Orc - Tolkien - The Language of The Orcs - The Influence of Old English

The Influence of Old English

Tolkien referred to the Old English origins of the word 'orc', observing that "the word is, as far as I am concerned, actually derived from Old English orc 'demon', but only because of its phonetic suitability" and "I originally took the word from Old English orc (Beowulf 112 orc-neas and the gloss orc = þyrs ('ogre'), heldeofol ('hell-devil')). This is supposed not to be connected with modern English orc, ork, a name applied to various sea-beasts of the dolphin order". Tolkien also observed a connection with the Latin word orcus, noting that "the word used in translation of Q urko, S orch is Orc. But that is because of the similarity of the ancient English word orc, 'evil spirit or bogey', to the Elvish words. There is possibly no connection between them. The English word is now generally supposed to be derived from Latin orcus ". He also stated that, "Orc I derived from Anglo-Saxon, a word meaning demon, usually supposed to be derived from the Latin Orcus – hell. But I doubt this, though the matter is too involved to set out here".

The word orcné, attested in the plural word orcnéas, is a hapax legomenon in the poem Beowulf. It is generally supposed to contain an element -né, cognate to Gothic naus and Old Norse nár, both meaning 'corpse'. The usual Old English word for corpse is líc, but -né appears in nebbed 'corpse bed', and in dryhtné 'dead body of a warrior', where dryht is the name of a military unit that can be vaguely translated as 'band' or 'host'. In, If *orcné is to be glossed as orcus 'corpse', the meaning may be "corpse from Orcus (i.e. the underworld)", or "devil-corpse", understood as some sort of walking dead creature. This etymology is plausible, but it remains conjectural. Orc appears in two other locations in the poem Beowulf, but refers to cups of precious metal found in a treasure-hoard.

The Old English word þyrs, given as a gloss for Latin orcus, is cognate to Old Norse þurs 'giant', 'ogre', both originating from the unattested Common Germanic term thurisaz, which in Norse mythology refers to one of the monstrous descendants of the giant Ymir. But it is to be noted in connection with Tolkien's reference to a gloss orc=þyrs, that while there is an entry in an 11th-century English glossary which implies such an equivalence, orcus orc þyrs oððe heldeofol, this is in fact a conflation of two glosses in an earlier glossary of the 7th century, found in two different places: orcus orc and orcus þyrs oððe heldiubol". The first of these two glosses is in a section devoted to household implements and 'orcus' is, in that place, a corruption of Latin urceus 'jug', 'pitcher', or of orca 'pot', 'jar'. The word 'orc' in the first gloss has the meaning 'cup': it is descended from an early Germanic borrowing from urceus, related to Gothic aurkeis 'cup', both related to Modern English ark 'vessel', 'container'. In the second gloss, the Latin orcus is equated to Old English 'giant', 'hell-devil', but not to any already-existing Old English word 'orc', as Tolkien mistakenly thought.