Trolls? Orcs? Goblins? Half-Orcs? What do you call'em?

[ottoatm]

I have to agree that they are orcs. The big thing is a troll, so the little ones must be orcs or goblins.

In Christ,

Ditto... I go with Goblins... they are too strong and tall for the traditional goblins, but everything else about them reminds me of goblins, so goblins they are to me...

[Blue Monarch]

I have to agree that they are orcs. The big thing is a troll, so the little ones must be orcs or goblins.

In Christ,

Ditto... I go with Goblins... they are too strong and tall for the traditional goblins, but everything else about them reminds me of goblins, so goblins they are to me...

I was tempted to call them goblins too. But the tall and strong part made me say orc.

Which leads me to ask: what color would you expect an orc to be. I usually depict them as dark, not green. Goblins are always green in my mind.

In the end, does it matter?

[ottoatm]

Which leads me to ask: what color would you expect an orc to be. I usually depict them as dark, not green. Goblins are always green in my mind.

Yea, that's a good point - I'm not sure why, but Goblins must be green for me - and short, you're right... it's kind of a tough call in the end, as you pit one presupposition about goblins (color) against another (height).

In the end, does it matter?

Heh heh heh... another good point!

[Tanotrooper]

giant mutated frogs.

*checks list*

alright, goblins then... (runescape)

TT

[armothe]

Orcs.....all the way.

-A

[mouthofsauron]

I use the gammoreans as large stupid grunts.
the alien heads, geonosian, and varied other heads on standard size minifigs as Orcs, Then, Any ugly nonhuman head on short legs for goblins!
There goes the neighborhood................

[FullNelson]

Orcs all the way

Most of my figs are in an LOTR based army now so....

[Zechariah Legio]

I would definitely call it an Orc.

[Count Blacktron]

As far as what Tolkien said in his books, the term 'Orc' and 'Goblin' were interchangeable depending on what realm you hailed from. The same Goblins that Bilbo and Gandalf encountered were considered Orcs when spoken of between Aragorn and Gandalf. Orcs, according to Tolkien were a ruined breed of Elves taken and twisted by the dark magics of Morgoth in ancient times. The name 'Orc' was simply the High speech way of identifying them. When called 'Goblins', that was more of the Common speech of the lands as the days of Middle Earth grew on toward the Third Age. So if you are a LOTR fan, either will do as they mean the same.

If you are a student of old world mythology, particularly Norse and Germanic legends then the name 'Troll' makes more sense. In those older stories the mountains might house both Dwarfs and Trolls, and often they could be mistaken for one another. Men in Norse myths would often bargain with Trolls or Dwarfs for treasures and arms it is said, and just as often would battle them as they came out from their holes in the Earth.

So whatever you call them really matters to how you bend your ears to modern or ancient myth. The choice is yours.

[Blue Monarch]

As far as what Tolkien said in his books, the term 'Orc' and 'Goblin' were interchangeable depending on what realm you hailed from.

That I do agree with, however, (and by this statement I'm not disagreeing with you) Tolkein often noted that certain Orc breeds were smaller or more diminuitive, if you will, than others. The Oruks of Sauruman were a larger breed. I've always labeled the more diminuitive breeds of orc as goblins. And just for the record, I hail from the land of Maryland, so now it's official!

I suppose fictional interpretation is also incumbent upon the reader. For some odd reason, at least for me, Goblins are diminuitive green things while orcs are tall and strong.

P.S. And thank you Count for the clarification. It is always great to read more of the finer details of Tolkein.

[DetpackJump]

The troll name actually makes sense. Trolls are a big part of Scandinavian (see Denmark) folklore. Different myths have them being both human size (ex: Vitterfolk) and giant size (ex: Jætte), so the normal and giant trolls make sense.

Now, they're obviously leveraging the LoTR success by making the trolls more orc-like by giving them siege weapons.

As usual, there's a wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll

As for the dwarves, same story. I'd even bet that Tolkien pulled from the same mythology for his stuff, since dwarves were subterranean.

[Azaghal]

Jägermonsters.

OK, fine. As presented, orcs. But as soon as I get some, they will become Jägermonsters.

[ottoatm]

Jägermonsters.

Heh heh heh... that is wonderful.

[Berstoke]

I'm new here but I call them orcs. I've also used a Gamorrean head for an orc, and just think of the various differences as racial or ethnic varients. I must say that I've always used mostly black heads for orcs because when I think of them I always think first of the Ralph Bacci (spelling?) cartoon of LOTR.

[JPinoy]

You forgot Uruk-Hai.