Are Orcs cannibals???

[Lollypopgurl]

I found this on the official site:

· Orc blood is black in color and they are cannibals.

Is that true?? Cause I don't remember every reading that anywhere. :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Wayfarer]

No.

Witness the confrontation among the orcs that captured merry and pippin.

Ugluk says saruman "gives us man-fles to eat"
and grishnakh replies "It's orc flesh...I wager!"

Now, would grishnakh have said that if cannibalism was a commonly accepted practice?

[Lollypopgurl]

Good point...

Baaadd website, baaadd website...

[Churl]

Regarding the question of whether or not orcs were cannibals, Wayfarer wrote:No.

Witness the confrontation among the orcs that captured merry and pippin.

Ugluk says saruman "gives us man-fles to eat"
and grishnakh replies "It's orc flesh...I wager!"

Now, would grishnakh have said that if cannibalism was a commonly accepted practice?Not to play devil's advocate, but Grishnakh might not have been horrified and disgusted by the prospect, just annoyed. In other words, orcs might prefer other types of meat but would settle for the (likely undesirable) orc meat with only minor grumbling if that were all that was available.

I'm just offering a counter-speculation here … does anyone have a definitive answer?

Regarding a scene in the Two Towers film:Note that I don't cite the new movie as proof of the orcs' cannibalism. The films are an interpretation of Tolkien's world (and an increasingly variant one at that); in my opinion, only Tolkien's stories, supplemental writings, and letters should be treated as "canon."

[WallRocker]

If I remember correctly, the Orcs just ate "Man-Flesh"(at least in the books) So, if you call people who go to Mickey D's cannibals, then I guess Orcs would be:)

[Elfhelm]

Or, since they are twisted elves, if they eat elf-flesh, ar they cannibals? ;)

I guess I've always interpreted that scene like this:

Uruk-hai: we are so special we get to eat man-flesh.
Uruk: bah! your boss is lying, or you are. you eat orc-flesh like the rest of us.

[azalea]

I laughed inwardly when in the film they said the line "Meat's back on the menu," because I mean, are orcs really familiar with what a menu is? I can just see them taking the family out for a fine dining experience at the local eatery.:)

On the topic of whether they "really" are cannibals, I read back over that part in the book, and what it sounds like to me is that saying he was eating orc-flesh was a major insult.

Quote:
"'I don't trust you little swine...We are servants of Saruman the Wise, the White Hand: the Hand that gives us man's-flesh to eat'
...

'Swine is it? How do you folk like being called swine by the muck-rakers of a dirty little wizard? It's orc-flesh they eat, I'll warrant.'
Many loud yells in orc-speech answered him, and the ringing clash of weapons being drawn."