-Hai.

Vilken Tolkien adresserar vidare i Brev 153

I do not know about Trolls. I think they are mere 'counterfeits', and hence...they return to mere stone images when not in the dark. But there are other sorts of Trolls beside these rather ridiculous, if brutal, Stone-trolls, for which other origins are suggested

Ett sentiment delat av Treebeard

But Trolls are only counterfeits, made by the Enemy in the Great Darkness, in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves

The Two Towers - Treebeard

När det gäller Troll ser vi glimt genom vilka vi kan börja göra en bild av dem.

Grottrollerna beskrivs i Ringenes Herre som sådan.

There was a blow to the door that made it quiver; and then it began to grind slowly open, driving back the wedges. A huge arm and shoulder, with a dark skin of greenish scales, was thrust through the widening gap. Then a great, flat, toeless foot was forced through below.

The Fellowship Of The Ring - The Bridge of Khazad-dûm

Hill trolls från Gorgoroth beskrivs sålunda

... Taller and broader than men they were, and they were clad only in close-fitting mesh of horny scales, or maybe that was their hideous hide and ...reaching out a clutching claw; for these fell creatures would bite the throats of those that they threw down

Return Of The King - The Black Gate Opens

Vilken målar en bild av en skalig grön varelse med stor storlek och styrka med klor och fångar som kan bita halsen ur ett offer.

Vågligheten och bristen på beskrivning av funktionerna kommer sannolikt att förklaras av Tolkiens självbekände "tvivel" om trollar

Eftersom det tidigare svaret inte berättade mycket för vad Trolls ser ut, börjar jag med det. Vi har turen att ha två teckningar av Trolls av Tolkien själv; båda bilderna visar trio Bill, Tom och Bert, från The Hobbit :

Som du kan se, verkar de vara stora, humanoida varelser, muskulösa men med uttalade potabellor.

När det gäller orker, tycks de ha kommit i en mängd olika favoriter, så att säga. Här är några av de olika beskrivningarna.

Orc heter Shagrat, i The Two Towers :

In the red glare Sam, cowering behind the stair-door, caught a glimpse of his evil face as it passed: it was scored as if by rending claws and smeared with blood; slaver dripped from its protruding fangs; the mouth snarled like an animal.

[Sam sees] "his left claw clenching and unclenching feebly [...] and with his right claw drew out a long red knife and spat on it."

Den fullständiga citat från Tolkiens brev nr 210:

“The Orcs are definitely stated to be corruptions of the ‘human’ form seen in Elves and Men. They are (or were) squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact, degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol types.”

I det tionde volymen Middle Earths historia , i ett kapitel med titeln Transformerade myter , finns det en uppsats på Orcs, som hävdar att Orcs verkligen var djur :

"The Orcs were beasts of humanized shape (to mock Men and Elves) deliberately perverted / converted into a more close resemblance to Men. Their 'talking' was really reeling off 'records' set in them by Melkor. Even their rebellious critical words – he knew about them. Melkor taught them speech and as they bred they inherited this; and they had just as much independence as have, say, dogs or horses of their human masters. This talking was largely echoic (cf. parrots)."

I den andra volymen Middle Earths historia visas en annan beskrivning av Orcs:

[The Orcs are] "...bred by Melko of the subterranean heats and slime. Their hearts were of granite and their bodies deformed; foul their faces which smiled not, but their laugh that of the clash of metal, and to nothing were they more fain than to aid in the basest of the purposes of Melko."

Bilaga A till Ringenes Herre beskriver Uruk-Hai, en av delsekvenserna i Orcs:

In the last years of Denethor I the race of Uruks, black Orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor, and in 2475 they swept across Ithilien and took Osgiliath.

I sin blogg, " The Middle Earth och JRR Tolkien blog , beskriver Tolkien scholar Michael Martinez de olika typerna av Orcs:

For example, a Uruk of Mordor and a tracker are sent out to search for Frodo and Sam from the Tower of Cirith Ungol. The Uruk does not appear to match the physical characteristics of the Mordor Orcs led by Grishnakh who reinforce Ugluk’s Isengarders, who in turn do not resemble Grishnakh’s Orcs or the “northern” Orcs from Moria who had tracked the Fellowship as far south as Rohan.

The Uruks were the largest Orcs, and according to the Appendices in The Lord of the Rings they first appeared around the 24th Century of the Third Age. But they appear to have fragmented into multiple tribes, for the Isengarders called themselves “the Fighting Uruk-hai”, whereas no other Orcs referred to themselves as “Uruk-hai”. In fact, the Uruk from Cirith Ungol who tracked Sam and Frodo mentioned “a pack of rebel Uruk-hai” in passing, perhaps referring to the Isengarders (or, as some readers believe, to members of Gorbag’s company of Morgul Orcs).

Gorbag and Shagrat both appear to be Uruks but it is not clear how much they physically resembled each other. Shagrat was described as having long, loping arms and large fangs.

Sam and Frodo encountered another company of Uruks while moving through Mordor — these Uruks charge into a company of smaller Orcs with whom Sam and Frodo have traveled for a while. It is clear that the many groups of Orcs felt little loyalty to each other, even if they shared common ancestors. But Tolkien makes little to no effort to identify any sort of “tribes” among the Orcs.

Broadly speaking, we can identify Orcs of Moria (probably of at least two or more kinds), Orcs from Isengard (including the tall Uruk-hai and smaller Warg-riders as well as a third group described in “The Battles of the Fords of Isen”), the half-Orcs of Isengard, the Orcs of Minas Morgul, the Orcs of Cirith Ungol, the tracker Orc(s) of Cirith Ungol, the small Orcs whom Sam and Frodo infiltrate, and the Uruks who disrupt the smaller Orcs’ march on the road. Tolkien seems to imply there may have been dozens or hundreds of Orc groups scattered across Mordor, the Misty Mountains, and Mirkwood.

Wikipedia: s inlägg på medeljordens orker beskriver dem enligt följande:

Orcs are described as ugly and filthy fanged humanoids. The largest can reach near-human height, but they are almost always shorter, and some are as small as Hobbits (since Frodo and Sam disguise themselves as such when they enter Mordor). In contrast, crossbreeds between Men and Orcs are called "man-high, but with goblin-faces." However, some Orcs are very broad, if not tall. Many Orcs have long arms, like monkeys or apes. Many of them also have crooked backs and legs.

The Uruk-hai of Saruman, exemplified by Uglúk, are shown to be physically different from the regular Orcs of Sauron. They are taller and have more human-like proportions while the latter are shorter and have longer arms (according to the description of Grishnákh). They also grudgingly tolerate the sunlight better. The Uruk-hai are different from most of the "Northerners", who came down from the Misty Mountains. These are said to be smaller than Grishnákh, who is "a short crook-legged creature".

Half-orcs are described later on by Meriadoc Brandybuck, who saw them marching out of Isengard, as "horrible: man-high, but with goblin-faces, sallow, leering, squint-eyed." The hobbits occasionally encounter unusual-looking Men such as the "ruffians" in the Shire, implying some of these might be half-orcs. During the scouring of the Shire it is stated that the ruffians that have invaded include half-orcs and more of the sallow-skinned, slant/squinty eyed folks like the Southerner spy.

Och den ovärderliga Tolkien Gatewayens inlägg på Orcs säger:

In Tolkien's writing, Orcs are smaller in stature than Men. One "huge orc-chieftain" is "almost Man-high", but others must have been of a similar size to Hobbits (Frodo and Sam succeeded in disguising themselves as Orcs in Mordor). They had long arms and fanged mouths. Some had black skin. Some had short, crooked legs. They had black blood.

I informationsfältet innehåller beskrivningen av Orcs följande information:

Average height: generally around 3 1/2' or 4'
Skin color: Sallow, Green, Brown, Grey
Distinctions: Short, sallow

Tolkien Gateways artikel på Uruks ger oss lite mer information om denna specifika Orcs-race:

They were faster than normal Orcs and could travel during the day without being weakened. They were not only faster but smarter, stronger and larger, though they were still shorter than Men.

They were all long-armed and crook-legged, not as tall as the Isengarder Uruks but larger than the Moria Orcs. They could see better in the dark than the Isengarders could.

They also appeared different physically: greater stature, swarthy, slant-eyed, thick legs and large hands. Although they did not like the light of the Sun, they could withstand it better than other orcs. Saruman promised them man-flesh as a treat.

Om inget annat visar alla ovanstående uppgifter att Orcs, trots att de var likformigt ful och groteska, inte var monolitiska i utseende. De enda saker som alla orker tycks ha gemensamt är: hemsk utseende missfärgad hud (olika beskrivs som grön, svart, sallow - det vill säga blekgul - brun eller grå, beroende på den enskilda Orc); kort statur (även de största orkerna är inte lika långa som den genomsnittliga människan); bred byggnad; huggtänder; sneda ögon eller sneda ögon; långa, lummiga armar krokiga ben (förutom kanske i Uruks).