But these creatures of Isengard, these half-orcs and goblin-men that the foul craft of Saruman has bred, they will not quail at the sun.
Goblin-men were a people or race of creatures that were bred by Saruman in the late Third Age. They were similar to the Half-orcs, at least in their resistance to sunlight, an attribute that differentiated them from the full Orcs.
The exact difference between Goblin-men and Half-orcs was unclear, but Gamling, a man of Rohan, mentioned both of them during the Battle of the Hornburg as creatures of Isengard that the foul craft of Saruman had bred when he observed that they did not shy back from the sun.[1] Both goblin-men and half-orcs fought alongside Orcs (the Uruk-hai and Wolf-riders) marching together with the Dunlendings in the rearguard at the Battle of the Hornburg.[2]
In the Third Age Saruman interbred Orcs and Men and produced Orc-men and Men-orcs.[3] It is possible that Goblin-men and Orc-men were the same creatures, since the word 'Goblin' was used as a translation of the Westron word 'Orc'.[4] At the First Battle of the Fords of Isen, an Orc-man slew prince Théodred, the son and heir of King Théoden of Rohan, before himself being slain by Grimbold.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Helm's Deep", p. 536
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Flotsam and Jetsam", p. 566
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Five. Myths Transformed", "[Text] X", pp. 418-9
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, [Preface]
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The Battles of the Fords of Isen"