Not a Hobbit Forum Untill...

You talk about if there was a difference between orcs and goblins. I think there is. I believe that goblins are a more "underground" type of orcs.

i think goblins=orcs, but the type of goblins/orcs that appear in the Hobbit are an "underground" type of goblins/orcs.

i tend to think there are a lot of types of orcs.

Agree with FM

I'm not so sure... I think it was just a simpler way of referring to monsters... children had never heard of "orcs." Then again, he revised it and could have changed the name. There's a note about it in front of the Hobbit, I'll type it up if I can find my copy .

You know, this reminds me of the great balrog wing/no wing argument....

hehehe :lol:
Everyone knows Balrog have wings

Well... that discussing is at home in the LoTR forum, or perhaps the Sil forum, but no, everybody doesn't know that... As far I've heard, there is no place that says that they had wings, it just hints at the possibility...

It's because this has been a major discussion since so long...

No one really agrees on that subject.

I received a set of the original books awhile back. I just today opened T H for the first time and got to reading the very first page, upon what I found I imediately thought of the question asked here and beebopped my over here to read it for y'all

.....(2) Ocr is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually Goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kinds). Orc is the Hobbits' form of the name given at that time to these creatures, and it is not connected at all with our orc, ork, applied to sea animals of dolphin-kind. ....


I thought that was pretty cool!

Elenna ~ Lady of the Stars

Thanks, I wish I could open my copy of the Hobbit (its really, really old from when my dad was younger than I am now )

I so understand! I hate opening these, the thought of reading them is almost horrifying! They are copyrighted 1965 and they have collectors editon numbers in them. Are there any publications prior to that, I was thinking that this was one of the first ones?

Elenna ~ Lady of the Stars

hmmm, you hobbits haven't lived long enough. hmmm, 1965 doesn't sound too old

The Hobbit was first published in 1937.

right, silly me!

Wasnt the date of LotR closer to 65?

Elenna ~ Lady of the Stars

The LoTR was published in the fifties, I think...

I'm probably wrong, but I keep thinking its 1956 (in fact now that I think of it I'm positive its wrong).

Hmm... I'm not so sure you're wrong... But each book came out in different years... I think there were something like two years between each...

My copies have FOTR and TT first being published in 1954 and ROTK in 1955. Mind you these are not the copyright dates of my copies!

wow... that sounds as if it could be some of the first... I don't have my own copy yet, gonna buy me one soon, but my father's is just a couple of years old...

How people waited two years between each book is beyond me. I can hardly wait a day to finish a series (thus making Harry Potter torture for me).

[Ñólendil]

The simple translation of Orcrist as 'Goblin cleaver' ought to tell you whether or not they're the same thing, .

'Orc' and 'Goblin' are used interchangeably throughout the Lord of the Rings, they are indeed the same thing. You can even read Letters in the Tolkien Letters where the author talks about his preference of using the word 'Orc' as opposed to 'Goblin'.