A Detestable Nation of Orcs: echoes of Eurasian nomads in early Fantasy and the literary ecosystem behind them

Authors

Axel HansenFollow

Abstract

It is well known that Orcs and Easterlings in J.R.R. Tolkien's works share features with Eurasian nomadic peoples such as Huns and Mongols. The same is true for Tolkien's literary predecessor William Morris' Dusky Men in The Roots of the Mountains. This article will provide an examination of these features from a historical viewpoint, on how interactions with and subsequent records about various steppe nomads in European history can be tied to villains in early modern Fantasy literature. It will then present a short review of how a network of historic accounts, academic theories and pop cultural works – referred to as a literary ecosystem – created a particular demonised image of steppe nomads in Western academia and popular consciousness, dating from antiquity to the modern era. The aim is to highlight the scope and temporal depth of this ecosystem, and how its aspects (such as philology, history, race theory or religious philosophy) would have been accessible to Morris and Tolkien during their years as academics and writers, influencing the medieval idea of nomadic invaders from the East as beings embodying traits both barbaric and demonic. The study is a quantitative review on previous scholarship that argues for the demonised nomad as the prime influence (among several others) behind Tolkien's Orcs, in that their physical characteristics and narrative role mirrors medieval and early modern European scholarship regarding the nature of Eurasian nomads and their impact on Europe's geopolitics as well as religious cosmology.

Recommended Citation

Hansen, Axel (2025) "A Detestable Nation of Orcs: echoes of Eurasian nomads in early Fantasy and the literary ecosystem behind them," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 22: Iss. 2, Article 13.
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol22/iss2/13