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I've not seen/read any female Orcs mentioned in the movies or in the books. In one of the movies, an Uruk-hai is momentarily shown emerging from a giant, grown-Orc sized flesh packet. So are they created with spells, or do they follow the Standard Reproductive Model.

Mithical
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Aditya M P
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    They are born. In Tolkien's world, no one can create life except Eru. –  Dec 18 '12 at 04:58
  • How... drab :D Very well, why not put that in an answer, possibly with a juicy quote, so I can accept it... – Aditya M P Dec 18 '12 at 05:32
  • I don't think that's true ALS, I just read somewhere that Orcs and Trolls were 'created' by Morgoth. In 'mockery', yes, but created nonetheless. – Aditya M P Dec 18 '12 at 06:27
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    Well, when a mammy orc and a daddy orc are very much in love... –  Dec 18 '12 at 09:01
  • Well, the Orc Stor, drops them through the orc chimneys... – A.D Dec 18 '12 at 12:09
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    The Uruk emerging from some sort of pit is an invention of Peter Jackson. Possibly to explain, in the accelerated time of the movies, how Saruman managed to amass a large army in such short time. Sorcery! – Andres F. Dec 18 '12 at 16:48
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    Azog, the bad guy from the Hobbit, who was supposed to be dead (killed by Dain Ironfoot) has a son Bolg who leads the orcs in the battle of five armies. Not sure how that's going to work in to the movie storyline. – Peter Turner Dec 18 '12 at 17:00
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    "And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no orc women, and that orcs just spring out of holes in the ground!" – fire.eagle Dec 18 '12 at 20:18
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    Isn't it just that the female orcs don't go to war, and you never get to see much of their homes? – b_jonas Dec 18 '12 at 21:06
  • @fire.eagle I did not quite get that reference till I watched RoTK yesterday and saw Gimli say that :D – Aditya M P Dec 24 '12 at 05:14
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    IntercORC...I hate myself. – Monty129 Dec 25 '12 at 10:02
  • Nor do you see any female Tleilaxu, female ent, or, for that matter, any female dwarves. – b_jonas Aug 22 '16 at 09:43
  • @b_jonas To be fair, you don't see any female ents because Tolkien thought they were all dead (likely killed by Sauron's armies during the War of the Last Alliance). – suchiuomizu Sep 20 '16 at 22:38
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    Orc babies are delivered by a storc. – KorvinStarmast Feb 21 '17 at 21:00
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    @AndresF. Thank you for your comment. It’s a shame so many believe he created the Uruks. – Pryftan Aug 05 '18 at 21:09

4 Answers4

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It's clearly stated multiple times in The Silmarillion that only Ilúvatar can create life.

In chapter 2 of "Quenta Silmarillion" ("Of Aulë and Yavanna"), Aulë creates the dwarves, but Ilúvatar chastises him:

Why dost thou attempt a thing which thou knowest is beyond thy power and thy authority?

In chapter 3 ("Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor") the creation of the Orcs is explained:

...all those of the Quendi who came into the hands of Melkor, ere Utumno was broken, were put there in prison, and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves...

For the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilúvatar; and naught that had life of its own, nor the semblance of life, could ever Melkor make...

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Ward - Trying Codidact
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    That is so horrible. F**k you Melkor. Thanks Ward. – Aditya M P Dec 18 '12 at 11:33
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    +1 To add to your great answer, I think Aulë wasn't capable to create life either. Wasn't Ilúvatar the one who "breathed" life into the corpses of the newly created Dwarves? – Andres F. Dec 18 '12 at 16:50
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    @adityamenon I actually support Melkor! Here are my reasons: 1- The Silmarillion, Hobbit and LotR would have been utterly boring without him and his actions; 2- He was a rebel who made his own rules, sticking it to The Man, 3- It's likely this was all Ilúvatar's plan anyway, and Melkor never ceased being his instrument :) – Andres F. Dec 18 '12 at 16:53
  • :) haha Andres, all of that is true. Regarding 3 though, do you have any references for that? It would be quite horrible if Eru had been planning the torture and suffering of countless creatures in Arda all the way from the beginning. That would make him a horrible, heartless creator. – Aditya M P Dec 18 '12 at 23:14
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    @adityamenon I made it up. Since Tolkien was Catholic, it's likely Eru is somewhat like the Christian god; and the explanation for Evil (Melkor) is that it is a consequence of Free Will (i.e. not directed by Eru). However, this is speculation on my part. I still root for Melkor, because he looks badass in armor! – Andres F. Dec 23 '12 at 23:48
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    Tolkien was a Christian and Lord of the Rings is an allegory to some extent. Eru is God. Melkor is Satan. The Valar and Maiar are Angels. Sauron and the Balrogs are Demons. That is about the extent of the allegory. – jacen.garriss May 11 '13 at 19:36
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    @AndresF. - I know it's old, but re: your 3, see Ainulindale: "And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite". –  Dec 10 '13 at 19:28
  • @JimmyShelter Thanks! I feel there is a contradiction in there somewhere: that quote was likely Tolkien's own religious beliefs speaking, but at the same time, is this compatible with a Christian's notion of free will? Re: Melkor -- almost a year later, I'm still rooting for him :P – Andres F. Dec 10 '13 at 20:34
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    This is a bit unclear, like @AndresF. pointed out: did Aulë just "create" the dwarves, without giving them life, and Ilúvatar supply that? – o0'. Apr 19 '14 at 10:29
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    @AndresF. Melkor is borne of the song of Iluvatar, therefore his existence and discord is from the mind of Iluvatar. That's how I've always interpreted it. Can you have good without evil? Without evil there would be nothing to judge what is good and honorable. – Integration Feb 22 '17 at 04:05
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    @Withywindle So Melkor -- much like Lucifer -- is a tragic anti-hero, doomed by an all-powerful god to play the necessary part of the evil rebel? I dig that. Go go, Melkor, go! :) – Andres F. Feb 22 '17 at 14:03
  • @AndresF. That's a human perspective! We shouldn't try and fathom the minds of gods. All I'm saying is that it's the music of Iluvatar at the heart of all of this. – Integration Feb 22 '17 at 14:18
  • @o0'. Added why the Dwarves aren't an example of somebody else creating life. – A. B. Jan 10 '23 at 05:07
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The Munby Letter includes an authorial statement on this matter:

There must have been orc-women. But in stories that seldom if ever see the Orcs except as soldiers of armies in the service of the evil lords we naturally would not learn much about their lives.

There's also a caution in this statement - if Orcs (or any other being, for that matter) are only ever seen in one context within the story, then you don't need (and shouldn't feel that you need) any kind of explicit statement regarding their activities in other contexts.

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Orcs originated from Elves, twisted and tainted by Morgoth. As the elves taken were both male and female, the first Orcs were also male and female. As such, they are able to reproduce.

ThunderGr
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    The origin of Orcs isn't clear. Tolkien spent decades trying to figure it out. They may have been elves. – isanae Jan 15 '17 at 09:48
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I always imagined that Orcs can reproduce in two ways.

  1. All Orcs either fill a male or female role in the reproductive cycle. All Orcs, however still appear and act masculine. This would also explain why Orcs never seem to hold any desire for women, because they probably have no concept of sexual preference.

  2. Powerful magic-users such as Melkor, Sauron, or Saurman are capable of using some sort of device or substance to manufacture Orcs. Orcs' numbers seem to grow much faster when a powerful magic-user is leading them. The Orcs pretty much stopped breeding, and devolved into Goblins once The One Ring was destroyed and Sauron was defeated. My guess is that these Orcs were breeded, and thus didn't know how to reproduce sexually, or just couldn't supplement their numbers as they relied on Sauron's breeding.

I feel this would explain a lot. It was clearly very surprising when Saruman was able to mass such a large amount of Uruks so quickly, so I imagine magical breeding was involved. It would also explain the relationship between Azog and Bolg, since Bolg is Azog's son, and inherited his rank when Azog died. It's also said that Uruks were bred with Men, so they would need some form of sexual reproduction. So in essence, both of these methods of reproduction could exist at the same.

User728766
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  • Another answer on this very page quotes a letter by Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, saying "There must have been orc-women. But in stories that seldom if ever see the Orcs except as soldiers of armies in the service of the evil lords we naturally would not learn much about their lives." This implies that the orcs that we see in the story are not the orc-women. Saruman's Uruk army wasn't made that quickly, and it's implied that he made them (in the books) via interbreeding Orcs and Men. – wyvern Oct 19 '17 at 02:44