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Re: SEX in Middle Earth

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  Posted by shadowfax on September 13, 1999 at 06:00:16
In Reply to: Re: SEX in Middle Earth posted by Dave C-Q on September 10, 1999 at 13:46:56:



: As for orcs... hmmm... do we know that orc females didn't fight in the armies? I mean, since this is Tolkien we're talking about here, I am assuming he didn't think they would. But then again... I haven't read much of the Tolkien esoterica (UT, HoME, Letters, etc.) lately. So I'm not the best person to answer that.

: As for random speculation though, I could put in my two bits, given what I know of Tolkien's attitudes. Probably there was no formalized marriage among orcs, though no doubt some took permanent or semi-permanent mates (chieftains and the like). Since orcs could reproduce so rapidly, it is probable that either multiple births were common, and/or the gestation period of orcs was short. Orclings probably learned to walk, run, and kill by the age or one or two. ;)

I always imagined orcs being raised from eggs in huge hatcheries. The eggs might be laid by huge queen orcs (rather like termites) and can be produced in hige numbers. Orcs are not only stupendifyingly numerous and fast to breed, but the value of their lives seems rather low, seeing how easily they kill one-another.



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