[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

Why did Eru make orcs? I don't know, but why did he make the mountains?

Mountains aren't inherently evil sentient beings - although, if you count Caradhras as such, the same considerations apply. Similarly with the Watcher in the Water. Saruman, Balrogs and other such beings had a choice.

This is the kind of red-herring that I'm talking about, for I'm sure that someone is going to address these sorts of questions -- in effect, to attempt to probe the mind of Eru/God, when what I think we need to be focusing on is the relation enacted in the story between the various elements: in this case, orcs/monsters and hobbits/heroes in their fairy-tale adventure.

It depends what approach one wants to adopt to the story. It has been suggested on a number of occasions that Tolkien is, to a degree, setting out his 'moral manifesto' in the story. Even if that's not the case, it clearly concerns issues of Good and Evil and what these concepts involve. For me, the existence of inherently evil sentient beings (be they Orcs, Dragons or whatever) goes to the very heart of these issues. Of course, not everyone will find the nature of Orcs (and this is one of the few Chapters where we get a real glimpse of their nature) relevant to these issues, but that does not make the question a red herring. It is, I think, one worth raising and discussing, even though I don't think that there really is a satisfactory solution.

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

I know that if I do not, then the question of Orcs being by nature 'evil' can become difficult.

For me, the issue is a difficult one within the context of the perspective presented to us by Tolkien - precisely because of that perspective (ie single God being the foundation of Good).

Edit: Incidentally, I don't believe that Tolkien was playing with his readers in this regard at the time that he wrote LotR. The Orcs simply presented an effective enemy that do not require us to consider the moral qualms that we might have if they were not inherently evil. Had he been playing, I don't think that he would have had the concerns about their nature that he clearly did have later in life.