Orcs!
As I tell people about my travels in Mordor, it is quite often that they express great interest in the Orcs. What are they like? How did you learn the language? Do they smell bad? Etc. etc. So, without further ado I will try to answer some of your questions on those generally Orcish folk.
Who are the Orcs of Mordor?
First off, Orcs are not only in Mordor. They live throughout middle earth.
No, I’m not talking about the darknet market, and no I’m not only talking about 中国. Middle Earth in this context is where you are. Not in the heavens moving about as plasma (that is, unless you happen to be in the heavens moving about as plasma) and not deep in carbonitic chnodrite (unless you are in fact, a rock).
Secondly, its worth pointing out that Orcs are a new culture. They are most definitely not an ethnic identity created from thousands of years of geographic isolation.
As you all know, one can attempt to describe a dwarf with physical characteristics alone. “Short creatures with beards”. Not bad, most of us do fit this description. However, such a description can fail spectacularly. There are plenty of Men who match this descriptions, as well as Orcs. As you know in the Nations of Man, a person might appear to be of Gondor descent but a short conversation will let you know they grew up speaking the dialect of Rohan and in fact are more indicative of Rohan culture tha n many others who might look like pure Rohan. Fill in Godor and Rohan with any nations you like, this is always the case. Culture is not a phenotype.
None know this fact better than the Orcs. The Orcs are in fact some of the least racist folks that I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a pint with. Anyone can be an orc. In my travel through Mordor I saw folks that looked like every possible combination of faces I have seen in all middle Earth. None of them give a shit what you look like, apart from whether you are going to hurt them, or bestow favors or threats of hierarchy upon them.
How does one become an Orc?
That being said, there are few volunteers. Immigrants are mostly press ganged, or taken as slaves. Or hired, which in the Orcish tongue is basically the same meaning. If you are born in an area to which Orcs claim control, they will force upon you whatever Orcish identity and rituals they like, and claim to officiate over who your parents are and what you need to do with your life.
So what makes the Orcish culture Orcish? As with any culture it is hard to put your finger on exactly what it is. Are Dwarves hard working and long living coin holding meisers? Well we are much more than just that. Are Men dim-witted copycats capable of occasional works of great heart and beauty? They are also much more than that.
Probably the first thing one notes when immersed in the Orcish culture the constant reliance on fear to drive most all activities. The hierarchical society is mostly driven by violence and the fear of incarceration, forced poverty, torture, etc. Because the Orcs live their lives from day one (at least day one of Orcishness) like this, they become accepting of it. They strive to increase their own position seemingly to carry out the same treatment to others, assuming from others behavior that that is the way to behave. Those who are able to escape from this cycle generally flee. Orcs seem to have really gotten themselves to believe that the hierarchy of Orcish society is all there is for them.
This constant fear of fear, as it were, desensitizes them to fear itself, making them generally agreeable in terms of having a good understanding of life and death. The lack of what Men might call love in the life of an Orc means that they look for companionship wherever they can find it. It is quite common to chance in a seat near an Orc, and solely by virtue of this coincidence be the recipient of what could be their greatest kindness they have available. They will tell you their life story, and be ready to fight that evening defending you. However, should the tide turn clearly against them in such a fight, you can bet they will disappear or double cross you. After all, it is probably what happened to them and they will assume you would do the same.
In the eyes of an Orc, all others are Orcs.
It is surprising that such a society based upon self-destruction can surive, and indeed it would collapse very quickly if it were not for the influx of new blood, or support from above by wizards, Men, elves, and those who wish to use the Orcs for their own purposes.
So what of the lanugage?
Like most on Middle Earth, Orcs speak brief simple syllables conveying meaning, each of which can be traced back to its own origin. The basic grammar and structure of meaning is too old to trace, many people claiming “ancient elvish” as the basis of all language. In practice, it seems at first quite easy to learn as it has taken bits and pieces from all those in it’s grasp. There are words of all tongues on middle Earth that have found their way into Orcish. Perhaps surprisingly, there are a great many who are quite proud of their language and claim to be the ultimate arbiters of its correctness. Well, maybe that isn’t so surprising. Every language has such claimants I suppose, and in the case of the Orcs it appeared to me these were only the usual excuses from authority to blindly “exercise power”. In practice, it is a neverending struggle as every Orc has their own dialect. Well as you computer scientists and linguists know, all the languages are the same.
Do they really smell?
Yes. In actuality it is the smell and the clothing that most quickly identifies an Orc. Generally it is expected that one wishes to be as repellant as possible, to avoid contact. This is because contact is generally expected to be of the violent nature. Clothing also represents this Porcupine mindset, generally being a light armor that one can wear at all times, offensive if possible, a full armor being too cumbersome for permanent wear and anything less being dangerous to ones health. Bathing, as are concerns of health of most any sort, are generally considered signs of weakness and will be dealth with accordingly.
Safety Guidelines
If you ever need to move about in Orc country, it is advised to dress like and Orc. Generally it isn’t as hard as it sounds, as long as some weaponry is available. Just get dirty. Most important is to maintain the mindset and behavior of an Orc, as this will generally make you invisible very quickly. Show suspicion of everything and anyone, and general disdain for anything weak. Provide a clearly false facade of loyalty to hierarchy. Work for fiat currency issued by whatever Orcish corporation seems to control the land, and feign importance of said fiat. If you do find and trade in public coin, that necessarily means you are not an Orc, at least for that moment. If you do hold Orcish coin, you are part of the Orcish heirarchy and are in support of the chain of command which is usually tangled, hidden, and constantly changing.
Final Comments
As you heard from my previous reports, Mordor has some redeeming features. Nature is still alive, and from it hope springs eternal. I hope you see that Orcs as well have some redeeming features, being at heart folks just like us. You will encounter them in the days to come, because as the hierarchies that they imagine organizes them crumble, they fall out the bottom and hopefully find some identity in the process. Orc is not a race, nor really a culture. It is more a mental condition or illness which can spread in the right conditions.